Skiing, Inversions, Pollution, and All That

It's been an interesting break.  After hemming and hawing about whether or not to get out of Dodge, we decided that there was enough snow and decent enough air quality that we'd gut out Christmas week at home.  By and large, I think it was a wise decision.

The cross country skiing has been pretty decent and has provided a good cleansing of my aorta.  Back country skiing?  We got in a tour the day after Christmas.  I can't say the skiing was good, but it was an education for my son who had never been out on such a hair-trigger, high-hazard day before.  I made him suffer too, with a 2000 vertical foot climb through heavily brushed slopes to start the day.  It's important that youngsters recognize it's not all fun and games out there. 

We went up for a couple of high-speed laps at Alta this morning.  It was only my 2nd day of lift served this year.  Conditions were surprisingly good for carving.  I'm always amazed that when conditions here are about as bad as they can get, it's still far better than most of the good days I had when I lived in upstate NY.  That being said, it's incredible to think that Mineral Basin is still closed and probably will be through the 1st of the year, unless Snowbird has some real tricks up its sleeve.

Despite the poor off piste coverage, the coverage on the groomers was adequate and by 11, the corrals were full and there was stiff competition for Jerry of the Day honors.  After a few laps of human-breakaway-slalom, we decided to return home and get something done.

Which brings us to the weather.

Here's your pearl of wisdom for the day.  Don't count on a pattern change until you see the whites of its eyes.  Stop looking at the 10-day forecast and buy yourself a fat bike.  Alternatively, go to Jackson.

Now maybe you can provide me with some pearls of wisdom.  Is it just me or is this the weirdest inversion ever?  Remember all that fog, stratus, and pollution on Christmas Day and Boxing Day?  Well, the fog has dissipated, we just hit 44˚F at the airport, and the PM2.5 concentrations have been up and down like a yo-yo the past few days.

Source: DAQ

I'm sure there's still plenty of gunk behind the lake breeze where the cool air over the lake won't release the goods to the free atmosphere, but this situation is far better than I could have hoped a couple of days ago.  More time at the office is needed to decipher this riddle.  Comments on what's going on appreciated.