I was there to Ski. I was the first one ready to go in the morning, but had to wait for the crew. We got out the door and ended up having to jump my Mother's car for it wouldn't start. It took us 15 minutes to get to the mountain from the Cathedral Wood House, 15 minutes to find a spot, thankfully they had shuttles to bus us to the front.... where there was a line at 400m long extedning back the way we came... (why would you even drop us at the front when we would have to walk the quarter mile back to the end of the line)... thankfully those were all equipment renters, and we were eventually informed this so we found the tickets-only line but not after waiting another 20 minutes. Then we waited in THAT line for another 30 minutes.. Then once we had to put our boots on.. another 20 or so minutes.. by the time everyone was ready to go, I was so hyped up in anticipation, I ran out the lodge and quickly latched in just to wait another 30 minutes or so for the first lift up the mountain!
Man i was so tired of waiting, when we finally got to the top and began to go downhill, we decided to start with the black diamond before all the snow gets scraped to ice. Well, one in our crew decided he wasn't going to follow us down the steep slope, and kept riding the traverse.. So we ended up waiting again about 200 yards down slope until the point I had enough waiting and just ditched them.
I ended up skiing by myself all day until about 3 PM, skipping the lodge for lunch. I quickly grabbed the sandwiches prepared beforehand and ate in between runs on the chairlift. I believe had the most fun I think I could have had that day doing so. I had my music speaker bumping, my favorite green plant for the lifts up, and no lift lines because of the way the mountain slopes were designed. The mountain slopes funneled the majority of riders to the two main lifts on either side of the mountain, which i traced in black on the map below. In the middle, with the Green tracing, is where I spent the majority of the day. The lift line was at a minimal all day which allowed for run after run after run. I get they are green circles, which is the easiest, but with no one to navigate around, I could really open up and get some wicked speed. Must have gotten at least 20 runs in by 3PM before I met back up with my Mother and her boyfriend to ski with them. My legs were not ready for the workout they received. As I sit here typing this out, my back, neck and legs are giving me some achy feels.
So, I was able to avoid the massive crowds of newbs by staying to that lift most of the day. I must have witnessed 20 or so major wipe outs from all the new skiers an boarders. I myself went over the big roller, way faster than I should've and ended up way higher than expected and fell off to the right once I landed, thankfully was balanced enough to land on my skis correctly before bailing.
A beautiful day all around. Tickets were $67.. which were pretty expensive, but by ditching the crew I got my money's worth.
Ski Map Image Source: