We came out to ski on my birthday, although the snow wasn’t much of a present. Icy groomers covered in marbles—yeesh!

We wandered the mountain like nomads looking for something that would hold an edge.

The only soft snow we could find was on the Christmas Tree run, a short, southeast-facing pitch. Unfortunately, the snowpack is so thin that anything that softens in the sun is also doomed to burn out in a few days.