It was predicted to snow today, but the snow started a bit earlier than expected, with 5 inches reported overnight. It snowed lightly in the morning but cranked up around noon. There was very little wind but dense fog was occasionally an issue.
I arrived at Snowbird early but didn't want to wait around in the cold. I came up to the tram line at 8:50 and it was just reaching the plaza. I barely made it on to the second tram. With 5 inches I was mindful to look for more moderate pitch (not much of that at Snowbird) and/or north facing where the base would not be refrozen and crunchy. Mineral Basin was closed until just before 10AM. I did not want to ski Little Cloud with Road to Provo closed as the Regulator side would definitely be crunchy.
So first run I skied upper Primrose/Silver Fox, feeling the subsurface but soft in that area. Some midsections of Chips were left ungroomed and that early it was easy to make your own tracks. After the initial crush trams were still going up full but with less than a full tram wait. Second run I went to middle Cirque, recalling the first run on Fat Tuesday in 2011. It was good but not quite as good as the first run. Lower down I saw the Snowbird photographer set up on the far side of Andersen's Hill. So I put a few smooth turns through and below. I inadvertently crossed Rothman's and ended up on lower Silver Fox, a crunchy subsurface but I managed to avoid most of the moguls.
Multiple tram laps can be exhausting so I was relieved to see Mineral Basin open at the top of my third tram about 10AM. I went out to Powder Paradise, arriving in dense fog and seeing the first skiers setting the traverse toward Hillary Step. I thought it best to ski a low angle diagonal line of untracked with the bad visibility. Next time there was a break in the fog along the Road to Powder Paradise and the untracked bowl below was too tempting to resist despite the SE exposed subsurface below. What was required here was BobbyD technique, keeping speed way up to stay in the soft new snow. In my case that was on diagonal lines since I don't ski at his speed straight down, with wide GS turns connecting the diagonals.
The next 2 runs I went out the now set traverse to Hillary Step. Snow next to the rocks and along the ropeline was probably the deepest of the day with even a face shot or two. Each time up the MBE chair I was looking to see if Road to Provo was open. I needed a break and skied along the edges of Lupine Loop. Then I went into the patrol shack at 11:30 and was told 20 more minutes. I then skied Chamonix Bowl and went to wait for Road to Provo.
Road to Provo opened about 11:55 with maybe 20 of us waiting. This timing coincided with the heavier snowfall and thus very bad visibility. Nonetheless I dropped off Road to Provo about 3/4 of the way out to Mark Malu for some untracked by Braille. About halfway down I had my only crash of the day from an invisible contour change. Lower down Get Wet had some crunch underneath but I put the second track down a very soft Exit Gully.
As with Mineral I figured to let someone else set the traverse past the Rastas. I dropped in the edge there and ended up on Skadi Drill Hill trying to stay near some vegetation for visibility. One run there was a break in the fog so I dropped off Road to Provo earlier into Shireen. This was another BobbyD wild ride to keep speed up in a wide open bowl to avoid crunch underneath. Then there were 2 more runs out the Rasta traverse, dropping the steep rollover just before Whoopsies and then skiing moderate pitch untracked across Gelande Hill where the visibility was tougher.
By this time I really needed a break, so headed down the Gad Valley and over to the tram plaza for a pizza lunch. I arrived at 1:05PM having skied 23K already. While eating I saw skiers outside the tram building and didn't think I should be standing around a long time with one more ski day to go. I went up to the front, saw only 2 lines of the maze were in use and decided on one last tram, a very fortunate decision. First I was delighted that Shot 12 in the Upper Cirque had seen very little activity and was probably the second best deep snow of the day. When I came to rest on Some Sunny Spot I overheard 3 skiers saying they were on their last run. I asked for a ride down the Canyon. One of them was an employee, whom I followed through 3 very lightly tracked stashes on the lower mountain, a nice way to finish the day.
26,100 vertical, 14K of powder. The last minute plane ticket is already well worth it, and admin will be skiing with me tomorrow.
I arrived at Snowbird early but didn't want to wait around in the cold. I came up to the tram line at 8:50 and it was just reaching the plaza. I barely made it on to the second tram. With 5 inches I was mindful to look for more moderate pitch (not much of that at Snowbird) and/or north facing where the base would not be refrozen and crunchy. Mineral Basin was closed until just before 10AM. I did not want to ski Little Cloud with Road to Provo closed as the Regulator side would definitely be crunchy.
So first run I skied upper Primrose/Silver Fox, feeling the subsurface but soft in that area. Some midsections of Chips were left ungroomed and that early it was easy to make your own tracks. After the initial crush trams were still going up full but with less than a full tram wait. Second run I went to middle Cirque, recalling the first run on Fat Tuesday in 2011. It was good but not quite as good as the first run. Lower down I saw the Snowbird photographer set up on the far side of Andersen's Hill. So I put a few smooth turns through and below. I inadvertently crossed Rothman's and ended up on lower Silver Fox, a crunchy subsurface but I managed to avoid most of the moguls.
Multiple tram laps can be exhausting so I was relieved to see Mineral Basin open at the top of my third tram about 10AM. I went out to Powder Paradise, arriving in dense fog and seeing the first skiers setting the traverse toward Hillary Step. I thought it best to ski a low angle diagonal line of untracked with the bad visibility. Next time there was a break in the fog along the Road to Powder Paradise and the untracked bowl below was too tempting to resist despite the SE exposed subsurface below. What was required here was BobbyD technique, keeping speed way up to stay in the soft new snow. In my case that was on diagonal lines since I don't ski at his speed straight down, with wide GS turns connecting the diagonals.
The next 2 runs I went out the now set traverse to Hillary Step. Snow next to the rocks and along the ropeline was probably the deepest of the day with even a face shot or two. Each time up the MBE chair I was looking to see if Road to Provo was open. I needed a break and skied along the edges of Lupine Loop. Then I went into the patrol shack at 11:30 and was told 20 more minutes. I then skied Chamonix Bowl and went to wait for Road to Provo.
Road to Provo opened about 11:55 with maybe 20 of us waiting. This timing coincided with the heavier snowfall and thus very bad visibility. Nonetheless I dropped off Road to Provo about 3/4 of the way out to Mark Malu for some untracked by Braille. About halfway down I had my only crash of the day from an invisible contour change. Lower down Get Wet had some crunch underneath but I put the second track down a very soft Exit Gully.
As with Mineral I figured to let someone else set the traverse past the Rastas. I dropped in the edge there and ended up on Skadi Drill Hill trying to stay near some vegetation for visibility. One run there was a break in the fog so I dropped off Road to Provo earlier into Shireen. This was another BobbyD wild ride to keep speed up in a wide open bowl to avoid crunch underneath. Then there were 2 more runs out the Rasta traverse, dropping the steep rollover just before Whoopsies and then skiing moderate pitch untracked across Gelande Hill where the visibility was tougher.
By this time I really needed a break, so headed down the Gad Valley and over to the tram plaza for a pizza lunch. I arrived at 1:05PM having skied 23K already. While eating I saw skiers outside the tram building and didn't think I should be standing around a long time with one more ski day to go. I went up to the front, saw only 2 lines of the maze were in use and decided on one last tram, a very fortunate decision. First I was delighted that Shot 12 in the Upper Cirque had seen very little activity and was probably the second best deep snow of the day. When I came to rest on Some Sunny Spot I overheard 3 skiers saying they were on their last run. I asked for a ride down the Canyon. One of them was an employee, whom I followed through 3 very lightly tracked stashes on the lower mountain, a nice way to finish the day.
26,100 vertical, 14K of powder. The last minute plane ticket is already well worth it, and admin will be skiing with me tomorrow.
