Over the past month and a half, snowstorms in the Sawatch have been few and far between.  Conditions up at Monarch have been an unpleasant combination of wind-blown hardpack and exposed rocks.  Not wanting to break bodies or equipment we’ve been doing far less skiing that we had hoped. In fact, over the past two weeks I’ve spent way more time riding my fat bike than my skis.  Then on Monday the high country got 5 inches of fresh powder and with the solid base already laid down we headed up to Monarch to check it out.