Hatcher delivers again

    

photo courtesy of someone with fancy new phone

     So: day off + possibility of sunshine + possible snow in mountains = I'm going to try and ski.  With no word of decent snow in Turnagain Pass or Girdwood way I set my eyes on Hatcher Pass.  I got two others to place their bets with mine on getting in some turns out there.  The weather was shaping up to be perfect as we left: mostly clear skies and calm. 
     I started to get worried as we approached the parking lot because I was seeing less snow than last week and it was higher up with evidence of both wind and melting.  The slopes were not looking ski-friendly.  I was on the verge of severe irritation because we had just driven over an hour on our good-weather day off and I was thinking I might have to accept the outcome of an Andy-plan gone bad.
     Less than optimistic, we headed up to the pass to see what we could see.   We ascended on crusty rime, no sign of powder and thin conditions.....a nice hike with skis on?  We got to the top and looked for any signs of decent snow and found some on the east aspects of April bowl.  We traversed the ridge over there and put in a few laps in some pleasant conditions.  We skied on a thin, light-weight, soft windblown snow layer that allowed for some cushy carving without that horrible noise of edges on ice. 
     We enjoyed pretty much perfect weather, great views of snow-capped Chugach peaks, cool clouds, a few fun runs, we got exercise, dogs got exercise and we managed a ski down almost to the car.  That'll certainly do.  When are we going to get a dumping?