Warm weather and strong south winds hit us pretty hard yesterday afternoon and into the morning hours today.  The snow up high did set up and remains very firm.  If you are going to go into the backcountry today, we advise you to focus on covering ground and going from point A to point B and doing longer traverse type skiing. This will give you the best bang for your buck and overall enjoyment.  The downhill turns will be very difficulty today, with unbreakable crust and very technical skiing being required.   Have every trick in your arsenal for turn types today to include the handy jump turn, which will enable you to get down safely. To say the skiing will be tricky on the descent is an understatement today. With that being said, change up your focus and objectives for today and concentrate on just getting outside and enjoying the warmer weather.  If the sun stays out, chances are good that south facing aspects and lower elevations will soften today.  A mixed of bag of weather is forecasted for tonight and tomorrow morning.  Fingers crossed once again that we will get more snow than the mix and potential icing that is forecasted.  Stay tuned.  

Photo: Dennis Kramer