Day 1: October snow
Skidog, Bob Dangerous, The Kid and our new household resident Cooper hatched plans midweek as the weekend forecast started to take shape. I rolled out of bed at 9 am and checked the webcams - sure enough, right on schedule.
Delayed 15 minutes by a flat tire in the driveway #-o , we all met up in the Grizzly parking lot at Alta at 1:45 and started skinning (The Kid and Cooper, a snowboarder, were snowshoeing). We headed up the Albion summer road to the first gate, cut across Sunnyside and ascended the shoulder of Vail Ridge. We made our game plan as we went along. Nearing the top of Sunnyside we figured that the mowed slope from the top of Sunnyside down to Alf's was as good as any other choice - adequate snow and no rock - and de-skinned. As we did so, another solo skier pulled up. After introductions - his name was Scott - he decided to tag along.
The problem? Not enough pitch. The snow was boot-top and the lower layers wet, so gaining enough momentum to even make a turn was out of the question.
We therefore struck out for the other side of Little Cottonwood Creek to Extrovert. Cooper struggled, and The Kid, who's supposed to be in shape from daily hockey training, bellowed, "I'm not climbing anymore." I tossed him the truck keys and they descended as the rest of us headed up a steep skin route up Extrovert. Kudos to Scott for breaking trail the whole way. Extrovert, however, had far too many boulders below the surface and we were forced to make another low angle choice, Rollercoaster.
The occasional pitch allowed us to get a few turns in. As we returned to our uphill skin track Bob followed it back to the summer road while the rest of us followed Home Run down to the final pitch above Albion Grill for a couple of extra turns.
I'm now home, whooped...and feeling mighty satisfied.
Skidog, Bob Dangerous, The Kid and our new household resident Cooper hatched plans midweek as the weekend forecast started to take shape. I rolled out of bed at 9 am and checked the webcams - sure enough, right on schedule.
Delayed 15 minutes by a flat tire in the driveway #-o , we all met up in the Grizzly parking lot at Alta at 1:45 and started skinning (The Kid and Cooper, a snowboarder, were snowshoeing). We headed up the Albion summer road to the first gate, cut across Sunnyside and ascended the shoulder of Vail Ridge. We made our game plan as we went along. Nearing the top of Sunnyside we figured that the mowed slope from the top of Sunnyside down to Alf's was as good as any other choice - adequate snow and no rock - and de-skinned. As we did so, another solo skier pulled up. After introductions - his name was Scott - he decided to tag along.
The problem? Not enough pitch. The snow was boot-top and the lower layers wet, so gaining enough momentum to even make a turn was out of the question.
We therefore struck out for the other side of Little Cottonwood Creek to Extrovert. Cooper struggled, and The Kid, who's supposed to be in shape from daily hockey training, bellowed, "I'm not climbing anymore." I tossed him the truck keys and they descended as the rest of us headed up a steep skin route up Extrovert. Kudos to Scott for breaking trail the whole way. Extrovert, however, had far too many boulders below the surface and we were forced to make another low angle choice, Rollercoaster.
The occasional pitch allowed us to get a few turns in. As we returned to our uphill skin track Bob followed it back to the summer road while the rest of us followed Home Run down to the final pitch above Albion Grill for a couple of extra turns.
I'm now home, whooped...and feeling mighty satisfied.
/ The turns weren't the best (I don't know how Scott managed to get a picture of me that made it look like I knew how to ski that stuff), but it felt sooooo good just to be out there.
