Days 26-27: Just plain gorgeous weather.
If it's not going to snow I'll take bountiful sunshine with temperatures in the 30s, and that's precisely what we got this past weekend at Alta.
We had the same crew for both days -- Bobby Danger, AmyZ, rdwore, Telejon, Telejon's brother Malcolm, his nephew Devon, and yours truly, plus Skidog's triumphant return to action on Sunday and the occasional cameo appearance by Marc_C throughout the weekend. Saturday started out with a couple of inches of graupel that fell overnight and surprisingly changed things dramatically. It's as if the moisture in that snow sucked any stiffness out of the base underneath. Add to that the fact that the graupel refused to bind to itself, and everything was skiing rather plush and soft. You didn't even feel other tracks when you crossed them.
Somehow (and this one's for you, Evren! :lol
we managed to time the rope drop to Backside such that we actually laid the traverse out across Yellow Trail ourselves, yet somehow absolutely no one was following behind us. Really, we get to choose whatever fresh line out here we want? Zero competition for first tracks. I've never had that happen before, especially on the Saturday of a holiday weekend that turned out to be one of the busiest days thus far this season. We couldn't believe our good fortune. Malcolm, Telejon and I also set out to Devil's Castle for my first real visit to that terrain this season.
Sunday's hit of the day turned out to be High Stoner, which was covered in thick, deep sluff that no one else was skiing aside from a private lesson led by instructor J.W. who followed us in there and thanked me for it later. It was so good that we did it again...and again...and again (and I think again).
The population in LCC on Sunday was down markedly from Saturday's attendance, judging by the parking situations at both Alta and at Snowbird (which was parked bumper to bumper along the LCC Road on Saturday from Entry 1 to Entry 4, with some more cars even parked on the north side of the road near Dick Bass' former private residence, something I've never before witnessed.) Tyson's Slot was also a real winner on Sunday, with smooth, wind sifted chalk.
Aside from the occasional tiny refresher we're in a dry pattern for the foreseeable future, so Crocker must be headed this way! This weekend proved beyond a doubt, however, that even during a dry spell exceptional skiing may still be found with a little sniffing around.
If it's not going to snow I'll take bountiful sunshine with temperatures in the 30s, and that's precisely what we got this past weekend at Alta.
We had the same crew for both days -- Bobby Danger, AmyZ, rdwore, Telejon, Telejon's brother Malcolm, his nephew Devon, and yours truly, plus Skidog's triumphant return to action on Sunday and the occasional cameo appearance by Marc_C throughout the weekend. Saturday started out with a couple of inches of graupel that fell overnight and surprisingly changed things dramatically. It's as if the moisture in that snow sucked any stiffness out of the base underneath. Add to that the fact that the graupel refused to bind to itself, and everything was skiing rather plush and soft. You didn't even feel other tracks when you crossed them.
Somehow (and this one's for you, Evren! :lol
we managed to time the rope drop to Backside such that we actually laid the traverse out across Yellow Trail ourselves, yet somehow absolutely no one was following behind us. Really, we get to choose whatever fresh line out here we want? Zero competition for first tracks. I've never had that happen before, especially on the Saturday of a holiday weekend that turned out to be one of the busiest days thus far this season. We couldn't believe our good fortune. Malcolm, Telejon and I also set out to Devil's Castle for my first real visit to that terrain this season.Sunday's hit of the day turned out to be High Stoner, which was covered in thick, deep sluff that no one else was skiing aside from a private lesson led by instructor J.W. who followed us in there and thanked me for it later. It was so good that we did it again...and again...and again (and I think again).
The population in LCC on Sunday was down markedly from Saturday's attendance, judging by the parking situations at both Alta and at Snowbird (which was parked bumper to bumper along the LCC Road on Saturday from Entry 1 to Entry 4, with some more cars even parked on the north side of the road near Dick Bass' former private residence, something I've never before witnessed.) Tyson's Slot was also a real winner on Sunday, with smooth, wind sifted chalk.
Aside from the occasional tiny refresher we're in a dry pattern for the foreseeable future, so Crocker must be headed this way! This weekend proved beyond a doubt, however, that even during a dry spell exceptional skiing may still be found with a little sniffing around.