Day 64: The final day of full operations for the season.
Today was one of Alta's three "closing days" this spring. Today is the last day for most employees in town, as most of the lodges close and the ski area will reopen two lifts only for two more three-day bonus weekends. Next door at Snowbird it's also the last day for Baldy Express, Peruvian Express and Gadzoom.
So although our gang's own closing day celebration won't take place until the 28th, today was a day to celebrate for many, many folks in Alta.
Because of that, today was a peculiar day upon which there was no one there at opening and the crowd slowly increased throughout the day. I don't think that more than 30 people loaded Collins at opening, which meant that we had literally no competition for the three inches of snow that fell overnight. And with temperatures starting at a nippy 8°F the snow stayed winter-like all day, too.
I've said it before in recent weeks, but once again today truly exceeded expectations. That three inches was dense enough that on low angle terrain without hard, old tracks beneath it skied exceptionally well. On terrain with hard, old tracks it was easy to ski the smooth spots between the occasional pinnacle of old snow that stuck up above the new layer.
At one point in the day we had eight, including Bobby Danger, Telejon, AmyZ, TheOtherAmy, Corey, Marc_C, Tony Crocker and yours truly. We had nearly that many when we stopped for lunch at Watson Shelter to listen to Talia play.
After lunch more people were arriving for the party, but Collins was still basically ski-on. Still, the authorities were ready for the afternoon mayhem.
We left TheOtherAmy, Corey and Marc_C behind after lunch and crossed the border into Snowbird's Mineral Basin.
Shot 12 in the Upper Cirque once again delivered some of the best snow of the day, and we headed across Rothman Way for one more ride on Gadzoom this season, intending to thereafter ride Little Cloud to ski Shot 12 again.
Unfortunately, when we had nearly reached the top of Gadzoom the lift ground to a halt. And there we sat for a good 20 minutes, maybe more while crews attempted to rectify what was clearly a mechanical issue.
The delay cost us another run on Shot 12 before we'd have to return to Alta, so we lapped Little Cloud via Whoopsie's before heading back into Mineral Basin via Powder Paradise, where the north-facing terrain just shy of Hilary Step was still soft and chalky.
Bobby was intent on one more lap in Mineral, but as we skied past Baldy Express they were preparing to close the lift 15 minutes early. It seems that there was an unusual number of snowboarders hanging out near the top of the lift and Alta Ski Patrol was anxious to avert the traditional mass poach of Alta by the "Alta Snowboard Team".
A few of the planned poachers were in the chairs immediately in front of us, but they encountered a wall of security at the Taliban Checkpoint on Sugarloaf Pass.
There was going to be no snowboard poach of Alta from Sugarloaf Pass this season.
Now back in Alta, we returned to Armpit for another Baldy Shoulder lap. With the masses heading out the High T for the High Boy Party there was no one else on Backside as we completed our final run of the day.
We called it a day at 4:12 p.m. as the final party-goers were lined up at Collins.
Crocker tells me we skied 25,700 vertical feet today for those who may care, not that I was logging it. All I know is that I'm fairly tired this evening and the hot tub is going to feel good tonight.
Today was one of Alta's three "closing days" this spring. Today is the last day for most employees in town, as most of the lodges close and the ski area will reopen two lifts only for two more three-day bonus weekends. Next door at Snowbird it's also the last day for Baldy Express, Peruvian Express and Gadzoom.
So although our gang's own closing day celebration won't take place until the 28th, today was a day to celebrate for many, many folks in Alta.
Because of that, today was a peculiar day upon which there was no one there at opening and the crowd slowly increased throughout the day. I don't think that more than 30 people loaded Collins at opening, which meant that we had literally no competition for the three inches of snow that fell overnight. And with temperatures starting at a nippy 8°F the snow stayed winter-like all day, too.
I've said it before in recent weeks, but once again today truly exceeded expectations. That three inches was dense enough that on low angle terrain without hard, old tracks beneath it skied exceptionally well. On terrain with hard, old tracks it was easy to ski the smooth spots between the occasional pinnacle of old snow that stuck up above the new layer.
At one point in the day we had eight, including Bobby Danger, Telejon, AmyZ, TheOtherAmy, Corey, Marc_C, Tony Crocker and yours truly. We had nearly that many when we stopped for lunch at Watson Shelter to listen to Talia play.
After lunch more people were arriving for the party, but Collins was still basically ski-on. Still, the authorities were ready for the afternoon mayhem.
We left TheOtherAmy, Corey and Marc_C behind after lunch and crossed the border into Snowbird's Mineral Basin.
Shot 12 in the Upper Cirque once again delivered some of the best snow of the day, and we headed across Rothman Way for one more ride on Gadzoom this season, intending to thereafter ride Little Cloud to ski Shot 12 again.
Unfortunately, when we had nearly reached the top of Gadzoom the lift ground to a halt. And there we sat for a good 20 minutes, maybe more while crews attempted to rectify what was clearly a mechanical issue.
The delay cost us another run on Shot 12 before we'd have to return to Alta, so we lapped Little Cloud via Whoopsie's before heading back into Mineral Basin via Powder Paradise, where the north-facing terrain just shy of Hilary Step was still soft and chalky.
Bobby was intent on one more lap in Mineral, but as we skied past Baldy Express they were preparing to close the lift 15 minutes early. It seems that there was an unusual number of snowboarders hanging out near the top of the lift and Alta Ski Patrol was anxious to avert the traditional mass poach of Alta by the "Alta Snowboard Team".
A few of the planned poachers were in the chairs immediately in front of us, but they encountered a wall of security at the Taliban Checkpoint on Sugarloaf Pass.
There was going to be no snowboard poach of Alta from Sugarloaf Pass this season.
Now back in Alta, we returned to Armpit for another Baldy Shoulder lap. With the masses heading out the High T for the High Boy Party there was no one else on Backside as we completed our final run of the day.
We called it a day at 4:12 p.m. as the final party-goers were lined up at Collins.
Crocker tells me we skied 25,700 vertical feet today for those who may care, not that I was logging it. All I know is that I'm fairly tired this evening and the hot tub is going to feel good tonight.
