Solitude, UT 11/13/11

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Day 2: Powder day! \:D/

The second part of our one-two punch of a storm arrived around 3 am and was a bit bigger than expected. I'd been tossing around the idea of hitting up lift-served at Solitude or skinning at Alta with mbaydala, Skidog and Bobby Danger. I was partially dissuaded from the Alta option due to widespread reports of the collapsing of the snowpack on Saturday. I also knew that my leg conditioning would benefit more from skiing than from skinning. So, Solitude it was.

En route, however, I got a call from mbaydala. He'd inadvertently left his skins in the car of a woman who's in Mexico for 10 days. #-o So, Solitude it was for him, too.

I had to start from the Village today and at 9 a.m. there was virtually no one on the Apex chair.

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Everyone was riding Eagle Express. I was pleased to see so many folks enjoying day three of the season at Solitude today.

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The skiing was much better than I had a right to expect for Nov. 13. In fact, it was downright wonderful. The snow fell heavy and dense and covered hidden obstacles like cream cheese. Solitude's patrol kept a very open mind today and let us wander wherever we wanted as long as we didn't cross a rope or pass a closed sign. This meant that most of the front side was fair game today! No WROD!

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We tore up everything we could until I split at noon after my legs couldn't take it anymore. mbaydala was filming for Ski Utah, so check back in on this topic thread later today as he'll add the video here once it's done.
 
OK, I'm too damned impatient to wait for mbaydala to add this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PilAD6fDZI4[/youtube]

Mbaydala is the guy in the red jacket and green pants. I'm in the grey/gold jacket.

On a sad note, there have been reports of no fewer than 5 avalanches in Little Cottonwood Canyon this afternoon, four at Alta (including one in Gunsight that injured a 44-year-old man) and the fifth reportedly near Snowbird -- no precise location is available yet -- that killed a 38-year-man.

Let's be careful out there. It ain't deep yet, but it can still be deadly.
 
I'm not sure how to say this:

It's very sad about the man who died.

I'll reserve my enthusiasm about the skiing.

I enjoyed the pictures and the video.
 
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