tseeb
Well-known member
Temperatures in Salt Lake City were very warm all week so we were not in a hurry to get to Snowbird before 10. Thursday was the day with least wind and it got to 70 in SLC. We got on Wilbere chair, below the Iron Blosam, and it sounded from the lift like snow had softened. But it was still very firm and my friend did a hard sit down when his board come out from under him. By the time we got to the tram, he was ready to go in and wait for it to soften. I spotted Tony Crocker’s friend Liz in the tram and caught up with her on the way out. We skied down Little Cloud, where she led me to some good snow off Road to Provo. We had a long wait at the bottom for Tony and the rest of the group who were locating a missing 11 year old. I think we took another run or two on Little Cloud, starting down Mark Malu Fork, then traversing further to the left. Snow in chutes here (and towards the Bookends on Mineral King), still were winter-like. Tony and I barely got a run down Sliver Fox before they closed it at noon for the extreme competition that would be using it the next day. Snow was very good and winter-like, but the entrance was rocky. We traversed left after a ropeline, as the choke in the chute was very narrow, and found more good snow.
My notes show 4 runs down Mineral King and 5 on Little Cloud for the day. I tried far skiers left on Regulator Johnson, trying to stay near the chair to re-group after giving my snowboarding friend a quick tour of Snowbird, including the tunnel to Mineral and Baldy Express, where snow had softened and skied well. We also watched the extreme contest for a while and almost missed the run of his friend who qualified 8th. My last run of the day was to skiers left on Little Cloud where Tony took Liz into a traverse she had done earlier in the week, but she did not like the exposure and took a long time to get through a rocky place. I was hanging on a steep hill above and behind her for at least ten minutes with nowhere to go, but the path she was blocking. Finished with 24K
On Friday, the winds were predicted to pick up in advance of the storm and signs said tram was running on a tram by tram basis. It turned out to be better than expected. We went into Mineral earlier, once going down to skiers right of Lone Star. Twice we went all the way over to The Bookends, my first two times doing the Hillary Step, which was challenging, especially with the exposure at the turn. You would sidestep up, then the rocks would be holding the tails of your ski for the second half of the climb. Next the snow was undercut so your butt was against it and your tails disappeared under it. Then, with rocks below, you had to step and turn, teeter-tottering around and over the corner. Both times I had people right behind me so I had to do it as fast as I safely could.
Snow was still winter-like on the wide chute that curves to the North. Second run we were going to do trees above Flora Cliffs, but found the more packed gully skied better. Snow on top of The Bookends was also very good. We met up with more of the Iron Blosam people and went to below Silver Fox where extreme competition was continuing and there was a large group from Iron Blosam plus I got to meet admin. I missed the run of the friend of my friend and later heard he barely sat down, but it was enough of a deduction to not make the cut for Saturday.
Some of us made the tram, but others who were not in enough of a hurry did not so we waited at the top. We had a large group on Little Cloud, skiing the right side of Regulator Johnson a couple of times, then moving more to the left side where Tony and I had found good snow the day before. Admin led a group to Lone Tree, but I fell behind waiting for others to decide if they were coming and missed the gate they went through. I stayed close to the rope line where snow was thin, before finding better snow, but not the group as I continued to the tram (while I think they went to GadZoom). Tony and I ended our day with Middle Cirque, which had very rocky entrance, but good snow most of the way down. 21K vertical
It was lightly raining more than snowing Friday night into Saturday morning, although a trace had built up on cars parked overnight. I had a ticket to use, so after figuring out the logistics of getting too much stuff out of the Iron Blosam at 10, I quickly changed and booted up and went up Wilbere. Harpers Ferry East run showed some freezing overnight, but it was not as firm as previous mornings. I went up tram and followed Tony’s and his son's advice to try Silver Fox, now open as extreme competition had moved to Baldy. The entrance was very rocky, but snow was still good. I didn’t remember the traverse at the end of the rope line from above so I went down Primrose Path. For the next couple of hours, I mostly repeated the following five times: up Peruvian, traverse to Sliver Fox, down some of Silver Fox, then left at end of rope line and traverse to chute or bowl or chute beyond bowl. Snow stayed good here. Then I would stop by the competition and watch some runs including one women who fell after jumping into a very tight area and looked like she hit her head on rock. She got up quickly and appeared OK. The next women did not fare as well as she couldn’t handle the speed after a jump at the bottom and fell, apparently injuring her knee.
I tried different variations at the bottom, working my way from Chip’s Face to Primrose Path, to Adager, which was good enough to hit a couple of times. My last two runs after upper Silver Fox, I turned into the trees on a ridge to the left and before the competition where I could still see a couple of them go down North Baldy, then got some turns on steep face to skiers right of Andersen’s. Even though it was not snowing hard, there were places where it was starting to build up between moguls. The competition finally ended and I went to the tram. At a little after 2, near the top of the tram, visibility went down, wind came up and it started dumping. I was planning to go to Mineral and try smooth snow close to The Bookends, but visibility made it hard enough to get to Road to Provo and Mineral would not have been good. I went into trees past Mark Malu Fork and found an inch or so had already started to cover the barely refrozen spring snow. I continued to Gadzoom, where I took the lift twice, finding some fun snow and not fun bumps going down Black Forest, then made tracks in the heavy for Utah new snow on the lift side of Lower Bassackwards. I finished my day making some almost powder turns in the 2” that had fallen below Wilbere lift. Over 23K for the day and 98.7K for the five days which included 8K in 2 hours at Sundance.
My notes show 4 runs down Mineral King and 5 on Little Cloud for the day. I tried far skiers left on Regulator Johnson, trying to stay near the chair to re-group after giving my snowboarding friend a quick tour of Snowbird, including the tunnel to Mineral and Baldy Express, where snow had softened and skied well. We also watched the extreme contest for a while and almost missed the run of his friend who qualified 8th. My last run of the day was to skiers left on Little Cloud where Tony took Liz into a traverse she had done earlier in the week, but she did not like the exposure and took a long time to get through a rocky place. I was hanging on a steep hill above and behind her for at least ten minutes with nowhere to go, but the path she was blocking. Finished with 24K
On Friday, the winds were predicted to pick up in advance of the storm and signs said tram was running on a tram by tram basis. It turned out to be better than expected. We went into Mineral earlier, once going down to skiers right of Lone Star. Twice we went all the way over to The Bookends, my first two times doing the Hillary Step, which was challenging, especially with the exposure at the turn. You would sidestep up, then the rocks would be holding the tails of your ski for the second half of the climb. Next the snow was undercut so your butt was against it and your tails disappeared under it. Then, with rocks below, you had to step and turn, teeter-tottering around and over the corner. Both times I had people right behind me so I had to do it as fast as I safely could.
Snow was still winter-like on the wide chute that curves to the North. Second run we were going to do trees above Flora Cliffs, but found the more packed gully skied better. Snow on top of The Bookends was also very good. We met up with more of the Iron Blosam people and went to below Silver Fox where extreme competition was continuing and there was a large group from Iron Blosam plus I got to meet admin. I missed the run of the friend of my friend and later heard he barely sat down, but it was enough of a deduction to not make the cut for Saturday.
Some of us made the tram, but others who were not in enough of a hurry did not so we waited at the top. We had a large group on Little Cloud, skiing the right side of Regulator Johnson a couple of times, then moving more to the left side where Tony and I had found good snow the day before. Admin led a group to Lone Tree, but I fell behind waiting for others to decide if they were coming and missed the gate they went through. I stayed close to the rope line where snow was thin, before finding better snow, but not the group as I continued to the tram (while I think they went to GadZoom). Tony and I ended our day with Middle Cirque, which had very rocky entrance, but good snow most of the way down. 21K vertical
It was lightly raining more than snowing Friday night into Saturday morning, although a trace had built up on cars parked overnight. I had a ticket to use, so after figuring out the logistics of getting too much stuff out of the Iron Blosam at 10, I quickly changed and booted up and went up Wilbere. Harpers Ferry East run showed some freezing overnight, but it was not as firm as previous mornings. I went up tram and followed Tony’s and his son's advice to try Silver Fox, now open as extreme competition had moved to Baldy. The entrance was very rocky, but snow was still good. I didn’t remember the traverse at the end of the rope line from above so I went down Primrose Path. For the next couple of hours, I mostly repeated the following five times: up Peruvian, traverse to Sliver Fox, down some of Silver Fox, then left at end of rope line and traverse to chute or bowl or chute beyond bowl. Snow stayed good here. Then I would stop by the competition and watch some runs including one women who fell after jumping into a very tight area and looked like she hit her head on rock. She got up quickly and appeared OK. The next women did not fare as well as she couldn’t handle the speed after a jump at the bottom and fell, apparently injuring her knee.
I tried different variations at the bottom, working my way from Chip’s Face to Primrose Path, to Adager, which was good enough to hit a couple of times. My last two runs after upper Silver Fox, I turned into the trees on a ridge to the left and before the competition where I could still see a couple of them go down North Baldy, then got some turns on steep face to skiers right of Andersen’s. Even though it was not snowing hard, there were places where it was starting to build up between moguls. The competition finally ended and I went to the tram. At a little after 2, near the top of the tram, visibility went down, wind came up and it started dumping. I was planning to go to Mineral and try smooth snow close to The Bookends, but visibility made it hard enough to get to Road to Provo and Mineral would not have been good. I went into trees past Mark Malu Fork and found an inch or so had already started to cover the barely refrozen spring snow. I continued to Gadzoom, where I took the lift twice, finding some fun snow and not fun bumps going down Black Forest, then made tracks in the heavy for Utah new snow on the lift side of Lower Bassackwards. I finished my day making some almost powder turns in the 2” that had fallen below Wilbere lift. Over 23K for the day and 98.7K for the five days which included 8K in 2 hours at Sundance.
