Day 19: Here's the short version -
(Of course, right after that photo was snapped I hit an unseen drift and proceeded to follow the subsequent head plant with a full somersault, landing in a perfect La-Z-Boy position with skis sticking out of the snow! Marc_C happened to observe the whole incident from an adjacent ridge.)
Now the long version:
The 5 a.m. report showed 7" of new snow. OK, that was on top of the 11 inches the day before, but not quite what I was hoping for out of this storm.
In reality, it either puked snow after 5 am, or that report was just plain underestimated. Even now the 4:30 pm report claims 6 additional inches, but there's more...lots more. Sure, there was some wind loading here and there, but it was legitimately knee to thigh deep, and full-on nipple deep on wind-loaded aspects. I dropped into something as innocuous as the east side of Germania Pass and instantly entered the white room with snow flowing over my head, masking visibility for three full seconds. Face shots actually became routine throughout the day. You had to choose your terrain carefully, for even parts of West Rustler weren't steep enough to ski in the deep snow.
There's no way that I can recount our day run by run, it's all one white blur. We managed to score untracked all the way to my quitting time just past 3 pm. Highlights definitely included Fred's Trees, Susie's Trees, Catherine's and Patsy Marley. I was skiing with Marc_C, Pat, and Pat's son Brad, and Brad really put me through my paces - he's half my age and trains religiously as a racer on the cycling circuit. He's also a terrific skier. It was nice of him to let an old man try to keep up. :wink: I also caught a first run with Lookin'4Powder and his friend Tom, who were fortunate enough to be at Alta today for their last day before flying back east.
By the time we quit, neither Pat, Marc_C nor I could easily muster the energy to even get up off a chairlift to unload, although Ironman Brad was still off tearing up the mountain with his buddy who works at Watson Shelter. The Kid spent the afternoon at Snowbird and reported untracked in Tiger Tail right up to the 4:30 closing bell.
Just action shots in the photo gallery today:
(Of course, right after that photo was snapped I hit an unseen drift and proceeded to follow the subsequent head plant with a full somersault, landing in a perfect La-Z-Boy position with skis sticking out of the snow! Marc_C happened to observe the whole incident from an adjacent ridge.)
Now the long version:
The 5 a.m. report showed 7" of new snow. OK, that was on top of the 11 inches the day before, but not quite what I was hoping for out of this storm.
In reality, it either puked snow after 5 am, or that report was just plain underestimated. Even now the 4:30 pm report claims 6 additional inches, but there's more...lots more. Sure, there was some wind loading here and there, but it was legitimately knee to thigh deep, and full-on nipple deep on wind-loaded aspects. I dropped into something as innocuous as the east side of Germania Pass and instantly entered the white room with snow flowing over my head, masking visibility for three full seconds. Face shots actually became routine throughout the day. You had to choose your terrain carefully, for even parts of West Rustler weren't steep enough to ski in the deep snow.
There's no way that I can recount our day run by run, it's all one white blur. We managed to score untracked all the way to my quitting time just past 3 pm. Highlights definitely included Fred's Trees, Susie's Trees, Catherine's and Patsy Marley. I was skiing with Marc_C, Pat, and Pat's son Brad, and Brad really put me through my paces - he's half my age and trains religiously as a racer on the cycling circuit. He's also a terrific skier. It was nice of him to let an old man try to keep up. :wink: I also caught a first run with Lookin'4Powder and his friend Tom, who were fortunate enough to be at Alta today for their last day before flying back east.
By the time we quit, neither Pat, Marc_C nor I could easily muster the energy to even get up off a chairlift to unload, although Ironman Brad was still off tearing up the mountain with his buddy who works at Watson Shelter. The Kid spent the afternoon at Snowbird and reported untracked in Tiger Tail right up to the 4:30 closing bell.
Just action shots in the photo gallery today:
Attachments
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07 alta admin patsy marley 061217.jpg -
06 alta admin patsy marley 061217.jpg -
05 alta admin patsy marley 061217.jpg -
04 alta admin patsy marley 061217.jpg -
03 alta 061217 brad gehrig catherines.jpg -
02 alta 061217 brad gehrig n rustler.jpg -
01 alta 061217 brad gehrig n rustler.jpg -
00 alta suunto s6 data 061217.jpg
