Alta, UT 1/19/09

[Admin]

Day 27: Much better than expected

(All photos by Tony Crocker)

I made a last-minute decision this morning to cash in a vacation day to spend Tony's last day in Utah with him on the slopes of Alta. We were joined by Marc_C, Skidog, Tirolerpeter and an acquaintance of Skidog's named Eric from another online ski forum that shall remain unnamed (although it's known by the three letters T, G and R). :lol:

We went just about everywhere and anywhere, but with a persistent warm, dry inversion plaguing Utah we concentrated on the north-facing aspects that Mr. Crocker insists are in short supply at Alta. Funny, but we found great snow all day long, including one run down Thirds to North Rustler that Mr. Crocker proclaimed had the best snow of his trip.

Other highlights included Backside (northeast-facing but still dry), So Long out in Catherines Area, High Boy (stiff chalk that was as smooth as a pool table, so smooth that you really didn't want to trip up), Tombstone 1 and Ballroom. We skied right up until I had to leave at 3:30.

Tony's en route back to L.A., so true to form our weather pattern should change by Thursday.

 

[Patrick]

Is it me or does the snow and coulour of the mountain at Alta look like Mammoth?

All photos by Tony Crocker

That explains it. :lol:

 

[Tony Crocker]

Alta is not a particularly badly exposed area. The east and west exposures, given the abundant snow and high altitude, are going to stay dry and chalky in January, unlike a similar warm spell in March. You need a partial south tilt like Yellow Trail to produce a melt/freeze in Alta in January. I made a point of skiing similar exposures at Snowbird Friday. Despite warm weather and presumed traffic over the weekend, surfaces were quite similar to Friday. Thirds was better due to the hike required to reach it. The upper entries to Highboy that I've used previously are marginal, and the one we used this time wasn't that easy. So no surprise it was unusually smooth and had some loose sift on top of the windbuff due to much lower than normal skier traffic.

Is it me or does the snow and coulour of the mountain at Alta look like Mammoth?

Conditions were exactly what I see a lot of at Mammoth, particularly Backside and Thirds. Extended stretches of a week or more between storms are common at Mammoth but less so at Alta/Snowbird. The result is chalk/windbuff in winter and corn in spring.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

A Maggot friend just got back from a JH/Moonlight/Big Sky/Targhee road trip and said that Crocker Crust is on the menu pretty much everywhere.

 

[Skidog]

What a fun day. You'd think with all the warm weather up there that things would be rotting...but ha...with a little (and in my case sometimes just enough to make me dangerous) local knowledge you can find good snow and EXCELLENT skiing even without any fresh..just watch your aspects.

while admin and others went into lunch, eric and I continued to ski off supreme chair. Nice run down tower 12 chute, chalky smooth. Took a run down supreme challenge, again..chalk. Then a couple groomers and through the tress which again proved great snow can be found if you look. Admin and crew finished lunch and we met then at the top of Collins chair for the run out Thirds. Unfortunately this was my last run as sidestepping into North Rustler my pole got caught and snapped...Yeah I dont do "no pole steeze".

Good day, good people, what can I say? Another fantastic day in the Wasatch!

M

 

[Tony Crocker]

While our tour group yesterday undoubtedly hit the highlights, prevailing conditions at AltaBird are excellent. Only a small part of terrain (maybe 20%) has crust or sun effect. JH/Moonlight/Big Sky/Targhee have much sunnier exposures and thus I'm not surprised to hear of more crust and variable snow there. We observed more of it elsewhere in the Wasatch, due to lower elevation and thinner natural snowpack.

Everyone touts Alta/Snowbird for the powder, but a more frequent virtue is that skiing is still great there if it hasn't snowed recently. This applies particularly to the most exciting terrain, and it thus sets Alta/Snowbird apart from Squaw and Jackson, which have terrain just as good but you don't get to ski it as consistently. On our trip admin noted that despite a few invitations he still hasn't been motivated to drive up to Jackson during the 4 years he's been in Utah. Spoiled indeed!

 

[Patrick]

On our trip admin noted that despite a few invitations he still hasn't been motivated to drive up to Jackson during the 4 years he's been in Utah. Spoiled indeed!

I'm also in the same boat, I'm often not motivated to ski further than 30 minutes from home. I don't call it spoiled, I call it lazy. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: At least he's going his part for the environment. :lol:

Is it me or does the snow and colour of the mountain at Alta look like Mammoth?

Conditions were exactly what I see a lot of at Mammoth, particularly Backside and Thirds.

I was joking about the way your camera pics turned out. :lol:

 

[Marc_C]

At least he's going his part for the environment.

Nah. It's offset by the amount he smokes! :lol:

 

[Marc_C]

Tony's en route back to L.A., so true to form our weather pattern should change by Thursday.

From today's (Wednesday) Wasatch avi advisory:

Looks like the ridge of high pressure will start to break down and we’ll see a series of storms impacting the state. The weather models have been inconsistent at best, and potential snowfall numbers are projected to be high for the next week. Confidence level is poor, but regardless, we’ll be primarily concerned with how the new snow may or may not bond to the pre-existing snow surfaces. The surface hoar/rime crust combo and (thanks to the inversion) weakest recrystallized is mostly confined to the lower elevations. Potential rain/snow line of 8000’, where the snow comes in warm, may be a good thing after all.

Temperatures will again skyrocket to near 50 degrees, and the southerly winds will remain gusty along the high ridgelines. We’ll start to see some clouds building from the southwest later this afternoon, and perhaps some precipitation Thursday night. While the models are in full oscillation-mode, the big picture remains the same: the ridge will be long gone by the weekend and we’ll see a series of disturbances moving through, providing much needed snowfall in the mountains.

 

[Tony Crocker]

More pics from Alta:

Here's the sketchiest part of the traverse/step-up to Thirds.

Looking down wide open line of soft chalk on Thirds.

Gunsight and Thirds viewed from below.

Admin lower down in Greely Bowl.

MarcC and tirolerpeter on Tombstone.