Alta, UT 2/5/2017

Day 33: Hello, Devil's Castle!

Thank you ASP for giving us another round of freshies today by making Devil's Castle safe for us to ski. With this much snow, the hike out follows a much higher line than I'm used to.







I never felt the base once. It was so good that once I popped out, I loaded Supreme to get some more of the goods from the other side via the Apron Gate.

This afternoon it was all about West Rustler, with its pool-table smooth sifted chalk. People were ripping it up with huge smiles. We lapped Santa Claus and Jake's repeatedly.

After this weekend, I'm spent. Seriously.

This week is going to feature more weather wickedness...an astonishing 4-7" of liquid equivalent by next weekend, according to wasatchsnowforecast.com. We should have full reservoirs and plenty of toilet-flushing water this summer! Rain/snow lines will be high most of this week (up to 8,500 feet, which is pretty much the base of Alta), but Friday's storm will feature a trailing cold front that should drop snow densities at the tail end and make things right-side up. Yes, ma'am...I'll take another three feet, please.

Current base: 101"
Season-to-date snowfall: 318"

Gotta go, the hot tub's calling.

So my arrival on Wed, Feb 15 is looking pretty good?

Long-range projections look dry ~Feb. 12-17. You'll have plenty of cover, but freshies remain questionable.

Admin":208os3n2 said:

This afternoon it was all about West Rustler, with its pool-table smooth sifted chalk. People were ripping it up with huge smiles. We lapped Santa Claus and Jake's repeatedly.

Click to expand...

Same here, including a full length Jitterbug. Despite all the new snow I was surprised by how hacked up Piss Pass had become. By then West Russ was getting kinda crowded, so finished with Cheater's Thirds to Greeley Slot to Western Air, followed by a leisurely cool-down groomer on Mambo.

Even getting down-canyon wasn't too terrible. Something to do with some game going on somewhere I think.