Day 4: A season opening that powder dreams are made of.
Alta opened today, two weeks behind schedule. However, when an opening like today's takes place, those lost two weeks are a quickly forgotten memory. Thanks to a storm that ended Tuesday after dropping 40" of snowfall (and another 4" from a weak wave overnight), I don't think that anyone regretted losing a few days of running laps on a single man-made WROD.
That's because huge swaths of the mountain opened today, including anything accessible from the High Traverse, all of Wildcat, and Ballroom/Baldy shoulder. Everything was pool-table smooth and untracked, and I swear to God that I hit absolutely nothing today that wasn't snow. We didn't get Backside today, but I'd place money that we will tomorrow. There was little visible reason to keep it closed other than to give weekenders a taste of the goodness.
Opening day is a giant homecoming for Alta regulars and employees alike. This is the kind of place where employees and customers both come for a season and stay for decades. Whether it's at the lifts or in the on-mountain restaurants, the same employees and passholders return year after year after year. It was great to see everyone again today, and I think that I exceeded my hug quota. Alta's employees and regulars are a good chunk of what makes Alta such a special place to ski, and I'm grateful for everyone I bumped into today.
AmyZ, Tom and I called it a day at 2 p.m. over beers at Goldminer's Daughter, long after Bobby Danger shuffled off to work at 11 a.m., when the place went from mobbed to empty as everyone else did the same. But the three of us had just finished with a High Boy LRP ("Last Run Protocol") that spent whatever remained in any of our early season legs.
On a side note, today was my first day in a new pair of boots, the 2017 Tecnica Zero G Guide.
My old Garmont Shoguns have 400-500 days on them, and are packed out and shot. I wandered over to my neighborhood ski shop late last Sunday on what was meant to be only an exploratory mission to try on some AT boots, and came home an hour later and nearly $600 poorer. But I've never experienced such an exceptional fit right out of the box and a bake. They're light, they're the perfect flex for me, and did I mention that they fit like a glove? I have zero sore spots after a full first day, and never experienced cramping all day, yet my foot was clamped like a vise. I stopped at the shop on my way home to rectify my only complaint, as I yearned for a few more degrees of ramp angle. I'll see how that fix works out tomorrow.
Alta opened today, two weeks behind schedule. However, when an opening like today's takes place, those lost two weeks are a quickly forgotten memory. Thanks to a storm that ended Tuesday after dropping 40" of snowfall (and another 4" from a weak wave overnight), I don't think that anyone regretted losing a few days of running laps on a single man-made WROD.
That's because huge swaths of the mountain opened today, including anything accessible from the High Traverse, all of Wildcat, and Ballroom/Baldy shoulder. Everything was pool-table smooth and untracked, and I swear to God that I hit absolutely nothing today that wasn't snow. We didn't get Backside today, but I'd place money that we will tomorrow. There was little visible reason to keep it closed other than to give weekenders a taste of the goodness.
Opening day is a giant homecoming for Alta regulars and employees alike. This is the kind of place where employees and customers both come for a season and stay for decades. Whether it's at the lifts or in the on-mountain restaurants, the same employees and passholders return year after year after year. It was great to see everyone again today, and I think that I exceeded my hug quota. Alta's employees and regulars are a good chunk of what makes Alta such a special place to ski, and I'm grateful for everyone I bumped into today.
AmyZ, Tom and I called it a day at 2 p.m. over beers at Goldminer's Daughter, long after Bobby Danger shuffled off to work at 11 a.m., when the place went from mobbed to empty as everyone else did the same. But the three of us had just finished with a High Boy LRP ("Last Run Protocol") that spent whatever remained in any of our early season legs.
On a side note, today was my first day in a new pair of boots, the 2017 Tecnica Zero G Guide.
My old Garmont Shoguns have 400-500 days on them, and are packed out and shot. I wandered over to my neighborhood ski shop late last Sunday on what was meant to be only an exploratory mission to try on some AT boots, and came home an hour later and nearly $600 poorer. But I've never experienced such an exceptional fit right out of the box and a bake. They're light, they're the perfect flex for me, and did I mention that they fit like a glove? I have zero sore spots after a full first day, and never experienced cramping all day, yet my foot was clamped like a vise. I stopped at the shop on my way home to rectify my only complaint, as I yearned for a few more degrees of ramp angle. I'll see how that fix works out tomorrow.
