Spring is here! With the sun shining and the snow deep, this is my favorite time to be out on the slopes, enjoying a spring storm or carving up corn snow. Here are a handful of tips to help you make the most of your spring skiing. Oh, and don't forget your sunscreen!
1. When there's new snow, start early!
It often snows in March and April... a lot. In some places, they're two of the best months of the year for skiing. Less folks, great coverage, and lots of sunshine make for fun days on the slopes. But the Death Star will wreak havoc on our freshies if we don't get to them early. On spring pow days, start early with a plan. First, ski the slopes that face into the sun and then move along to the shadier runs at higher elevation to maximize cold snow.
2. Know your aspects.
When you don't have fresh snow to ski, get yourself in tune with the melt-freeze cycle. This is the daily melting and refreezing of snow that we begin to see right about now. On clear, sunny mornings, south and east facing slopes will begin to melt early, yielding great corn snow. North and west slope aspects melt later, so save them for the afternoon or when everything else is slushy.
Photo Credit- breckenridgeskirentals.wordpress.com
3. Tune your skis.
Ever feel like spring snow makes your skis glide about as well as a suction cup? Well that's because they probably are. Warm weather means wetter snow, which is not easily displaced by your fuzzy ski bases. If you're going to tune your skis once a year, do it now. Get a stone grind with the appropriate structure, some good wax, and a sharp edge that will hold on frozen snow.
4. Get high.
Take advantage of great access to all of Liftopia's high elevation ski areas! Making turns at the roof of the range is a unique and exhilarating experience. Mountains like Arapahoe Basin, Kirkwood, and Whistler are famed for their above treeline skiing. Get up there and work on your goggle tan.
Photo Credit- Araphoe Basin, araphoebasin.blogspot.com
5. Bring a picnic!
Spring is a beautiful time to be up in the mountains. Ditch the lodge, pack a lunch and spend the day cruising around some of the areas of your local ski hill that elude you in the winter. Some of my most memorable days at ski resorts have included a sunny, springtime adventure to a corner of the mountain that I've never before visited.
Take advantage of the warmer temps and longer days before the season ends! Enjoy unlimited spring skiing and riding until the end of the season with these sweet deals:
This post was originally published on the Liftopia blog.
By Mike Soucy, senior guide at Colorado Mountain School.