The bet paid off,
http://www.alta.com/pages/report.php And more is on the way. The snow started wet and heavy so it stuck to the old crust. Then temperature dropped steadily all day as the snow continued, now light and dry. It skied like a dream and I never hit bottom all day.
Details
The LCC road was closed until 9 AM, longer than they said.
The Collins lift was closed, all day I believe. Sugarloaf, Cecret and Supreme were also closed for significant parts of the day. This led to lines at Sunnyside like I have not seen since snowshoe in the mid 80s.
It is one of the peak spring break weeks and ski school groups learning to ski powder were tracking up and cratering up Vail Ridge like I have never seen before.
Disastrous day? NO. I was struck by magic. It has happened a few times before and it is mysterious and inexplicable. Three times, I was gifted with incredible esthetic lines totally untracked. I've skied that area, the prow of the ridge, many times and it never happened like that. I'd decide on the fly to turn
here and suddenly a perfect hallway through the trees would open in front of me with rolls and drops formed by deep drifting. It was the best day of the season.