Alta, UT 3-9-22
- Thread starter EMSC
- Start date
Visibility wasn't great at Alta 3.8.22 either.
They got at least a foot of snow. Probably just enough to hide the moguls
like at Snowbird where I was today. Snowbird claims 12-17 inches. Plus 9 inches
today giving a 26 inch storm total. Maybe another 1-3 tonight.
Kind of a test post. I've been here 25 to 30 years but almost never post.
They got at least a foot of snow. Probably just enough to hide the moguls
like at Snowbird where I was today. Snowbird claims 12-17 inches. Plus 9 inches
today giving a 26 inch storm total. Maybe another 1-3 tonight.
Kind of a test post. I've been here 25 to 30 years but almost never post.
Thanks for the punctual report, EMSC. TRs are like bread -- better while fresh. 
Thanks to EMSC for those pics. In that weather I wasn’t taking any. As evidence of the weather, new snow reported this morning was one inch overnight but 11 inches between 6AM and 6PM.
Liz usually takes a day off during Iron Blosam week, and with the weather forecast Tuesday was the obvious choice to be rested for the next two days. I also took Tuesday off due to a mild concussion I sustained in the IB parking lot about 9PM Monday night. With two of our group’s MD’s on hand plus the recent experience of Tseeb’s wife, I did not question being sent down the hill for a CT scan. So we did not get to bed until 1:30AM. Tuesday I went to the Cliff with Liz for a yoga class and assembled the ingredients for Wednesday’s breakfast. With no ill effects on Tuesday, I was ready to ski Wednesday.
Both Alta and Snowbird had delayed openings Wednesday. Snowbird’s app showed the tram on wind hold and Gad 2 on mechanical hold. That made it clear to us (Tseeb, Liz, Stephan and Michelle) that we should try to get to Alta. We were lucky that the UTA bus pulled up right as we got to the bottom of the Iron Blosam stairs. We got in the line at Collins at 9:50, about 10 minutes after opening.
After many ski days with the former admin, I had a decent plan as the day went on though execution of the plan was variable. When we got to the top of Collins, the High T had opened, so all of us but Liz headed that way. Tseeb was lured off the T by lots of untracked in West Rustler. I wanted to ski a longer run so went through Piss Pass before dropping back to the west side. I still likely ended up in No Name or Santa Clause, but then traversed lower down to extend the run.
Tseeb was well ahead of me in the still 10+minute Collins line. This time out the T I headed for Greeley Hill as former admin usually does. As usual there was plenty of untracked but the weather had closed in so the visibility sucked. I had to ski tentatively and avoid flat areas where one could easily grind to a halt in this much new snow (19 inches at opening and at least an inch per hour thereafter). On this second run Tseeb did the step up to Thirds, skied near Susie’s Trees for visibility and encountered Michelle and Stephan still looking for Stephan’s ski on their first run. Stephan's ski was recovered after half an hour but I got down to Sunnyside first. Being tired I took a lap off Vail Ridge and they saw me skiing that while riding Sunnyside
Liz has decided what works best for her on powder days and this was a good example. Even though the EBT return was closed all day, Liz noticed that the blue run from Collins toward Sugarloaf was open. During our adventures off the High T, Liz scored 3 quick powder runs on Extrovert before Sugarloaf’s weather forced her down to Albion for a thaw break.
With the bad weather I thought Supreme was where we should go, and that worked out well. The Supreme Bowl gate had just opened so Tseeb and I each scored a deep Spiny Chute. Next run I sideslipped my way into a tight chute under the lift with some nice powder when it opened up lower down. Our third run we traversed past the Spiny’s and skied along the Back 40 boundary with three short but deep fall lines along the way. On the second of those Tseeb lost a ski for 10 minutes, but I was in Alf’s for a needed break anyway.
While this was the deepest lift served snow I’ve skied in quite a while, it was still quite strenuous with varied depths, trying to avoid flat spots, tracked sectors, etc. And I’ve since noticed that the long traverses on the left ski have inflamed my right hip flexor. Meanwhile Liz had taken the rope tow back to Collins, finding nasty weather/visibility even at the base. She texted Stephan and the 3 of them took the bus back to Snowbird and did some more sheltered skiing on Wilbere and Baby Thunder.
After the break Tseeb and I needed at Alf’s, we took the rope tow back and headed up Collins and out the High T one last time. I figured the grunt work required would mean that the Garbage Chute area would be less hammered than more accessible spots. We skied a more gradual diagonal line that merged at the bottom with Garbage Chute, then eventually out to the middle of the rope tow. I was correct that the more intermediate pitch allowed continuous powder turns in the moderately chopped snow. I got greedy at the end, thought I could float over a mound of powder but instead augered into it about waist deep.
After that extrication and another rope tow, it was close to 4PM when Tseeb and I rode Wildcat to return to Snowbird. All of the Snowbird gates were closed but we still managed some deep turns in the trees before we hit the Blackjack traverse. Total for the day was an exhausting 14,100 vertical.
Back at Snowbird the delayed tram and Gad 2 both opened not much after 10AM. Adam and Eddie scored the Mid Cirque early and put the first tracks into Green Forest. Adam had to bail at 12:30 as he had a 3PM flight home.
Liz usually takes a day off during Iron Blosam week, and with the weather forecast Tuesday was the obvious choice to be rested for the next two days. I also took Tuesday off due to a mild concussion I sustained in the IB parking lot about 9PM Monday night. With two of our group’s MD’s on hand plus the recent experience of Tseeb’s wife, I did not question being sent down the hill for a CT scan. So we did not get to bed until 1:30AM. Tuesday I went to the Cliff with Liz for a yoga class and assembled the ingredients for Wednesday’s breakfast. With no ill effects on Tuesday, I was ready to ski Wednesday.
Both Alta and Snowbird had delayed openings Wednesday. Snowbird’s app showed the tram on wind hold and Gad 2 on mechanical hold. That made it clear to us (Tseeb, Liz, Stephan and Michelle) that we should try to get to Alta. We were lucky that the UTA bus pulled up right as we got to the bottom of the Iron Blosam stairs. We got in the line at Collins at 9:50, about 10 minutes after opening.
After many ski days with the former admin, I had a decent plan as the day went on though execution of the plan was variable. When we got to the top of Collins, the High T had opened, so all of us but Liz headed that way. Tseeb was lured off the T by lots of untracked in West Rustler. I wanted to ski a longer run so went through Piss Pass before dropping back to the west side. I still likely ended up in No Name or Santa Clause, but then traversed lower down to extend the run.
Tseeb was well ahead of me in the still 10+minute Collins line. This time out the T I headed for Greeley Hill as former admin usually does. As usual there was plenty of untracked but the weather had closed in so the visibility sucked. I had to ski tentatively and avoid flat areas where one could easily grind to a halt in this much new snow (19 inches at opening and at least an inch per hour thereafter). On this second run Tseeb did the step up to Thirds, skied near Susie’s Trees for visibility and encountered Michelle and Stephan still looking for Stephan’s ski on their first run. Stephan's ski was recovered after half an hour but I got down to Sunnyside first. Being tired I took a lap off Vail Ridge and they saw me skiing that while riding Sunnyside
Liz has decided what works best for her on powder days and this was a good example. Even though the EBT return was closed all day, Liz noticed that the blue run from Collins toward Sugarloaf was open. During our adventures off the High T, Liz scored 3 quick powder runs on Extrovert before Sugarloaf’s weather forced her down to Albion for a thaw break.
With the bad weather I thought Supreme was where we should go, and that worked out well. The Supreme Bowl gate had just opened so Tseeb and I each scored a deep Spiny Chute. Next run I sideslipped my way into a tight chute under the lift with some nice powder when it opened up lower down. Our third run we traversed past the Spiny’s and skied along the Back 40 boundary with three short but deep fall lines along the way. On the second of those Tseeb lost a ski for 10 minutes, but I was in Alf’s for a needed break anyway.
While this was the deepest lift served snow I’ve skied in quite a while, it was still quite strenuous with varied depths, trying to avoid flat spots, tracked sectors, etc. And I’ve since noticed that the long traverses on the left ski have inflamed my right hip flexor. Meanwhile Liz had taken the rope tow back to Collins, finding nasty weather/visibility even at the base. She texted Stephan and the 3 of them took the bus back to Snowbird and did some more sheltered skiing on Wilbere and Baby Thunder.
After the break Tseeb and I needed at Alf’s, we took the rope tow back and headed up Collins and out the High T one last time. I figured the grunt work required would mean that the Garbage Chute area would be less hammered than more accessible spots. We skied a more gradual diagonal line that merged at the bottom with Garbage Chute, then eventually out to the middle of the rope tow. I was correct that the more intermediate pitch allowed continuous powder turns in the moderately chopped snow. I got greedy at the end, thought I could float over a mound of powder but instead augered into it about waist deep.
After that extrication and another rope tow, it was close to 4PM when Tseeb and I rode Wildcat to return to Snowbird. All of the Snowbird gates were closed but we still managed some deep turns in the trees before we hit the Blackjack traverse. Total for the day was an exhausting 14,100 vertical.
Back at Snowbird the delayed tram and Gad 2 both opened not much after 10AM. Adam and Eddie scored the Mid Cirque early and put the first tracks into Green Forest. Adam had to bail at 12:30 as he had a 3PM flight home.
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