Day 43: Timing is everything.
Along with positioning, that is. With a three-day storm total now reaching 44" and our base finally exceeding 100", demand was high. I had to be on my game and not screw up like I did yesterday. The Little Cottonwood Canyon Road was closed all night and was supposed to open around 8:30 a.m. I worked for a bit in the morning then headed out. Seeing the traffic backed up on Wasatch I took a back way that I know and got myself into the perfect position. I took a photo of my view watching the police turn people around at the roadblock. I can't post that photo as it would reveal too much, but let's just say that when the road opened I was perhaps the 20th car through the checkpoint and heading up the canyon. Score!
It therefore took no time at all to pass through the chain check and speed up the canyon. When I rolled into the Wildcat parking lot at 9:15 I was perhaps the 20th car to arrive. This was gonna be good.
AmyZ was right behind me but Tony Crocker wasn't, even though he left my house at the same time as me. He was to follow me but instead ended up following the wrong car on I-215, so he didn't get off at the 6200 S exit as he should have. #-o I gave him directions by phone and he was perhaps 100 yards away from where I was when the road opened, yet he didn't arrive at the hill until nearly 10am. Sorry, Tony -- no friends on a powder day.
In fact, I never connected with him all day. I kept calling his phone but it always went to voicemail -- I found out later that his phone battery had died. At one point I skied directly beneath him as he was riding Supreme. I screamed his name repeatedly from about 20 feet away but he somehow never heard me. Maybe his battery was dead too. :lol:
So instead AmyZ and I had everything to ourselves today. Skidog was off lapping Wildcat as we took our first few runs. The very first run featured something I've never skied before: a totally untracked, totally bottomless Sunspot. We just kept heading out the High T far enough to score another untracked line. Our deepest run didn't come until 2:30 p.m., and my very last turn of the day at 3 pm fittingly resulted in a face shot. It was really that good. Every single run featured untracked for nearly the whole vertical. Off the charts.
The road closed again after the morning crush, and folks largely left when the road reopened around 11 am. Shortly thereafter the road unexpectedly closed again, presumably because something avalanched naturally. Reopening time was "TBA." If I couldn't get to the office I'd just move my office to Alta. I had brought my work computer with me, and settled in to get some more work done in GMD before heading back out for a few afternoon runs. That's when they opened Supreme Bowl, and everyone who was there gravitated to Supreme. After one run there it was clear to us that we'd get better snow by heading elsewhere and against the crowd mentality...and it worked like a charm. \/
Awesome day. Period.
Along with positioning, that is. With a three-day storm total now reaching 44" and our base finally exceeding 100", demand was high. I had to be on my game and not screw up like I did yesterday. The Little Cottonwood Canyon Road was closed all night and was supposed to open around 8:30 a.m. I worked for a bit in the morning then headed out. Seeing the traffic backed up on Wasatch I took a back way that I know and got myself into the perfect position. I took a photo of my view watching the police turn people around at the roadblock. I can't post that photo as it would reveal too much, but let's just say that when the road opened I was perhaps the 20th car through the checkpoint and heading up the canyon. Score!
It therefore took no time at all to pass through the chain check and speed up the canyon. When I rolled into the Wildcat parking lot at 9:15 I was perhaps the 20th car to arrive. This was gonna be good.
AmyZ was right behind me but Tony Crocker wasn't, even though he left my house at the same time as me. He was to follow me but instead ended up following the wrong car on I-215, so he didn't get off at the 6200 S exit as he should have. #-o I gave him directions by phone and he was perhaps 100 yards away from where I was when the road opened, yet he didn't arrive at the hill until nearly 10am. Sorry, Tony -- no friends on a powder day.
In fact, I never connected with him all day. I kept calling his phone but it always went to voicemail -- I found out later that his phone battery had died. At one point I skied directly beneath him as he was riding Supreme. I screamed his name repeatedly from about 20 feet away but he somehow never heard me. Maybe his battery was dead too. :lol:
So instead AmyZ and I had everything to ourselves today. Skidog was off lapping Wildcat as we took our first few runs. The very first run featured something I've never skied before: a totally untracked, totally bottomless Sunspot. We just kept heading out the High T far enough to score another untracked line. Our deepest run didn't come until 2:30 p.m., and my very last turn of the day at 3 pm fittingly resulted in a face shot. It was really that good. Every single run featured untracked for nearly the whole vertical. Off the charts.
The road closed again after the morning crush, and folks largely left when the road reopened around 11 am. Shortly thereafter the road unexpectedly closed again, presumably because something avalanched naturally. Reopening time was "TBA." If I couldn't get to the office I'd just move my office to Alta. I had brought my work computer with me, and settled in to get some more work done in GMD before heading back out for a few afternoon runs. That's when they opened Supreme Bowl, and everyone who was there gravitated to Supreme. After one run there it was clear to us that we'd get better snow by heading elsewhere and against the crowd mentality...and it worked like a charm. \/
Awesome day. Period.