Day 66: Apriluary.
If we didn't have much winter in February, I'll still take it in April. We picked up 8 inches overnight and another four during the day today, bringing base depths to a new season-long high of 119" and season-to-date snowfall to 448" as we creep up on the annual average.
Normally a cold pouring rain in the Valley this morning would bring the masses out to the slopes, but it's now late April and that simply didn't happen today as locals are losing interest and moving on to other activities. The Little Cottonwood Road was under 4x4/chain restrictions this morning (and for good reason as I watched one 2WD driver heading down this morning lose control and head into the ditch right in front of me), and Alta has scheduled limited operations of Collins and Sunnyside chairlifts only. The rain/snow line was down around B Gate this morning but crept upward to around 7,500 feet during the day, and what was falling was wet. Really wet. It was the kind of day that you feel damp and clammy all day even though with today's modern fabrics the moisture remained on the outside.
But Alta was closed Monday through Thursday this week, and the 20 or so inches that fell early in the week was left untouched and smooth. Put another 8-12 inches on top of that today, of which you were only surfing the top 4 inches thanks to its high density, and the skiing today was absolutely divine -- once we got to it, that is. Although Alta remained underutilized today control operations this morning delayed opening by 30 minutes, and as folks arrived and got in line the line for Collins just grew and grew. Ten minutes after opening, however, the line completely dissipated and chairs were essentially ski-on for the remainder of the day.
Management was apparently sensitive to the situation, as well as the fact that the avalanche closure of Baldy Shoulder meant that no one could reach the Wildcat terrain from Collins, so they fired up the Kitty for a couple of hours this morning for the few who wanted to ride it. That included our group comprised of Bobby Danger, Skidog, AmyZ, Telejon, Mbaydala, his friend Adam and later TheOtherAmy and Corey, and we scored run after run of untracked snow in Wildcat with very little competition whatsoever, but only after an untracked run down Santa Claus.
With Wildcat more or less done, and with Backside and Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder also closed we were fairly hemmed in. By 11:45 a.m. we decided to explore the "Sugarloaf Backcountry." On these bonus weekends when Sugarloaf isn't running, everything behind Germania Pass is designated backcountry terrain -- no control work, no lift service, no marking of hazards and no services. They do some limited grooming, usually just Devil's Elbow, but that's about it. Those who know Alta, however, know that you can still access virtually everything other than Devil's Castle and Supreme via gravity from Collins.
Devil's Elbow, which I usually try to avoid as it's typically the busiest blue groomer on any given day, was positively glorious with a couple of inches of untracked atop the groomed base -- as good as I've ever skied it. We, however, had other ideas, and branched left toward Chartreuse Nose. What we found defied logic: the entirety of Chartreuse Nose, from the top of Extrovert down to the Sugarloaf return from Backside, without a single track in it at 11:45 a.m. Nearly a foot of new snow atop 20-something untouched inches from earlier in the week. We couldn't believe our good fortune.
How can you not return to something like that for a second helping? By the time we skied out, took the rope tow around, rode Collins again and returned to the scene of our earlier plunder, the only tracks on Chartreuse Nose were still our own from the run before. We just kept repeating this, working our way a little further right each time, until Bobby and I split around 2 p.m.
Late April? No way! It's Apriluary! Or Februapril. Take your pick.
If we didn't have much winter in February, I'll still take it in April. We picked up 8 inches overnight and another four during the day today, bringing base depths to a new season-long high of 119" and season-to-date snowfall to 448" as we creep up on the annual average.
Normally a cold pouring rain in the Valley this morning would bring the masses out to the slopes, but it's now late April and that simply didn't happen today as locals are losing interest and moving on to other activities. The Little Cottonwood Road was under 4x4/chain restrictions this morning (and for good reason as I watched one 2WD driver heading down this morning lose control and head into the ditch right in front of me), and Alta has scheduled limited operations of Collins and Sunnyside chairlifts only. The rain/snow line was down around B Gate this morning but crept upward to around 7,500 feet during the day, and what was falling was wet. Really wet. It was the kind of day that you feel damp and clammy all day even though with today's modern fabrics the moisture remained on the outside.
But Alta was closed Monday through Thursday this week, and the 20 or so inches that fell early in the week was left untouched and smooth. Put another 8-12 inches on top of that today, of which you were only surfing the top 4 inches thanks to its high density, and the skiing today was absolutely divine -- once we got to it, that is. Although Alta remained underutilized today control operations this morning delayed opening by 30 minutes, and as folks arrived and got in line the line for Collins just grew and grew. Ten minutes after opening, however, the line completely dissipated and chairs were essentially ski-on for the remainder of the day.
Management was apparently sensitive to the situation, as well as the fact that the avalanche closure of Baldy Shoulder meant that no one could reach the Wildcat terrain from Collins, so they fired up the Kitty for a couple of hours this morning for the few who wanted to ride it. That included our group comprised of Bobby Danger, Skidog, AmyZ, Telejon, Mbaydala, his friend Adam and later TheOtherAmy and Corey, and we scored run after run of untracked snow in Wildcat with very little competition whatsoever, but only after an untracked run down Santa Claus.
With Wildcat more or less done, and with Backside and Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder also closed we were fairly hemmed in. By 11:45 a.m. we decided to explore the "Sugarloaf Backcountry." On these bonus weekends when Sugarloaf isn't running, everything behind Germania Pass is designated backcountry terrain -- no control work, no lift service, no marking of hazards and no services. They do some limited grooming, usually just Devil's Elbow, but that's about it. Those who know Alta, however, know that you can still access virtually everything other than Devil's Castle and Supreme via gravity from Collins.
Devil's Elbow, which I usually try to avoid as it's typically the busiest blue groomer on any given day, was positively glorious with a couple of inches of untracked atop the groomed base -- as good as I've ever skied it. We, however, had other ideas, and branched left toward Chartreuse Nose. What we found defied logic: the entirety of Chartreuse Nose, from the top of Extrovert down to the Sugarloaf return from Backside, without a single track in it at 11:45 a.m. Nearly a foot of new snow atop 20-something untouched inches from earlier in the week. We couldn't believe our good fortune.
How can you not return to something like that for a second helping? By the time we skied out, took the rope tow around, rode Collins again and returned to the scene of our earlier plunder, the only tracks on Chartreuse Nose were still our own from the run before. We just kept repeating this, working our way a little further right each time, until Bobby and I split around 2 p.m.
Late April? No way! It's Apriluary! Or Februapril. Take your pick.