Alta, UT 11/21/10

[Admin]

Day 6: Blizzard.

I'm really not kidding. Here in the Salt Lake Valley we really don't get a lot of snow. This morning, however, I awoke to this:

Cars in the GMD lot at Alta looked like this:

It requires a Little Cottonwood quiver that looks like this:

And brings out lots of powder-hungry locals who look like this:

Finally, it's to be followed by a forecast that looks like this:

Winter Storm Warning
Avalanche Warning
Hazardous Weather Outlook

Tonight: Snow. Low around 8. Wind chill values as low as -3. Windy, with a west wind between 25 and 31 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches possible.

Monday: Snow. Some thunder is also possible. High near 19. Wind chill values as low as -4. Windy, with a west southwest wind 16 to 19 mph increasing to between 33 and 36 mph. Winds could gust as high as 55 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 5 to 9 inches possible.

Monday Night: Snow. Low around 11. Wind chill values as low as -12. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 24 and 28 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.

Tuesday: Snow. Some thunder is also possible. High near 21. Wind chill values as low as -13. Windy, with a west southwest wind between 28 and 34 mph, with gusts as high as 48 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 7 to 11 inches possible.

Tuesday Night: Snow. Some thunder is also possible. Low around -8. Windy, with a west northwest wind 26 to 29 mph increasing to between 38 and 41 mph. Winds could gust as high as 60 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 9 to 13 inches possible.

Wednesday: Snow showers likely. Mostly cloudy and cold and windy, with a high near 3. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Add it up, kids...that's another 31-53 inches by Wednesday! Thanksgiving Weekend is gonna rock.

Side note: I'm never taking these damned Midland cams with me again. Skidog and I shot all day, and two...count 'em, two...files are not corrupt. It wasn't a day for shooting stills as it positively puked snow in a stiff wind all day long. Those shots would've been white on white. Pity, too, for today's film would have featured first-person face shots.

 

[icelanticskier]

It requires a Little Cottonwood quiver that looks like this:

not if ya know how to ski :lol: :stir:

must've been killer!

keep it coming!

rog

 

[Admin]

One story I forgot to mention. Dale and I left together around 2:40 p.m., and we hit stopped down canyon traffic at Snowbird Entry 4. We figured that many were leaving Snowbird earlier than normal as it's early in the season, so we were disappointed to find that the red snake wasn't moving any faster past Snowbird Entry 1.

Now, the road was admittedly greasier than a pig at an Arkansas family reunion, but we spent more time stopped than moving. I spent long periods with the transmission in park. Eventually, by the time we got to Seven Sisters we found the problem. There was a driver in a 2WD vehicle, with cable chains on the front wheels, inching down the canyon at honestly, no more than 3-5 mph. I then looked at the license plate and nearly fell over: Alaska. :roll:

I thought that they knew how to drive in snow up there! :-k Like everyone else I passed them, and things were just fine past that.

If you're that freaked out by driving in snow, grab a bus or hitch up the canyon. Please. You turned a 15-minute drive into 45 minutes for literally hundreds of people.

 

[Skidog]

So all the files are corrupt? Dang things im sure there was some good if not great footage in there. Oh well

 

[Admin]

So all the files are corrupt? Dang things im sure there was some good if not great footage in there. Oh well

I got one while we were standing in the Wildcat line, and you got one traversing out Wildcat Ridge. That's it.

 

[tirolerpeter]

In the picture taken from the lift chair it looks like my "Czars" are going up the mountain without me :-(

Oh well, should have a new grandson here in NY within a week or so \/

 

[Admin]

I didn't get any video on Sunday thanks to that *&^&^%@&* camera, but Salomon athlete Jamey Parks did. He sent this over to me today. It was shot using a ContourHD with the handlebar mount clamped to his ski pole, which has been discussed in other threads:

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/17082840[/vimeo]

 

[Bobby Danger]

to bad about sundays footage the stuff skidog took on sun. at snowbird would have been nice. the first run we all did on high rustler was sweet .

 

[Tony Crocker]

The IS is impressive. It makes it look like Jamey's right hand never moves during the entire video. I liked the perspective better in the Whistler video though.