Utah’s season has somewhat paralleled California’s, though to no surprise less extreme. Alta had 141 inches in December, 32 in January (1.5 above record low) and 26 in February (record low). So the 7 inches new on Sunday stimulated pent up demand and the former admin took 2 hours and 15 minutes to get from home to Alta.
There had been warm weather the prior week, so subsurfaces were firm at low elevation, sunny exposures and high traffic areas. This was in evidence as I skied Harper’s Ferry from Wilbere on the way to Peruvian. Fortunately this first storm was not big enough to cause terrain closures. It snowed off and on throughout about a 20F day.
I skied Double Down into Mineral Basin and headed to Baldy for its lower angle plus the considerable line at the Mineral lift. Even Baldy’s line was about 10 minutes.
I skied powder on Livin’ the Dream and Bird’s Nest before moving on to Alta. I met former admin and Telejon at the top of Collins. They had started their day with two Backsides but now thought it best to take the High T out to Greeley Hill. January and February were not kind to the T and I fell in one of the deeper ruts early on. Greeley Hill delivered its usual low angle powder day excellence.
We moved on to Supreme, where to no surprise we started with Catherine’s/Patsy Marley, then a second Supreme run on Back 40. We then rode Sugarloaf, took the Ballroom traverse out to lower Armpit and went into Watson’s for lunch. Watson’s was serving only soup and chili on one of the season’s busiest days; the grill was closed. The recurring theme of the 2021-22 ski season of food and beverage staff shortages applies in Utah too.
After lunch we took Wildcat to former’s admin’s favored powder stash and put 3 fresh tracks into it about 2:15. After taking the Alta shuttle back to the Collins base, former admin and Telejon bailed early to beat departing traffic. I took a lap on chopped but soft Backside, then returned to Snowbird via former admin’s favored route, view into Snowbird here:
I skied 15,300 vertical, about 6K of powder.
There had been warm weather the prior week, so subsurfaces were firm at low elevation, sunny exposures and high traffic areas. This was in evidence as I skied Harper’s Ferry from Wilbere on the way to Peruvian. Fortunately this first storm was not big enough to cause terrain closures. It snowed off and on throughout about a 20F day.
I skied Double Down into Mineral Basin and headed to Baldy for its lower angle plus the considerable line at the Mineral lift. Even Baldy’s line was about 10 minutes.
I skied powder on Livin’ the Dream and Bird’s Nest before moving on to Alta. I met former admin and Telejon at the top of Collins. They had started their day with two Backsides but now thought it best to take the High T out to Greeley Hill. January and February were not kind to the T and I fell in one of the deeper ruts early on. Greeley Hill delivered its usual low angle powder day excellence.
We moved on to Supreme, where to no surprise we started with Catherine’s/Patsy Marley, then a second Supreme run on Back 40. We then rode Sugarloaf, took the Ballroom traverse out to lower Armpit and went into Watson’s for lunch. Watson’s was serving only soup and chili on one of the season’s busiest days; the grill was closed. The recurring theme of the 2021-22 ski season of food and beverage staff shortages applies in Utah too.
After lunch we took Wildcat to former’s admin’s favored powder stash and put 3 fresh tracks into it about 2:15. After taking the Alta shuttle back to the Collins base, former admin and Telejon bailed early to beat departing traffic. I took a lap on chopped but soft Backside, then returned to Snowbird via former admin’s favored route, view into Snowbird here:
I skied 15,300 vertical, about 6K of powder.
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