Alta, UT 1/8/12
- Thread starter Admin
- Start date
mrgskier":2xgkny4a said:
No, that would be Danger and Dwore. :wink:
Day 26: Another powder day.
As predicted, Baldy Shoulder opened during our second run this morning, with Backside following shortly thereafter, so it was a whole new set of freshies to be had today. I had two divine laps in Armpit before we moved on to Backside. By executing carefully we had untracked right up until I quit at 2:15 p.m. It was busier today than yesterday after word got out about yesterday, but still not uncomfortably so.
If that's a "B weekend," there aren't enough letters in the alphabet to reach what Mammoth's rated at right now.
Bobby Danger
New member
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amy-skidog -rdwore and i did one more after admin departed ,out yellow trail one last time for the day it's sometime after two thirty, didn't do anything different than the rest of the day . except for , i was about one third of the way across greely bowl with aforemetioned people when i noticed that the tracks abruptly went left at the top of gunsight gully , no one had skied gunsight gully all weekend , so we ended our last run with an un-tracked gunsight gully out to the flats. greatly enjoyed by all , the only run we didn't have a camera , sweetness in the gully proper!!!!!
amy-skidog -rdwore and i did one more after admin departed ,out yellow trail one last time for the day it's sometime after two thirty, didn't do anything different than the rest of the day . except for , i was about one third of the way across greely bowl with aforemetioned people when i noticed that the tracks abruptly went left at the top of gunsight gully , no one had skied gunsight gully all weekend , so we ended our last run with an un-tracked gunsight gully out to the flats. greatly enjoyed by all , the only run we didn't have a camera , sweetness in the gully proper!!!!!
I'm trying to remember when I said no expert terrain at Alta was open. :-k :-k :-k :-k :-k
I recall saying less than 90% of all terrain at Alta was open. That is still true. Is a powder day on half or 3/4 of Alta worthwhile? Of course. Admin may disagree with my definition of A vs. B, but B or even C does not mean "stay home." And yes, Mammoth rates a "D" after the Christmas crowds tore up the manmade base.
I've been loudly advocating Alta over Snowbird during this entire slow starting season. So it's hard for me to understand why admin thinks we have so much (really any) disagreement on the subject.
I recall saying less than 90% of all terrain at Alta was open. That is still true. Is a powder day on half or 3/4 of Alta worthwhile? Of course. Admin may disagree with my definition of A vs. B, but B or even C does not mean "stay home." And yes, Mammoth rates a "D" after the Christmas crowds tore up the manmade base.
I've been loudly advocating Alta over Snowbird during this entire slow starting season. So it's hard for me to understand why admin thinks we have so much (really any) disagreement on the subject.
Tony Crocker":rscp5f2j said:
just got home from mammoth. I guess a D makes sense but it's bad, groomers have rocks sticking out all over the place. I'll post some pics this week. I skied a few hours on Saturday and skipped skiing today to watch football. If youre paying for a day ticket it's an F and not worth paying for. They're trying hard it's just not fun.
jamesdeluxe
Administrator
The obvious crack is that those two need to get a room, but then we'd hear complaints about one of them not being able to sleep due to the racket from the other side of the suite.Skrad":3si8dox0 said:
That's my definition of a "D." Some people, like Patrick, will ski those conditions anyway. F would mean an area is closed.socal":3q83hrlg said:
Since when did
translate toTony Crocker":3q83hrlg said:
And while we're on the subject, I would call most of admin's pictures advanced terrain. Expert to me is Highboy, Gunsight, Eagle's Nest, Upper Cirque, etc.
remains an accurate description of those places. I'm sure Utah sidecountry skiers like admin know what the definition of "considerable" is. :stir:Tony Crocker":3q83hrlg said:
Even if 90% of Alta were open, which it's not, I'd have a hard time awarding an "A" when Snowbird is barely half open (or less, per admin).
Despite the nitpicking the feedback is useful. I have retroactively revised 3 reports to take Snowbird's percent open down to 50%. I am also giving Mammoth's last 2 weeks a D. I knew New Year's had to be bad but there were a couple of Forum reports putting a positive spin on last week. There were almost no rocks on the groomers Dec. 15-16 and socal's comments make it clear that they have not been able to restore that surface since New Year's.
Skrad":2wzqsibs said:
I was sort of thinking the same. Look at these pics from Mammoth last weekend, to use school as an analogy, just because you filled out all the answers on a test doesn't mean you can't still get the same grade as a kid who didn't bother to show up, you both Fail. The difference between WROD skiing and reasonably full covereage powder skiing seems pretty comparable to an A(or B I guess) and an F.
Chair 5
View from Canyon Lodge
Looking down the Face of 3 (wonder how long the reservoir will last)
Looking down from the top of 5
Bobby Danger
New member
god it needs to snow there soon , i didn't realize our southwestern neighbors were in such straits , thought you got some of those early storms . sad to see those kind of pics this time into the season. if it starts snowing here were screwed , there coming from both directions .
I would be surprised if Mammoth does not make snow whenever weather permits based upon the last lean season in 2007 and what I saw mid-December. That season had 6 inches November, 56 December but only 11 in January. There were no coverage issues on the snowmaking runs over MLK, and that included almost all of the lower mountain. But that January was extremely cold. This year is definitely tougher: 30 inches November, 2 December and most of the last 2 weeks have been too warm to make snow. As the easterners know, Christmas skier density and an all manmade snow base are a toxic combination for surface conditions.
For all of this, Tahoe is worse. 18 inches season to date at Squaw 8,000 and of course it's harder to make snow at the lower elevations at Tahoe than at Mammoth. Mammoth is 14% open, Squaw 2%. Shocking for January 9.
For all of this, Tahoe is worse. 18 inches season to date at Squaw 8,000 and of course it's harder to make snow at the lower elevations at Tahoe than at Mammoth. Mammoth is 14% open, Squaw 2%. Shocking for January 9.
That would be farther southwest. December snow totals: Big Bear 26, Arizona Snowbowl 49, Brian Head 43, probably more in New Mexico in view of Taos being 76% open on a 44-54 inch base at Christmas. The big December winner by a mile was Wolf Creek with 87 inches.BobbyDanger":1fkkboyd said:
Evren
New member
:shock: I had seen comments from people around the intertubes that only two to four runs are open at Squaw; still, I thought it may be a bit of a hyperbole by disappointed skiers. Apparently not.Tony Crocker":1envr9yy said:
Been doing a bit of rubbernecking, looking at the facebook pages for these and other resorts: every time the resort does a "Hey the snow is great, come on up!" post, there are 30 comments from disappointed skiers, setting the record straight.