Yesterday, when my friend and I arrived at the ski lift we wanted to ski because I found out that Everitt Memorial highway up the mountain is closed at MacBride springs Campground basically at the gate there and Castle Lake Road is also not plowed yet either from snow. Also I learned there has been an avalanche down onto Castle Lake on the South East Side onto the ice as well so that should be interesting to see if they open the road before I leave later this week. If you are traveling anywhere in California be sure to watch weather reports now because of incredible amounts of rain and snow. Snow is coming down above 5500 feet all over the state in feet not inches. So, they say this storm will drop above 5500 feet 1 to 3 feet of snow so be careful where you are driving.
I started out yesterday realizing that most roads up here are closed except for Interstate 5, Highway 89 and the road up to the Mt. Shasta Ski Park. So, we decided to ski even in the rain because there wasn't much to do adventure wise in the rain under these conditions. So, my friend had his own skis, poles and boots and skied a run while I rented downhill skis (I have mountaineering skis boots and poles but not downhill skis). Over the years this always seemed to be a better idea for me because when I rent I get the latest technology in skis and right now at Mt. Shasta Ski Park they have the best skis I have ever rented there. Really good skis that are fun to ski on. Also, I live in the San Francisco Bay area so I'm only up here 2 to 5 times during ski season anyway. So, owning my own downhill skis (if you have priced them lately) didn't seem like a good idea. And for example, I'm 70 and it only cost me 28 dollars to rent skis yesterday and I have a ski pass for the season that I think I bought for only 49 dollars or something also because I'm 70 which was great too.
However, this year I likely will still be mountaineering skiing in July and August they way things presently look with how much snow is on the mountain right now 20 to 30 feet I'm told at Bunny Flats and around 10 to 11 feet at the top of the ski Park and around 5 to 6 feet at the lodge at the ski park where they sell food and rent skis.
As my friend and I got on the ski lift I was noticing that the snow was pretty slippery yesterday so I could move through it even on the somewhat level much easier. If you are a skier you have to adjust to whatever snow conditions you find so even as you ski over to the lift you are assessing what the snow conditions are so you can stay alive and safe and have fun skiing that day.
Soon the light rain turned to snow because the temperature was 34 degrees and dropping. So, it became better and better snow each run we went down. But, I must say each run was an entirely different ski condition than the previous one because each time another inch or more of snow had come down.
When you are skiing when it is snowing I like to wear a Balaclava wool hat that covers my mouth if I want so my mouth and chin don't get cold from melting snow. Then I wear Goggles usually so that keeps snow off the rest of my face. And yesterday everyone pretty much was wearing a hood to keep the snow from going down your neck as it falls from the sky. But, wearing a hood also obstructs your side vision so you have to be careful if skiers or snowboarders are coming up on you from behind. But, there weren't many skiers or snowboarders yesterday which made it much safer to ski in also and made it more fun because with too many skiers or snowboarders in these conditions it could get much more dangerous very fast. So, it is important to think about these things as you prepare to ride up the lifts so you can have fun while staying safe.
In the middle of the night at around 3am I woke up and looked out my veranda and it was snowing but likely it only snowed a couple of hours before it turned back into rain again. So, today too much snow is going to come down at once for me to want to ski in it so today is a kick back day for blogging and spending time with friends and stuff.
The Ski park says they have about 9 inches of snow the last 24 hours which is about right because maybe 3 or 4 inches of snow came down while I was skiing yesterday.
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