Alta, UT 3/12/05

Admin

Administrator
Staff member
Whoooooosh!!

The story of the day: wind. Wind that's in your face. Wind that forces you to cower behind trees. Wind that kicks up old grains of snow that sandblast your face.

The wind started the day, and continued to build throughout the day. It was enough to shut down the tram next door at Snowbird. It was enough to mitigate the warm rays of the sun that never were able to soften the windward sides of the ridges.

As a result, this wasn't the best day, especially in view of a lack of new snow for the past 3 weeks. Company helped to salvage the day: Marc C, Sharon from these boards, and her friends Pam, Frank, Frank's kid Jordan, Amy, and Amy's friend John. We had a blast. Today was a day to follow the sun and base decisions accordingly, although plans were often foiled by the aforementioned wind. Things that you expected to soften never did. Runs of the day were in smooth, dry chalk on Baldy Shoulder, and in north-facing aspects on Greeley Hill, of all places. There's plenty of snow, but we need some fresh stuff. A cold front is due tomorrow, but moisture is expected to be lacking until late next week.

Photos are below. The poor bastich who took the group shot for us missed his shuttle bus as a result! But he refused a ride offered as a consolation.
 

Attachments

  • 07 alta group shot.jpg
    07 alta group shot.jpg
    49.6 KB · Views: 3,934
  • 06 alta collins.jpg
    06 alta collins.jpg
    40.3 KB · Views: 3,918
  • 05 alta baldy shoulder.jpg
    05 alta baldy shoulder.jpg
    31.9 KB · Views: 3,914
  • 04 alta blowing snow on baldy shoulder.jpg
    04 alta blowing snow on baldy shoulder.jpg
    42.6 KB · Views: 3,924
  • 03 alta supreme area.jpg
    03 alta supreme area.jpg
    46.1 KB · Views: 3,923
  • 01 alta greeley hill.jpg
    01 alta greeley hill.jpg
    38 KB · Views: 3,921
  • 02 alta albion basin.jpg
    02 alta albion basin.jpg
    46 KB · Views: 3,929
interesting Mt Superior avi video. What is the b.c. policy there ? Do they prosecute or " just" charge for b.c. rescue ?
Jon
 
jon":1kt7lj84 said:
Do they prosecute or " just" charge for b.c. rescue ?

I haven't heard of anyone being handed a bill, but that's not to say that it doesn't happen. As far as prosecuting, there's nothing to charge the person with -- that's USFS land across the street from Alta and Snowbird. There's no restriction against its use by backcountry skiers, and it's neither "opened" nor "closed." It's public land and not part of any ski area.
 
thanks for sharing that vid clip. :shock:

so i guess the backcountry isn't just all fresh powder turns?
there's actually real life consequences that actually happen to real people.
makes you want to go jump off cornices by yourself onto a 50 degree slope
without digging a pit or kicking the cornices doesn't it? big lines get you
big consequences if any prep get's overlooked. there's a few things overlooked here.
although, it looked like the guy might have had the skiing ability to take that line.
just not the brain. :x
 
Marc, I love that group pic. Can you send it to me?

I am currently working on my photos. I took over 700 photos in the last month...Alta, Snowbird, Brian Head/Cedar Breaks, Zion NP and over 600 from the Grand Canyon!!! There's hardly a bad shot, but I'll do what I can so that people can enjoy them w/o being overwhelmed.
 
Back
Top