April Skiing - Need Some Advice

[Admin]

That's what happened with us last year at Alta. Remember the dry spell during late Jan-early Feb?

Ugh. Yeah, I do -- that was a full-on inversion for a couple of weeks. I drove the moving truck (Penske's biggest, towing my car on a flatbed behind it) down Parley's Canyon on my way into the city at 3 am after driving cross-country...and halfway down hit the wall of fog with, I kid you not, maybe 20-foot visibility. :shock:

That said....I'd love to spend more time at Alta with someone who knew their way around, because the terrain holds so many opportunities.

I've had the benefit of guided skiing almost every vacation out here, plus since I moved here Marc_C (who's presently climbing in B.C. and thus not here to participate in this topic) took me under his wing. It's true that changing aspect 5 degrees can make a 100% difference. It's a matter of knowing the hill, knowing the exposures, and knowing how to interact both of those with the weather conditions of the preceding week and the time of day.

Prominent north-facing areas include Eagle's Nest, North Rustler, Wildcat, parts of Supreme, and Ballroom. Even east-facing East Greeley has some drainages that provide narrow areas of north exposure.

 

[Tony Crocker]

But Snowbird has so much more north-facing prime terrain: all the bowls beyond the end of Road to Provo, Upper Silver Fox, Upper Cirque, nearly all the steep shots off Gad 2, both the open areas and the trees, Dalton's Mach Schnell, etc.