Bring On The Crust! Guest Post

A guest post by Kirsten!

Crusting is here!

The sun is out, it's above freezing, but below freezing at night.  March skiing at its finest!  The groomed base (groomed two days ago) freezes rock hard at night.  In the morning, the melting snow ices over, forming a hard crust.  If you catch it before the sun gets too high, you can get in some super fast skiing, the fastest of the season.

I went out to the Tech trails this morning to try it out.  Indeed it was fast.  Where the sun was shining, the snow was just beginning to soften.  In the shade, glazed and rocket ready!  Fun, fun, fun, the trails flew by, and I was done before I knew it.  The temp was just under 40.  Any later in the day and it would turn to mush.  Good timing, for me.  Earlier, and the entire route would have been a glaze, making it treacherous.  Just as I would feel on the verge of losing control on the glaze, a sunny spot of snow would appear and allow me to regroup.  Then on to more glaze.

A year ago, I left Lansing and arrived home in Houghton to stay.  It was at the end of March.  The melt had started, but mid-March storms had extended the ski season.  I skied from the end of March until April 27.  How long will crusting last this year?  I believe that this week is a teaser, and that we will have more storms before winter is over.  However, I'm going to take advantage of these spring conditions while I can!