Admin was unable to get out Tuesday but took a PTO day Wednesday. The front end timing of the storm was not favorable for him with only 1 inch new but the overnight cold dried out some of the heavier skied-out powder from Tuesday. It snowed intermittently all day with just a couple of breaks. By 2PM thick fog lowered onto both Alta and Snowbird.
Admin and I took an inelegant warmup through Fred's Trees. There was nothing wrong with the snow but I was feeling the effects of the previous big day and admin was recovering from his weekend illness. After that we decided to wait for Ballroom rope drop, maybe about 15 people ahead of us including Liz.
Avalanche rating was between High and Considerable, so they blasted the hell out of Baldy.
We waited about half an hour while one patroller cut the traverse tracks and threw a couple last charges at the end.
By this time the line for Ballroom extended most of the way back to the top of Collins.
A second patroller put up a few signs, then we were off. We all first took the smoothest line at the far end of Ballroom just before the Harold's rope line. Amy joined us for a second run where we dropped in Tombstone and worked our way skier's left to avoid bomb debris.
At this point Liz and I headed for Snowbird to see if we could get the opening of Powder Paradise or Road to Provo. We skied a short Backside run to Sugarloaf on the way. Backside had been skied Tuesday and also had denser snow than Ballroom.
Powder Paradise had been open awhile but Road to Provo maybe 20 minutes or so. It was not getting hammered that fast due to off and on visibility issues. Liz did not care for the visibility so after skiing Hoops she continued on to Gad 2 and revisited her favored spots from Tuesday, Organ Grinder and the lower Tigertail gate to Ted's Bowl.
I skied Little Cloud Bowl in dense but lightly tracked snow, much better than its windswept condition last Thursday. When there was a temporary clearing for better visibility on my third lap, I skied Old Ladies' Slide in similar snow. My second lap was to the Bass Benches and for my fourth I tried the trees between the Rasta Chutes, but unfortunately there was bomb debris in there.
I returned to the top thinking we might regroup for lunch at Alta but had no success with the cell phone. So I decided to ski the upper Cirque and one of the obscure chutes skier's left of Men's Downhill, then back to Gadzoom.
Liz and I reconnected on Gadzoom and took Little Cloud. We intended to head back to Alta but caught a sunny break so Liz wanted to ski far out in the Bookends. Snow below the Sunday Cliffs was much better than last Thursday due to less sun between the storm and the Powder Paradise opening. The exit road was too low to reach Baldy chair easily, so we rode the Mineral chair up as the fog now descended. Admin and Amy had finished lunch by then, so Liz and I ate on Hidden Peak for a rest and hopefully a weather break. We got the rest but the Powder Paradise traverse was total Braille and I even skied off the road once.
Returning to Alta we met admin at the top of Collins and headed out the High T across a foggy Sunspot. Amy caught up to us at Piss Pass and admin led us to a soft and delightful line into North Rustler. Liz and I decided to end our trip on that high note. I skied 9,100 at Alta, 12,500 at Snowbird with about 6K of powder.
Admin and Amy took a final run of similar quality to Eagle's Nest. However, the fog on the High T was so thick this time that admin ended up 25 feet high of his objective beyond Sunspot.
Admin and I took an inelegant warmup through Fred's Trees. There was nothing wrong with the snow but I was feeling the effects of the previous big day and admin was recovering from his weekend illness. After that we decided to wait for Ballroom rope drop, maybe about 15 people ahead of us including Liz.
Avalanche rating was between High and Considerable, so they blasted the hell out of Baldy.
We waited about half an hour while one patroller cut the traverse tracks and threw a couple last charges at the end.
By this time the line for Ballroom extended most of the way back to the top of Collins.
A second patroller put up a few signs, then we were off. We all first took the smoothest line at the far end of Ballroom just before the Harold's rope line. Amy joined us for a second run where we dropped in Tombstone and worked our way skier's left to avoid bomb debris.
At this point Liz and I headed for Snowbird to see if we could get the opening of Powder Paradise or Road to Provo. We skied a short Backside run to Sugarloaf on the way. Backside had been skied Tuesday and also had denser snow than Ballroom.
Powder Paradise had been open awhile but Road to Provo maybe 20 minutes or so. It was not getting hammered that fast due to off and on visibility issues. Liz did not care for the visibility so after skiing Hoops she continued on to Gad 2 and revisited her favored spots from Tuesday, Organ Grinder and the lower Tigertail gate to Ted's Bowl.
I skied Little Cloud Bowl in dense but lightly tracked snow, much better than its windswept condition last Thursday. When there was a temporary clearing for better visibility on my third lap, I skied Old Ladies' Slide in similar snow. My second lap was to the Bass Benches and for my fourth I tried the trees between the Rasta Chutes, but unfortunately there was bomb debris in there.
I returned to the top thinking we might regroup for lunch at Alta but had no success with the cell phone. So I decided to ski the upper Cirque and one of the obscure chutes skier's left of Men's Downhill, then back to Gadzoom.
Liz and I reconnected on Gadzoom and took Little Cloud. We intended to head back to Alta but caught a sunny break so Liz wanted to ski far out in the Bookends. Snow below the Sunday Cliffs was much better than last Thursday due to less sun between the storm and the Powder Paradise opening. The exit road was too low to reach Baldy chair easily, so we rode the Mineral chair up as the fog now descended. Admin and Amy had finished lunch by then, so Liz and I ate on Hidden Peak for a rest and hopefully a weather break. We got the rest but the Powder Paradise traverse was total Braille and I even skied off the road once.
Returning to Alta we met admin at the top of Collins and headed out the High T across a foggy Sunspot. Amy caught up to us at Piss Pass and admin led us to a soft and delightful line into North Rustler. Liz and I decided to end our trip on that high note. I skied 9,100 at Alta, 12,500 at Snowbird with about 6K of powder.
Admin and Amy took a final run of similar quality to Eagle's Nest. However, the fog on the High T was so thick this time that admin ended up 25 feet high of his objective beyond Sunspot.