Another good day today with the recent snow adding an excellent fresh coating to the firm base, giving good conditions. While the Cas carpark was better filled today, the hill was still very quiet (the Fiacaill Ridge Poma, Shieling Platter Lift, and Daylodge Poma didn't run as a result, and the White Lady T-Bar only opened at midday), with generally queues of only 3 or 4 people.
The West Wall Poma is still out of action, so today snowsports were only underway in the Coire Cas side of the hill, though the Ciste Gully, Aonach Bowl and East Wall areas remain complete. It takes approximately 20minutes to hike out from the foot of the West Wall Poma up Over Yonder.
There is great snow in the Cas, with the runs wide and complete. The Chicken Gully was one of the best runs of the day, and while there was a rock or two up at the top beside the entrance in the fence, these seemed to only act as a deterrant, as the run itself had no rocks at all, and offered untouched fresh powdery snow. There's a drop-off to get in, and after numerous runs we'd more or less ridden out all of the fresh (sorry).
At the end of the day 3 of us decided to hike the Cas Headwall again, this time shouldering the skis from the top of the Cas T-Bar, rather than from the Ptarmigan. Took us about 15 minutes to get up. The snow on the Headwall itself was firm, and softened as you went down. Rocks aren't an issue, not even on the flat section, unless you go off nearer the craggier part of the Headwall.
The Ptarmigan Bowl terrain park has 2 flat rails, one for beginners, another for intermediates, and a flat-down rail for experts. There is also a small kicker. The Fiacaill Ridge Run offers 4 tame rollers. There are 3 more custom built rails and funboxes expected to be introduced this week sometime, and there are numerous other natural hits and drops around the mountain.
