Sprinter season

Idaho skiers have been rejoicing at a lengthy season they call "Sprinter" - part spring, part winter. It's when the calendar says spring, but old man winter hangs on tenaciously.

I took advantage of a classic sprinter weekend to do my first camping trip of the year:


My site had great views of the squalls passing through the Boise Mtns. and western Sawtooths:


In true sprinter style, the weather changed drastically over short time periods. It would snow and graupel like winter for 10 minutes, and then the clouds would part and the strong April sun felt quite warm. But there was always another squall nearby:


I did a big tour on Saturday that included several seldom-traveled burns. Here is one of the three:


Skinning conditions on the south-facing climbs were excellent:


There wasn't much competition for fresh tracks:



A front blew through on Saturday evening that cleared out the squalls. The winds with the front effected the powder on N- and NW-facing slopes, but it also brought lower humidities that dried out the snow nicely. As a result, there was more good skiing on Sunday:




Dare we hope for sprinter before it finally warms up?

Jim