All Over Utah, 1/5-13/2002

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OK, I'm positively buried up to my, uh ... armpits here at work after being out for 11+ days. However, here's the quick recap:

Brian Head 1/5-6/02: Short, predominately intermediate mountain when the hike-to terrain on Brian Head Peak lacks sufficient cover as it did these days. Word of wisdom to the uninitiated: don't venture off-piste with insufficient base (approx 35" while I was there) as I did. They've got sharp scree in them thar woods. Or, what woods are left - the spruce beetle has positively decimated the place, to the point where it looks like a moonscape. Nearby Cedar Breaks National Monument looks like a Mars-scape in its own way. Tons of backcountry opportunity off the backside with an easy car pickup. Bottom line: they need more snow, and this was *before* the week's big warmup.

Elk Meadows 1/7/02: I was *the* only overnight guest at the resort, albeit in the most spectacularly gorgeous digs that I've ever had the pleasure of bedding down into. Down comforters, private jacuzzi, 35" TV, hardwood floors, natural log walls, a full-size kitchen, and professional decorating in an indian motif. If they sold 6 lift tickets on Monday, they sold 1,000. Nothing like having your own private ski area! Better snow than Brian Head, and better terrain, too. Small, but fun. Big ideas, hope they have a big wallet to go with them because they're only doing 20,000 annual skier visits right now. They're talking about hotel rooms where they can individually adjust the oxygen content to match the elevation of the guest's own home. If their plans come to fruition, they'll connect both halves of the existing ski area, venture above timberline to two adjacent peaks and have a vertical around 2,400 feet. Bottom line: decent cover on good, chalky snow, with everything open.

Alta 1/7-8/02: Alta - 'nuf said. I've never liked a ski mountain quite as much as Alta - she hides her goods exceptionally well. The skiing was extraordinary - even in view of the fact that no significant snow has fallen since 12/20. Catherine's Pass, Jitterbug, and Thirds were steep chalk. It was 40 degrees already at the base while we ate breakfast at Alta Lodge.

Snowbird 1/8-9/02: It rained here Sunday up at least as far as mid-Gad. Everything was stiff, even the groomers - it didn't set up and refreeze from Tuesday's warmth until *after* grooming, rendering a rock hard surface that still looked like unblemished corduroy at 4 pm. The only true goods found that day were to far skiers' right in Mineral Basin, both within and just outside the boundary ropeline.

Solitude 1/9-10/02: Good untracked sludge skiing was found in the upper reaches of Honeycomb Canyon, graduating to thick crust in the lower reaches before a bulletproof ice skate back on the return trail. Anything previously skied was scratchy, but the groomed was in good shape in most places, with a very few spots hard & fast.

Brighton 1/11: Alas, after repeated freeze-slight thaw cycles all week, nothing other than the groomers could be honestly recommended. I did one woods run in the steeps below the top of the Crest Express, and it was nothing to write home about.

Powder Mt. 1/11-12: By now, the old snow game was getting really old. Solidly breakable crust on anything ungroomed. We did one of the "bus runs" behind the resort, and it was a challenge to try and outrun the crust fragments cascading down the hill ahead of me after each turn. The "cat skiing" ride turned out to be on the one groomed track down from Lightning Ridge after the crust over there proved too thick to pull free of. Such a pity, as this place would be powder pig heaven on a good day.

Snowbasin 1/13: Eastern skiing. More tower guns than trees. Manmade snow all over the hill was yellow as a result of sediment that they can't get rid of in the snowmaking wells - on TV during the Olympics it oughtta look like a bunch of avi dogs peed all over the downhill and Super G courses.

Highlights:
1) Sitting down next to an elderly gentleman at our Snowbird breakfast table, and introducing myself to him. He shook my hand and replied, "Hi Marc, nice to meet you - I'm Junior Bounous." After my slackjaw reverted to my normal position, he joined us for a full day of skiing. At 76, this boy can still rip! I was honored to be in the shadow of a living piece of skiing history for a day.

2) Following "Alta diva" Kiersten Puusemp around for the whole week. Damn, can she ever ski. And as Powder mag wrote of her day with them in the heli at Diamond Peaks, she has "a smile seemingly too big to fit into the helicopter." Her knowledge of Alta rivaled a day 5 years ago when I was led about by a friend who was ski bumming for a year by working at the Rustler. You need guide service like that at Alta if you lack the local knowledge yourself, and Kiersten delivered big.

3) Skiing the Olympic Downhill courses at Snowbasin. Those runs are going to be tough - steep fall-away turns, and a start that should have them up to 70 mph in a matter of seconds. I stood at the start shack, contemplated the thought of only 3 gates before the course's only flat spot some 400 verts below me, and nearly peed my pants.

Lowlights:
1) The old snow. They need fresh stuff, bad! Coverage was good, save for at Brian Head, but it definitely needs to be freshened up by a foot or two of new. When it does fall, though, that crust will form an incredibly weak layer for a good, long while.

2) My inauspicious entry to Glory Hole, which last Tuesday required a 6-foot ledge hop onto a washboard below. Successfully negotiated the ledge hop, but not the washboard, resulting in a cartwheel down the steep apron. At least I provided a show for those on the Sugarloaf chair.

3) Skiing the interconnect between Alta and Snowbird for the last run on Tuesday. They were going to shuttle our luggage from the Alta Lodge to the Lodge at Snowbird via van, so some of us opted to ski over instead. The south-facing terrain leading down to the Mineral Basin lift from the Sugarloaf Pass was rock-hard, and Kiersten dowsed a route which found us atop a cliff band with only bulletproof ice gullies to descend between the rocks. It was truly survival skiing, and everyone resorted to sideslipping it. It was skiing at its worst, and after that we never let Kiersten forget her choice of routes for that run.

4) The Olympic hype. The concept of the Mormon Games has already exceeded the reality. After all, it's only *one day* to shine. The World Cup, by contrast, is for a whole season.

5) The old snow canned my day in the heli at Diamond Peaks. Instead, I got to spend the day slipping and sliding on rounded edges over manmade crap at Snowbasin. Happy happy joy joy.
 
Finally got some photos to add to this report - better late than never, eh?? <BR> <BR>Also, earlier this week we debuted the <I>Bountiful Utah!</I> video which was filmed entirely on this trip. See <A HREF="http://www.FirstTracksOnline.com/video.shtm" TARGET="_blank">http://www.FirstTracksOnline.com/video.shtm</A> to access it. <BR> <BR>Note about upcoming content here at <FONT FACE="comic sans ms">First Tracks!! Online</FONT>: while new images will be added to <A HREF="http://www.FirstTracksOnline.com/powdermt.htm" TARGET="_blank">our recent story on Powder Mt.</A>, updated features will soon be added on each of the other resorts. See <A HREF="http://www.FirstTracksOnline.com/skiexpmenu.htm" TARGET="_blank">http://www.FirstTracksOnline.com/skiexpmenu.htm</A> for our full complement of resort feature articles. <BR> <BR>Anyhow, here are the stills: <BR> <BR>Brian Head Peak on 1/5/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1358.jpg" ALT="Brian Head Peak on 1/5/2002"> <BR> <BR>One of Brian Head's busier intermediate runs 1/5/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1359.jpg" ALT="One of Brian Head's busier intermediate runs 1/5/2002"> <BR> <BR>Great trail name at Brian Head 1/6/2002!: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1360.jpg" ALT="Great trail name at Brian Head 1/6/2002!"> <BR> <BR>Elk Meadows plans to someday expand their terrain to Lake Peak, seen in the background 1/7/2002. For now, it provides excellent backcountry opportunity: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1361.jpg" ALT="Elk Meadows plans to someday expand their terrain to Lake Peak, seen in the background 1/7/2002. For now, it provides excellent backcountry opportunity"> <BR> <BR>North America's longest tubing run, at Elk Meadows 1/7/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1362.jpg" ALT="North America's longest tubing run, at Elk Meadows 1/7/2002"> <BR> <BR>Some of Elk Meadows' steeper terrain 1/6/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1363.jpg" ALT="Some of Elk Meadows' steeper terrain 1/6/2002"> <BR> <BR>One sick access road to Elk Meadows 1/7/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1364.jpg" ALT="One sick access road to Elk Meadows 1/7/2002"> <BR> <BR>Alta's purple mountains' majesty 1/8/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1365.jpg" ALT="Alta's purple mountains' majesty 1/8/2002"> <BR> <BR>Lining up atop Jitterbug, off Alta's High Traverse 1/8/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1366.jpg" ALT="Lining up atop Jitterbug, off Alta's High Traverse 1/8/2002"> <BR> <BR>Richard Weir of the NY Daily News skis Jitterbug at Alta 1/8/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1367.jpg" ALT="Richard Weir of the NY Daily News skis Jitterbug at Alta 1/8/2002"> <BR> <BR>SLC is buried in an inversion layer, as seen from Snowbird 1/9/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1368.jpg" ALT="SLC is buried in an inversion layer, as seen from Snowbird 1/9/2002"> <BR> <BR>Mineral Basin at Snowbird 1/9/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1369.jpg" ALT="Mineral Basin at Snowbird 1/9/2002"> <BR> <BR>Mt. Superior, as seen from Snowbird 1/9/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1370.jpg" ALT="Mt. Superior, as seen from Snowbird 1/9/2002"> <BR> <BR>Honeycomb Canyon at Solitude 1/10/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1371.jpg" ALT="Honeycomb Canyon at Solitude 1/10/2002"> <BR> <BR>Solitude's new Intrawest-built village 1/10/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1372.jpg" ALT="Solitude's new Intrawest-built village 1/10/2002"> <BR> <BR>Wolverine Cirque, as seen from the Solbright connector trail 1/11/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1373.jpg" ALT="Wolverine Cirque, as seen from the Solbright connector trail 1/11/2002"> <BR> <BR>The Heber Valley, as seen from Brighton 1/11/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1374.jpg" ALT="The Heber Valley, as seen from Brighton 1/11/2002"> <BR> <BR>Brighton 1/11/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1375.jpg" ALT="Brighton 1/11/2002"> <BR> <BR>Powder Mountain's Lightning Ridge snowcat skiing area 1/12/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1376.jpg" ALT="Powder Mountain's Lightning Ridge snowcat skiing area 1/12/2002"> <BR> <BR>Some of Pow Mow's "Powder Country" bus access area 1/12/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1377.jpg" ALT="Some of Pow Mow's "Powder Country" bus access area 1/12/2002"> <BR> <BR>Snowcat skiing, Northern Utah-style at Powder Mountain 1/12/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1378.jpg" ALT="Snowcat skiing, Northern Utah-style at Powder Mountain 1/12/2002"> <BR> <BR>James Peak at Powder Mt. 1/12/2002 (the snow looks much, much softer than it was!): <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1379.jpg" ALT="James Peak at Powder Mt. 1/12/2002"> <BR> <BR>Powder Mt.'s "base" area 1/12/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1380.jpg" ALT="Powder Mt.'s "base" area 1/12/2002"> <BR> <BR>No trip to the Ogden Valley would be complete without a stop to the Shooting Star Saloon: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1381.jpg" ALT="No trip to the Ogden Valley would be complete without a stop to the Shooting Star Saloon"> <BR> <BR>The view from the start house of the Olympic Men's Downhill at Snowbasin 1/13/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1382.jpg" ALT="The view from the start house of the Olympic Men's Downhill at Snowbasin 1/13/2002"> <BR> <BR>Strawberry Ridge at Snowbasin 1/13/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1383.jpg" ALT="Strawberry Ridge at Snowbasin 1/13/2002"> <BR> <BR>Mt. Ogden @ Snowbasin 1/13/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1384.jpg" ALT="Mt. Ogden @ Snowbasin 1/13/2002"> <BR> <BR>Snowbasin's new Olympic day lodge 1/13/2002: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1385.jpg" ALT="Snowbasin's new Olympic day lodge 1/13/2002">
 
Nice Report....Glad you stopped at Solitude. <BR> <BR>Junior Bounous Collection <A HREF="http://www.lib.utah.edu/spc/photo/p389/p389.html" TARGET="_top">http://www.lib.utah.edu/spc/photo/p389/p389.html</A> <BR> <BR> <BR><A HREF="mailto:DAVE@RCN">DAVE@RCN</A>
 
Thanks for the link to the Junior Bounous Collection, Dave. There are some great photos also in Alan Engen's latest book <I>First Tracks: A Century of Skiing in Utah</I>. <BR> <BR>Here's a photo of Junior taken last week on Snowbird's tram dock. He also appears skiing in two scenes in our <I>Bountiful Utah!</I> <A HREF="http://www.FirstTracksOnline.com/video.shtm" TARGET="_blank">video</A>. <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1389.jpg" ALT="Junior Bounous">
 
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