Final weekend for a bunch of areas, including one of our webcam favorites which is Michigan’s Caberfae Peaks. They’re banging it up this Sunday, although as you can see from today’s photo above they are still in excellent shape and more snow is expected through the weekend…in Colorado it’s better late than never as both Arapahoe Basin and Steamboat both reporting snow yesterday and 7″ overnight…same deal down in New Mexico, Taos reporting 5″ of fresh yesterday…up in Oregon, Anthony Lakes still skiing on five feet of base; they’re open this weekend and next…Whiteface New York open through Sunday and then shutting down with the best snowpack they’ve had all season. Sometimes ski areas make me scratch my head in wonder, and I have to say Whiteface and the other ORDA areas lead the league in head scratching…regret to report that 72-year-old George Constantine of Denver died after hitting a tree on Peak 9 at Breckenridge last Friday. “He was helmeted at the time of the incident. He collided with a tree while skiing and died of exsanguination due to blunt force trauma injuries,” sez the Summit County Coroners Office. I had to look up exsanguination, wish I hadn’t…thoughts and prayers are with 30-year-old Bryce Newcomb of Jackson, WY who fell some 1,000 feet Tuesday after a cornice gave way in a backcountry area outside the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Newcomb was airlifted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho, where he was listed in critical condition…couple years ago we reported on a lawsuit involving Ski Liberty in Pennsy, brought by Maryland resident Quan Vu who was severely hurt at Liberty after skiing into a pile of rocks. U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III dismissed the suit, saying “Mr. Vu’s injuries were caused by an inherent risk of downhill skiing,” and that the the complaint is barred under the inherent risk doctrine in Pennsylvania’s Skier’s Responsibility Code. Mr. Vu claims he was on the Lower Heavenly trail and went off the trail to avoid being slammed by a snowboarder. Vu suffered 21 broken ribs, punctured lungs, shattered hip, fractured skull, lacerated liver, spinal damage, nerve damage, vision problems and a separated shoulder. Fed Judge sez avoiding other skiers is one of the risks…on to a sad but much more pleasant topic, we bid a fond farewell to baseball great Rusty Staub. Truly one great man. All star player, just shy of Hall of Fame credentials. Fact is he worked tirelessly at charitable causes during his retirement, worth remembering during the Easter/Passover season.