Volume 9 - Is spring season the start or the end? DISCUSS THIS FEATURE HERE 23rd April 2003 Page 1 of 2 (page 2 here)

Continued from page 1....  

 
Stepping out of the Gondola Car at the summit of the Gondola, my digital camera managed to catch the above unique looking Gondola Car. This car is only activated when there are medical emergencies that require stretcher-based transportation to the base of the mountain. It is one of the perks of the job to learn more about the systems used for transportation at a mountain and all of the possible applications. Also quite impressive in my opinion is that such a car can be activated on short notice and included in the service without actually interrupting the regular flow of the other cars. Fortunately, on the day of the above photo, the car was in it’s usual standby position at the upper terminus of the Gondola.
  

  
The upper Gondola Terminus at ARAI is approximately 950 meters above sea level and to travel higher there is a quad chair available to take skiers and boarders to the peak. Until recently, this chair was limited to those with intermediate ability or above; However, with the addition of the Chandola even non-skiers and boarders can enjoy venturing up to the summit. Like the Emergency Gondola Car above, the Chandola can be activated at short notice, with the main difference being that the Chandola is used with a chair instead of a Gondola. The Chandola can fit four persons of a regular size. If you look closely at the photo, it can be seen that the extensive windows on either side of the car are intended to offer the Chandola’s passengers great views.

   
That day I took the regular quad chair to the summit. Looking back down towards the village, it was quite easy to make out that Mother Nature was beginning to show telltale signs of spring. Though the rice fields in the valley were still snow-covered, the trees in such areas were free of any snow; Furthermore, those trees at lower elevations (particularly cedar trees) were already more actively participating in the process of photosynthesis (the production by a green plant of special substances like sugar that it uses as food, caused by the action of sunlight on chlorophyll). Whereas, the trees at higher elevations in the photo show little signs of chlorophyll (the green substance in leaves being actively present). Naturally, these trees at higher elevations of the mountain also began to visibly show signs of photosynthesis as the season of spring progressed.

So, how was the skiing that day? I learned several years back that it really is a personal decision as to when the white season finishes - regardless of when a snow resort is scheduled to close. I’ve talked to some guests that seem to prefer spring-like conditions as opposed to the depths of winter, while others live for fresh powder. I am somewhere in-between the two extremes in that while I enjoy fresh powder, sunshine to go with it is much appreciated. On that day, though there was no fresh powder, sunshine was present and I was grateful to be able to get out on the slopes. The snow was a little bit sticky, so I decided not to venture into the conditional zones as I had on my previous expedition. One of the conditional zones still made for a good photo though, as can be seen below.
  

  
Spring on snow can sometimes be a little tricky as crevices appear at an ever-increasing pace. Though the good people on patrol are always looking for and marking crevices as they appear, it can be challenging to find each one in a timely manner - especially as each day of the spring season progresses. Thus, the mountain obviously caters more towards guests that can comfortably avoid such crevices despite also having to deal with snow conditions that are unstable. As a result, a number of the services at ARAI such as the Kids Programs usually finish well before the slated end of the white season. Factoring all of the above together at the end of that second outing made me realize that for me the skiing season had finished. Pretty wild, eh? The fact that while in early April I was personally done, other folks still plan to enjoy skiing at ARAI until well into May.