"Knee-deep. Knee-deep."
I hadn't been in a huge rush to get to the hill this morning. My usual ski partner Marc C called and bagged out this morning. "The avalanche report states strong winds at the ridgetops, crust, ..." yadda, yadda, yadda. Wimp. He added something about his last day up there on Tuesday, in something like 30" of fresh, but I ignored him. Alta's 5am report claimed 3" new, and it looked from home like it was snowing up there.
It was.
I boarded Collins around 9:40, and it was plainly obvious that more fell since 5am. A lot more. If you watched the way the wind was blowing, and figured out where that wind deposited the snow, you were treated to turns that at times billowed up over your knees. First run of the day through Fred's Trees was amazing...and untracked.
However, the search for fresh lines became more and more frantic as holiday crowds tracked up the snow even faster than usual Alta fashion. Wildcat was tracked :!: so I traversed by braille in the flat light out to Yellow Trail. I found a few more untracked lines by dropping the shoulder next to Glory Hole, and on the shoulder from Devil's Elbow down into Glory Gulch. Ironically, some of the best snow of the day was found by dropping Vail Ridge a couple of hundred verts under the Sunnyside lift.
I quit early, though. I'm meeting Liftlines user Kirbyvv tomorrow, and I walked to the truck around 2 pm after 11,840 verts. To Marc C's credit, the wind was really picking up by that point and it felt nearly like a mid-February day in Vermont, albeit without the -20ºF ambient temps. I came home, grabbed my neglected dog, and hiked halfway up Grandeur Peak outside my front door to cap a wonderful day. (photos and videos from the hike are here for those interested)