Well, I wasn't convinced that Wednesday morning's snow showers would make it to my neck of the woods, so I was pleased as punch when the flakes started falling about midnight! The scant two inches of accumulation was welcomed by all concerned...especially after the shift we endured!
At the end, the three of us had every working machine on the mountain! Next downed cat, and somebody goes home. Tuesday night is the Graveyard Mechanic's night off, so we were on our own.
It was weird...the tractors all ran...but their tillers refused to work right, or refused to work at all... no tiller...no corduroy...no joy...All in all, we lost an hour or so of productive time, so the new snow saved our butts...
The storm postponed my Reno shopping trip, it'll be much more civilized Thursday!
When I woke up tonight, I checked all my weather stuff: Remote Sensors, Webcams, forecasts, blogs and AFDs. This dearth of winter weather has sharpened my weathermania to near-OCD levels...
This week will be another dry one...February 1st is the day the Water People measure the snowpack. Much better results than January's survey, the Tahoe Basin's snowpack is up to 37% of normal.
As you can imagine, business levels are off as well. Word came down this week that our hours are getting cut back to 36 hours a week....not good, my summer travel budget is shrinking!
We'll go back to full strength once we get another blast of winter...after another week or two of Conservation Mode.
These Low Snow Conditions are tough sledding. With reduced groomable acreage, the tendency is to groom everything you've got...the better to attract customers. This desire must be balanced against conserving the piste so we can stay open until the next storm finds it's way to My Mountain.
Skiing, snowboarding and grooming all use up a little bit of piste...nothing you'd notice in a day or two. However, when it's weeks between storms, you can't miss the signs of shrinkage.
It's Groundhog Day! Let's hope Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, we need six more weeks of Winter, just to catch up!
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