Record October snow: out come the back country skis!

The Porphyry Lookout framed by snow-flocked trees

The view from the top, above the empty ski runs.  That's Yogo Peak in the distance.

Smoke rises from the Showdown slash piles from timber cleared to open new runs

 Over the weekend we got hammered by record snowfall in Great Falls, some 14.5 inches.

It was a wet, heavy snowfall that put our hiking to a stop (I hope for now!), delayed our annual trip to see the west side larch in color, but had the welcome effect of providing my first skiing of this (winter?) season.  Yes, I know that we'e only a month into fall.

In anticipation of the change of season, I had scraped, hot-waxed and tuned my skis.  I was anxious to use my new Scarpa T-4 boots, which I had purchased to replace my T-3s, which I've had for more than 20 years.  Though usable, my aged feet have spread out and I needed a bigger boot.

On Monday I took the skis out for a run around C.M. Russell Park and judged the waxing and tuning to be just fine.

On Tuesday, it was up to King's Hill.  I climbed to the top of Porphyry Peak, took a short run off the top of Big 7, and decided to come down from the Porphyry Lookout through the trees to Prentice and Golden Goose, instead.  I got my first turns of the season.  It had been cold and gloomy in Great Falls.  At the ski hill the clouds parted from time to time, showing the sun and illuminating the snow ghosts.  The snow was excellent because the moisture had consolidated it, providing a good base.  I saw four other skiers who, like myself, had skinned to the top.

It appears as though we're going to get hammered by two more cold pulses through the weekend, dropping lots more snow and sending the temperatures below zero.

Last year, we skied on Oct. 1 after a record Sept. 30 dump.  Winter never left until March.

It does seem as though the weather pattern has changed.