Snowbird, UT 3/19/06

Day 41:

What's there to say, other than that this ranks right up there with my best day ever? How about saying that one run ranks clearly in the top-5, and maybe even #1?

We opted for Snowbird today on account of the ample tree selection. The day was forecast to be snowy (which it didn't really turn out to be for most of it) and we wanted visibility. The overnight snowfall was only 7 inches, 15 inches in 24 hours, but as you'll hear we found spots much, much deeper than that. And this stuff was classic Utah blower!

It's all just a blur. Aside from a late-day run in lower Peruvian Cirque, just about the entire day was spent in Gad Valley riding Gadzoom and Gad 2. Only 14,114 verts, but all of them top-quality. Walking back to the truck at our 2:20 p.m. finish to the day was a monumental chore.

Highlights: Untracked in the Gadzoom trees, face shots off Gad 2, a first run into what I've started calling "Soap-On-a-Rope Chute" arcing high-speed turns through thigh deep, and the run of the day: trees to skier's right of lower Tigertail, seemingly endless 40-degree trees in waist-deep snow that billowed up over my chest with each turn. And each turn was nearly effortless -- just point 'em down the fall line at warp speed, and roll the knees one way or the other to turn and thread the beautifully spaced mixed conifers and aspens. Amazing!

Even the aforementioned run in lower Peruvian Cirque, just uphill from P-tex Point, yielded untracked turns in thigh-deep at 2 p.m.

Simply amazing.

The Bird was seemingly plagued with lift issues today. Word had it that Gad 2 was running slightly out of alignment (no verification of this rumor) and that they were loading every other chair as a result. Also, our last run was cut short when the Little Cloud lift derailed. We were happy to have not arrived at the lift queue 5 minutes earlier.

But it didn't matter...Marc_C, The Kid, Dale, Pat and I got all we could handle today.

It's now snowing again, and the next system is forecast for Tuesday. It's turning into a cold, wet spring in northern Utah.

Agreed - Definitely an awesome day today. I don't think the snow was the best, probably not in the top 10 for me. But ..with this season..there's been so many bottomless pow days that it's tough to rank em. We were in an undisclosed canyon at a resort that shall remain anonymous except to say that for a weekend powder day it was very disturbingly ...Solitudinous. The crusts were pretty much non-existent. We skied some of the steep lines we'd been eyeing all year but hadn't gotten around to because literally we were too busy skiing powder. Really fun day in fun terrain, and plenty-o-face shots.

To add a bit of a commentary about the season...
This is not normal. I've only been out here 3 yrs, and even after 700"+ last year (near all time record), this "near average" season blows away my past 2. Talking to people that have been around a decade or more, I think they are hard pressed to remember a season that has had better snow. The regularity of snow storms this season is unreal. It's lead to awesome snow quality and a very stable snowpack. This is in stark contrast to last year, where we'd have 2 weeks without snow, then 100" in a week, then another 2 weeks without snow. Also odd that we haven't really had a single storm that's produced more than about 30". I'd say an average year would have 2 or more storms over 50".

We'll finally see some spring-like weather later this week, but another storm is possible around sunday/monday. It'll be interesting to see what this spring brings.

Oh, man...I am soooo sore today! :shock: It's a good sore, yes, but...oww.

gwest":3n3ghcl8 said:

We'll finally see some spring-like weather later this week, but another storm is possible around sunday/monday. It'll be interesting to see what this spring brings.

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Glad to hear you had a good day yesterday too, gwest. Tapping your meteorological expertise, how spring-like would you expect conditions to be at PCMR next Saturday? Corn??

I'm glad admin is finally coming around to appreciate the virtues of the Bird. I think last Monday was at least as good as what you report today, and from Al Solish and the new poster there's no question that last Wednesday was better.

Take note easterners, 3 days in one week better than any admin experienced in his ski lifetime before moving to SLC.

Tony Crocker":2cceiz16 said:

I'm glad admin is finally coming around to appreciate the virtues of the Bird.

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I never doubted them. I just have my own unique set of personal preferences, like most anyone does.

Yeah, corn-ish. Just about enough melt/freeze cycles by then. Should be a good day to carve it up, maybe hit some springtime bumps.

Tony Crocker":3vhy4gvs said:

Take note easterners, 3 days in one week better than any admin experienced in his ski lifetime before moving to SLC.

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Well if I remember correctly Admin lived in Florida for a few years, right? :lol: :wink:

Seriously, I'm still saying that I cannot compare my Eastern experiences with the West. Jackson was definitely awesome on our last day, Snowbird in the fog/snow, Alta with Admin, but I can also list a bunch of my experiences in the East that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Okay, if you're only talking Deep Powder experience you have a point, but there are other aspects that I also enjoy in skiing.

I wasn't gonna bring this up, but now that Patrick did...

Tony Crocker":3fz4ex83 said:

Take note easterners, 3 days in one week better than any admin experienced in his ski lifetime before moving to SLC.

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Now, wait a minute...let's not put words in my mouth.

Admin":3fz4ex83 said:

What's there to say, other than that this ranks right up there with my best day ever? How about saying that one run ranks clearly in the top-5, and maybe even #1?

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I was referring to one day, not 3, although by all accounts the other two were fabulous. I also said that this day was top-5, not clearly "better than any [I've] experienced in [my] ski lifetime before moving to SLC." I've skied deeper in Vermont, by far (one 52-inch storm at Jay Peak is burned into my memory forever). I've also had days that terrain, total experience (Europe), skiing companions, etc., were just as good. They're all factors to consider when deciding which days are near the top and which days aren't, but now we start down that old "apples and oranges" discussion again. I'd also venture to say that if I didn't live here, Sunday would've rated even higher on my list, but I've admittedly become somewhat nonchalant to the whole thing now that it's in my back yard. One thought did enter my head a few times during Sunday: when (if) I ever need to leave here and learn to love skiing somewhere else, it's gonna suck. :lol:

It's impossible IMHO to pick a "best day ever." However, let's state the obvious: Sunday was positively wonderful, and that run down Tigertail trees was nothing short of amazing.

you know what i have discovered about best days ever? they keep on getting better. every year i seem to knock down a few of the past years' best days ever in place of one or two more. i think there is only one truism when it comes to where the best skiing is: it is all relative to what you know and have experienced. but as marc pointed out, sometimes it isn't all about how deep and light the snow is but the other factors involved. though knee deep untracked definitely doesn't hurt! :wink:

I would agree that it's difficult to rank ski days precisely. But my recordkeeping is good enough for me to have a "Hall of Fame List" that currently contains 15 days (out of 700+ lifetime).

March 13 at Snowbird and January 29 at Jackson made the list. In my particular case there is a clear cut #1 of April 9, 1999, but that's just my experience. Many of the other 14 would fit in broader groupings.

The 3 days in question in LCC would fit on anyone's similar short list. And there being 3 of them in one week is evidence that the hype of LCC is not just hype, it's reality. And my lifetime fortune at Alta and Snowbird is actually quite poor. Before this year only about 6% of my skiing at AltaBird was in powder (now it's all the way up to 8%). But one of the other virtues of LCC is that when conditions are subpar, it's still pretty damn good.

Tony Crocker":2y2ueovr said:

And my lifetime fortune at Alta and Snowbird is actually quite poor. Before this year only about 6% of my skiing at AltaBird was in powder (now it's all the way up to 8%). But one of the other virtues of LCC is that when conditions are subpar, it's still pretty damn good.

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It's all the luck of the draw. When you live here or are able to fly in on very short notice, it's pretty easy to get a lot of powder days. But if like most visitors you have to plan your February week in November, you might be skiing a lot of powder...you can also just as easily be spending a week on refrozen sun crusts or cut up crud...or merely lots of soft, packed powder.

A discussion with a local friend a few months ago about our most memorable days of last season was revealing - except for one exceptional powder day, they were all spring corn days, one of them even being a full two months after Alta closed.

Tony Crocker":1odwzlhn said:

I would agree that it's difficult to rank ski days precisely. But my recordkeeping is good enough for me to have a "Hall of Fame List" that currently contains 15 days (out of 700+ lifetime).

March 13 at Snowbird and January 29 at Jackson made the list. In my particular case there is a clear cut #1 of April 9, 1999, but that's just my experience. Many of the other 14 would fit in broader groupings.

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Definitely that January 29 at Jackson was amazing.

I could go back and look at all my recorded skidays since 1981 (749), but I would never be able to make a top day list. If it could be done, you could probably quantify it with criterias like feeling & performance multipled by number of multiple-orgasms. :shock:

But I couldn't necessarily say that, yeck I have a hard time choosing my top skiday in June lifetime with only 20 days (last June 11th at Mammoth is probably close), let alone the other month of the year.

Best Ski Area? Possible.

Best Ski Runs? Impossible for me - too many.

Best Ski Day? Too many variables and too many good ones.