New Snow Reported by Resort ? 9 cm
New Snow Observed on Mountain ? approx. 9 cm (3-4 inches)
Surface Conditions ? Some Powder /  Mostly Chowder
Sky ?  sunny breaks / a few flurries
Temp ? near freezing at the base, upper 20s F at summit
Skiers ? Jay, Dave, Erica, James, Chris, Ben
Runs / Vertical Skied - 8 / 14,000?

 This was our final day of skiing, and it was also the day that provided the nicest views since the skies were only "partly" cloudy.  It was also a good chance to catch up on areas of the mountain that we wanted to hit again, or explore for the first time.  Since I had experienced some delamination in my regular skis during the previous ski day, I took the opportunity to try out some fat skis.  They were available for demo right at the base of the lift, so I got to try out some Atomic Powder Eights.  They were short, wide, and had very little if any sidecut.  It would be an interesting experience.
 We arrived at the top of the Granite chair and immediately took some much needed pictures with a bit of blue sky and mountains in the background.  We got great views of Mt. Roberts, and could really see the steep terrain that existed near the top of the peak.  After a run in the Paradise area, we headed out again along our favorite traverse to Mt. Roberts.  Along the way on our traverse, we ran into some telemark & alpine trekker skiers getting their skins set up for a hike higher up on Mt. Roberts.  They headed up into the higher forest as we continued on the normal traverse.  We enjoyed some fun turns in the powder after our traverse, although the snow was not quite as fresh and light as the previous day.  At lunchtime, Ben, James, Dave and Chris got huge cheeseburgers that were being cooked outdoors at the mid-mountain Paradise lodge.  All I recall is that they were big, had lots of extras, and were pretty inexpensive.  On a subsequent run off the Paradise chair, we were able to look across from near the top of Granite, and see skiers descending the upper steep slopes of Mt. Roberts.  Now seeing actual skiers up there, you could really get a feel for just how steep it was.  It certainly looks like some awesome terrain in very close proximity to the lifts.
 Near the end of the day, Chris, E and I headed down to ski Red Mountain proper.  It seemed like a shame to visit the Red Mountain ski area and never get a chance to ski the peak that gave it its name.  After skiing all the way to the base of Granite, we hopped on the old erector set-style double that would take us to the top of Red.  Even though Red is lower than Granite (summit 5208’) and offers less vertical (1420’) it contains some nice steep terrain.  I spoke with a local snowboarder earlier in the trip that had just come over from Red to Granite.  He commented that due to the low elevation, a lot of people stayed away from Red itself, and that meant lots of untracked.  The heavier snow wasn’t as much of a problem on his board, and there were lots of steep shots and big drops for snowboarders to hit.  He informed me that Red also offers 360 degree skiing like Granite, but you had to be a bit more careful about straying too far off the back.  Chris, E and I came down the front side of Red and found nice steep groomed trails, as well as fun ungroomed areas.  The snow was certainly heavy, but I had a great time even on the ungroomed with the fat skis.  After that run, we headed over to the T-bar for our final run.  I headed to the skier’s right off the T-bar to get some of the untracked that was still available with a short traverse.  James reported that the other members of our group that stayed up on Granite had a blast in the Ledges area, but unfortunately I don’t have the details of their exploits.

On to the pictures!