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Bring your scuba gear
It's known as snorkel snow. Snow so deep that when you
ski or board though it you can't breathe except by using a snorkel.
That's what Bridger Bowl, northeast of Bozeman Montana, has been
experiencing. Since Christmas Day, Bridger has recorded more than
100 inches of snow - that's more than 8 feet - venturing off into
the untracked requires scuba gear.
Too much snow!
There is one downside, however. Bridger received so much snow Friday
night that the staff couldn't even open the hill on Saturday. The
storm had dropped 59 inches at the top of the Alpine chair and 87
inches at the top of the Bridger lift. In one 24-hour period, Bridger
recorded 68 inches of snow, setting an all-time record. Prior to
Saturday, the biggest snowfall in 24 hours was 48 inches.
Avalanche control is the major concern for ski hills following such
storm problems. At Bridger Bowl there was so much blasting going
on to release the dangerous snowpack and it was so hard to break
a trail across the ridge to set the explosive charges that Bridger
didn't open on Sunday until 11:30 a.m. Despite the delay, the ski
hill counted 3,200 skiers and snowboarders eager to track the powder.
"The pent-up demand was there," Wales said. "Now people are happily
weary from all the powder skiing." On Monday, the demand continued
with Bridger counting more than 4,000 skiers.
Considerable
local snowfall
Red Lodge Mountain has measured more than 2 feet of snow since Christmas
Day, as has Big Sky Resort. Both mountains are not yet 100 percent
open. Red Lodge has, however, opened up one run down Palisades,
as well as the Palisades Quad chairlift.
Last season it was Red
Lodge that received a wealth of snow and had to close its icy access
road, barring most skiers from the hill. In February 2003 the ski
area racked up 10 feet of snow. Bridger Bowl, on the other hand,
was hurting in December but made up for it in February. Last year
the hill didn't even open until Dec. 26, cutting out about one-quarter
of the nonprofit ski hill's revenue.
'We had a fabulous February last year. We just had to be patient'
Wales said. Skiers shouldn't worry if they missed out, more snow
is forecast through the end of the week. That's money in the bank
for ski areas. 'Nothing sells like good old snow' Wales said.
[Source: Ifyouski]
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