Day 39: 54" of new 5% fluff = all-time powder skiing.
Well, it was all-time for me today as I couldn't ski yesterday when it was very clearly all-time for those few who actually made it up LCC. The road was closed from 5:45 p.m. Thursday until 8:45 a.m. Friday. Shortly thereafter, however, reportedly some joker with RWD or bald tires defied the 4x4/chain restriction and gummed up the works for everyone behind him. While that was happening, at 10:30 a.m. the road closed again when an avalanche reached the road, and it didn't reopen until 3:15 p.m. That meant that very few people made it up the canyon yesterday, leading to epic "country club" skiing in 45 inches of new 5% snowfall that reportedly skied armpit-deep. And I don't toss the word "epic" around willy-nilly.
Alas, I didn't have a chance to ski Thursday or Friday as a work obligation had me in a mandatory systems training seminar. ](*,) That meant that my first crack at it would be today after storm snowfall totals reached 54", although that four and a half feet of new snow had settled a bit overnight, so my armpits would have to stay above the fray.
Fortunately, very little opened yesterday. Backside/Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder remained closed since the start of the storm, and Supreme Lift stayed shuttered for the second consecutive day. I'd have my chance at the goods, and everything would click today to deliver those goods in spades.
After loading 7th chair on Collins we arrived at the top to find Backside already open. We were maybe 15th or 20th through the High Notch gate. However, as those ahead of us zigged left toward High Notch itself, Skidog and I zagged right onto an untracked Yellow Trail. Aside from having to break trail left above Glory Gulch, that may have been the best Backside I've ever had -- deep and untracked from the very top all the way down to Sunnyside.
From there we headed for Supreme for a couple of quick laps before it got crazy over there. After being closed for 2 days, Back 40 delivered as you'd expect that it would, and we showed Matt, a Canadian living in Louisiana whom I rode Supreme with, how to get in there. Hey, under the right circumstances we'll share! :wink: We even found some untracked lines right off the cat track into No. 9 Trees.
While we were at Supreme ASP opened Ballroom and Baldy Shoulder, but surprisingly by the time we got there, completely untracked lines were still available right down the middle of Ballroom!
And even at 12:15 p.m., we arrived atop my Secret Spot™ to find zero -- count 'em zero -- tracks. It was just as good the second time as we laid another set of tracks right next to our first set.
In fact, Mira, Sima, AmyZ and I were still scoring untracked lines in an incredibly obvious in-bounds spot right up until I quit at 3 p.m. -- a spot that's in plain view while riding Collins or while skiing one of Alta's busiest blue groomers, no less.
Yeah, I'm tired and satisfied.
Season to date snowfall: 412"
Current base depth: 138"
Well, it was all-time for me today as I couldn't ski yesterday when it was very clearly all-time for those few who actually made it up LCC. The road was closed from 5:45 p.m. Thursday until 8:45 a.m. Friday. Shortly thereafter, however, reportedly some joker with RWD or bald tires defied the 4x4/chain restriction and gummed up the works for everyone behind him. While that was happening, at 10:30 a.m. the road closed again when an avalanche reached the road, and it didn't reopen until 3:15 p.m. That meant that very few people made it up the canyon yesterday, leading to epic "country club" skiing in 45 inches of new 5% snowfall that reportedly skied armpit-deep. And I don't toss the word "epic" around willy-nilly.
Alas, I didn't have a chance to ski Thursday or Friday as a work obligation had me in a mandatory systems training seminar. ](*,) That meant that my first crack at it would be today after storm snowfall totals reached 54", although that four and a half feet of new snow had settled a bit overnight, so my armpits would have to stay above the fray.
Fortunately, very little opened yesterday. Backside/Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder remained closed since the start of the storm, and Supreme Lift stayed shuttered for the second consecutive day. I'd have my chance at the goods, and everything would click today to deliver those goods in spades.
After loading 7th chair on Collins we arrived at the top to find Backside already open. We were maybe 15th or 20th through the High Notch gate. However, as those ahead of us zigged left toward High Notch itself, Skidog and I zagged right onto an untracked Yellow Trail. Aside from having to break trail left above Glory Gulch, that may have been the best Backside I've ever had -- deep and untracked from the very top all the way down to Sunnyside.
From there we headed for Supreme for a couple of quick laps before it got crazy over there. After being closed for 2 days, Back 40 delivered as you'd expect that it would, and we showed Matt, a Canadian living in Louisiana whom I rode Supreme with, how to get in there. Hey, under the right circumstances we'll share! :wink: We even found some untracked lines right off the cat track into No. 9 Trees.
While we were at Supreme ASP opened Ballroom and Baldy Shoulder, but surprisingly by the time we got there, completely untracked lines were still available right down the middle of Ballroom!
And even at 12:15 p.m., we arrived atop my Secret Spot™ to find zero -- count 'em zero -- tracks. It was just as good the second time as we laid another set of tracks right next to our first set.
In fact, Mira, Sima, AmyZ and I were still scoring untracked lines in an incredibly obvious in-bounds spot right up until I quit at 3 p.m. -- a spot that's in plain view while riding Collins or while skiing one of Alta's busiest blue groomers, no less.
Yeah, I'm tired and satisfied.
Season to date snowfall: 412"
Current base depth: 138"
