Day 25: Herding feral cats.
That's what trying to get several large, disparate groups together this morning felt like. Some folks I know from Outside Media who were still in town from Outdoor Retailer were up at Alta today, as was someone from Pale Morning Media, and so was a good chunk of our group including Skidog, The Other Bob D (henceforth to be known as rdd01) and Tele Jon. Yet another couple of groups included out-of-town visitors, including kingslug and a friend with Tirolerpeter in one group, jtran with parents lipstick and skyking in another, and Colin in ours. Also bumped into Perry skiing with a couple of girls.
You get the idea. Really, most of the Salt Lake Valley was up there this morning as well. The parking situation looked like a holiday Saturday. And as Tele Jon commented, unlike a typical busy Saturday 90% of them were there for the same things that we were there for. I've never seen that level of competition before.
As a result, we quickly split up and I ended up with our core of Tele Jon and Skidog. It wasn't long before we found rdd01 and Colin, and toward the end of my day up there we picked up skrad for a couple of runs. I never got a chance to ski with any of the others.
The day started out with many of the same limitations as yesterday. Collins and Wildcat were running, but all of the High T was closed -- even Race Course and Sunspot were off limits. Sugarloaf was running, but the only way back was via the rope tow as the EBT remained closed. Supreme remained closed.
It was clear, however, that they were working on West Rustler and the north end terrain, so I was reluctant to leave the Collins area. Ditto for everyone else, for from the opening bell folks were lining up at the High T gate and at times that line wrapped back all the way to the Collins unloading terminal. It would ebb and flow throughout the morning right up until the rope drop.
So when the Outside Media folks finally got themselves together at the top of Collins on the second run and pushed off toward the Sugarloaf side, I opted to stay put. I wasn't going to let the High T out of my sight. I'd popped four vitamin I pills last night after skiing, soaked in the hot tub, and took four more this morning but it didn't matter...I'd beaten myself senseless on an empty stomach yesterday at PCMR. Awakening in the middle of the night from the ache in my legs, and my John Wayne-esque gait last night and this morning were both proof enough. Skiing the same limited terrain as was open yesterday, everything was covered in soft bumps and in my condition the Movement Goliaths were too much ski for not enough leg. I sat out a run to swap skis for the Volkl CMHs while the others took a Wildcat lap, and by the time they got back down it was nearly 11, which was the projected opening time for the T.
Sure enough, as we reached the top of Collins we saw a pair of patrollers skiing along the lineup, heading for the gates. We got in line, which was now past the Collins bullwheel and pushing back toward the patrol shack. We organized our plans and began to push forward as the line started to move.
It was right as we skied under the chair, however, that we saw the second patroller opening the lower High T gate, and we dropped down immediately and made a beeline, finding ourselves about the fifth ones through. Skidog broke trail over to the far side of Race Course and we billowed through waist-deep untracked as 150 or so who were previously in front of us were still pushing their way across the T.
We kept going. We never stopped. Skidog was again breaking trail as we bore right off Saddle, this time for the lower West Rustler traverse. We pushed off about halfway across when the vertical-to-effort ratio reached its optimum and dropped again as most folks were still above us on the T. More untracked divine goodness. We didn't stop until we reached the very bottom of Jitterbug, exchanging high fives and marveling at our good fortune. That was without a doubt my run of the year (to date).
It was time for round two. Most of the insanity of the opening was over, and skrad -- who had waited the entire morning at the head of the High T line -- joined us as we headed back out the T, this time dropping into the trees somewhere in the vincinity of Watson Line. This was a varied mix of deep powder, avalanche bomb debris and the occasional track. Not as good as the first run, IMO, but still damned fine.
The line at Collins, however, had now become insane. I've never experienced an Alta line like that one, and it was nearly noon as pushed out toward Piss Pass. My legs sent my brain a message when I caught an edge on the traverse somewhere near Sunspot Ridge, spinning me around clockwise before I rolled once, landing on my feet and continuing one traverse line lower. I haven't fallen off the High T in years.
We pushed through Piss Pass to find patrol erecting a ropeline on the far side of the pass to keep folks from dropping into the abyss over the fracture line from yesterday's avalanche that reportedly buried a patroller who was standing way down on the flats when it released. It should be noted that I've never seen a slide there before. The crown is massive, and its placement forces everyone to take a high line if they intend to head out to High Rustler, Eagle's Nest, etc. In the flat light and cloud/fog it was difficult to see just how far over into Thirds that fracture line continues, but from what I understand it travels for a considerable distance. The debris field on the flats is indicative of just how much snow came down.
My muscular agony continued through Eagle's Nest, which despite loose, fluffy tracked snow was more of a controlled fall for me than a ski run. I thus called it a day while the others, most of whom had a rest day yesterday when the canyon remained closed all morning, continued on.
No pictures -- it was too much of a feeding frenzy to even contemplate setting up for shots.
Outside Hilary, sorry that we never got to make turns with you this morning. Given the logistical complexities of the day it just wasn't destined to happen.
And so we enjoyed this morning the fruits of 82 inches of new snow -- nearly seven feet -- in the past seven days, a storm cycle that began within hours of Crocker's plane pulling up landing gear on the climb out of SLC. Is there any longer any doubt that he's a curse? :lol:
That's what trying to get several large, disparate groups together this morning felt like. Some folks I know from Outside Media who were still in town from Outdoor Retailer were up at Alta today, as was someone from Pale Morning Media, and so was a good chunk of our group including Skidog, The Other Bob D (henceforth to be known as rdd01) and Tele Jon. Yet another couple of groups included out-of-town visitors, including kingslug and a friend with Tirolerpeter in one group, jtran with parents lipstick and skyking in another, and Colin in ours. Also bumped into Perry skiing with a couple of girls.
You get the idea. Really, most of the Salt Lake Valley was up there this morning as well. The parking situation looked like a holiday Saturday. And as Tele Jon commented, unlike a typical busy Saturday 90% of them were there for the same things that we were there for. I've never seen that level of competition before.
As a result, we quickly split up and I ended up with our core of Tele Jon and Skidog. It wasn't long before we found rdd01 and Colin, and toward the end of my day up there we picked up skrad for a couple of runs. I never got a chance to ski with any of the others.
The day started out with many of the same limitations as yesterday. Collins and Wildcat were running, but all of the High T was closed -- even Race Course and Sunspot were off limits. Sugarloaf was running, but the only way back was via the rope tow as the EBT remained closed. Supreme remained closed.
It was clear, however, that they were working on West Rustler and the north end terrain, so I was reluctant to leave the Collins area. Ditto for everyone else, for from the opening bell folks were lining up at the High T gate and at times that line wrapped back all the way to the Collins unloading terminal. It would ebb and flow throughout the morning right up until the rope drop.
So when the Outside Media folks finally got themselves together at the top of Collins on the second run and pushed off toward the Sugarloaf side, I opted to stay put. I wasn't going to let the High T out of my sight. I'd popped four vitamin I pills last night after skiing, soaked in the hot tub, and took four more this morning but it didn't matter...I'd beaten myself senseless on an empty stomach yesterday at PCMR. Awakening in the middle of the night from the ache in my legs, and my John Wayne-esque gait last night and this morning were both proof enough. Skiing the same limited terrain as was open yesterday, everything was covered in soft bumps and in my condition the Movement Goliaths were too much ski for not enough leg. I sat out a run to swap skis for the Volkl CMHs while the others took a Wildcat lap, and by the time they got back down it was nearly 11, which was the projected opening time for the T.
Sure enough, as we reached the top of Collins we saw a pair of patrollers skiing along the lineup, heading for the gates. We got in line, which was now past the Collins bullwheel and pushing back toward the patrol shack. We organized our plans and began to push forward as the line started to move.
It was right as we skied under the chair, however, that we saw the second patroller opening the lower High T gate, and we dropped down immediately and made a beeline, finding ourselves about the fifth ones through. Skidog broke trail over to the far side of Race Course and we billowed through waist-deep untracked as 150 or so who were previously in front of us were still pushing their way across the T.
We kept going. We never stopped. Skidog was again breaking trail as we bore right off Saddle, this time for the lower West Rustler traverse. We pushed off about halfway across when the vertical-to-effort ratio reached its optimum and dropped again as most folks were still above us on the T. More untracked divine goodness. We didn't stop until we reached the very bottom of Jitterbug, exchanging high fives and marveling at our good fortune. That was without a doubt my run of the year (to date).
It was time for round two. Most of the insanity of the opening was over, and skrad -- who had waited the entire morning at the head of the High T line -- joined us as we headed back out the T, this time dropping into the trees somewhere in the vincinity of Watson Line. This was a varied mix of deep powder, avalanche bomb debris and the occasional track. Not as good as the first run, IMO, but still damned fine.
The line at Collins, however, had now become insane. I've never experienced an Alta line like that one, and it was nearly noon as pushed out toward Piss Pass. My legs sent my brain a message when I caught an edge on the traverse somewhere near Sunspot Ridge, spinning me around clockwise before I rolled once, landing on my feet and continuing one traverse line lower. I haven't fallen off the High T in years.
We pushed through Piss Pass to find patrol erecting a ropeline on the far side of the pass to keep folks from dropping into the abyss over the fracture line from yesterday's avalanche that reportedly buried a patroller who was standing way down on the flats when it released. It should be noted that I've never seen a slide there before. The crown is massive, and its placement forces everyone to take a high line if they intend to head out to High Rustler, Eagle's Nest, etc. In the flat light and cloud/fog it was difficult to see just how far over into Thirds that fracture line continues, but from what I understand it travels for a considerable distance. The debris field on the flats is indicative of just how much snow came down.
My muscular agony continued through Eagle's Nest, which despite loose, fluffy tracked snow was more of a controlled fall for me than a ski run. I thus called it a day while the others, most of whom had a rest day yesterday when the canyon remained closed all morning, continued on.
No pictures -- it was too much of a feeding frenzy to even contemplate setting up for shots.
Outside Hilary, sorry that we never got to make turns with you this morning. Given the logistical complexities of the day it just wasn't destined to happen.
And so we enjoyed this morning the fruits of 82 inches of new snow -- nearly seven feet -- in the past seven days, a storm cycle that began within hours of Crocker's plane pulling up landing gear on the climb out of SLC. Is there any longer any doubt that he's a curse? :lol:
