Whew! What a whirlwind weekend. 23,914 verts on Saturday, and 22,319 verts yesterday, so it hurts to walk this morning. After being down for the count for nearly 2 weeks with a particularly nasty bout with the flu, I was anxious to make up for lost time.
So, we've had no significant new snow for 2 weeks now. So, we're under a persistent dome of high pressure. Who cares? We enjoyed every pleasant snow surface imaginable (save for powder) over abnormally deep bases, and the warm sun in a cloudless sky all weekend has left me with a definitive skier's tan, complete with white marks from the helmet's chin strap. There's something to be said for sitting on the deck of Albion Grill for lunch, or listening to a folk guitar and mandolin on the patio of Goldminer's Daughter après-ski sipping on a Cutthroat Pale Ale. A guy can get used to living around here.
Liftlines forum moderator Tony Crocker was out here this weekend from L.A., and we started the day together on the Collins chair at Alta from the opening bell on Saturday. Waiting for things to soften a bit in the morning sun, we started off with a few high-speed groomers to warm up. An early foray into bumps showed them to be not yet ready for prime time, as they were firm and crunchy still, to say the least.
We were riding Sugarloaf when I pulled out my radio to try to make contact with Marc C. "Guido, is that you?" came the reply. "This is Todd F."
I knew out of the corner of my consciousness that Todd was visiting the Ogden area from his Boston home sometime in March, but as his plans didn't bring him near SLC I hadn't paid much attention to it. Now, however, he was on Gadzoom at Snowbird next door, and my buddy John C was also somewhere over there visiting from S.F. We ducked into the Sugar Shack, purchased AltaBird upgrades, and headed across into Mineral Basin and up to the top of Hidden Peak.
Tony and I dropped into the very top of Silver Fox, finding nothing but steep, smooth, dry chalk. The northern exposure and high altitude kept the snow here from softening and refreezing, and it was a delight until we reached the now familiar rock-hard bumps lower down. We traversed out to the groomed and high-tailed it down to the Tram deck to meet up with Todd F. After a bit of monkeying around, we managed to swing by Mid-Gad to pick up John C, too.
We stood atop Jaws, looking down the steep entrance to the rock-lined chute. Todd F stood atop the next chute north, and his cousins picked a slightly tamer entry point a bit further down Peruvian Cirque. John C's modesty belies the fact that he's a former Development Squad member with the USST. "You'd better go first," Tony told John. "From what I hear about you, I'd probably just get in your way."
John pushed over the lip, and made a tentative turn or two to test the surface. Satisfied at the consistency, made up of the same smooth dry chalk that filled Silver Fox's entry chute, he quickly ratcheted things into high gear, nailing three more turns before disappearing further into the chute.
"Just as advertised," Tony deadpanned.
We sure didn't ski it like John did, but delighted in the adrenaline rush nonetheless. Dalton's Draw (decent bumps), Bookends (OK chalk), and the east side of Mineral Basin (unconsolidated rotten junk) all passed beneath our skis as well before Tony and I returned to Alta at 3 pm. We took a blistering groomer back to the base as I called it a day, but the Energizer bunny just kept going until the final bell. I now fully understand how Tony racks up such insane vert totals.
Sunday was more of the same: cloudless skies, light breezes (save for a headwind on the Germania Return), and warm sunshine. Friends Ken & Julie were in town from Ontario with their two daughters, and I spent the morning cruising around with them providing an Alta Tour de Groomers. Ken foolishly followed me into a line just north of Sunspot just before lunch, but the sun hadn't yet done its thing, and it was still refrozen junk. I think that I lost a filling or two on that run and stuck to the groomers for a couple of more hours.
Wife Patricia joined the crew during the afternoon, and the group gradually amped up the terrain choices, primarily off Supreme. Bumps on southwest-facing aspects were now softening nicely, and another descent below the High T yielded the corn we were looking for earlier. The Ontario girls particularly enjoyed sampling steeper bumps through the access gate to skier's right of Vicky's. I tried to get over to Snowbird to hook up with Tony and his friends, but the gods conspired against me and by the time it was possible to make the move, it was too late in the day to make trans-border travel practical. We retired at 4:15 to the deck of the Goldminer's Daughter for smiles and beer, and joined Tony's huge 35-person crew at their condos at Snowbird for a delicious dinner, fine wine, and engaging conversation.
Just another phine weekend in Ootah!
So, we've had no significant new snow for 2 weeks now. So, we're under a persistent dome of high pressure. Who cares? We enjoyed every pleasant snow surface imaginable (save for powder) over abnormally deep bases, and the warm sun in a cloudless sky all weekend has left me with a definitive skier's tan, complete with white marks from the helmet's chin strap. There's something to be said for sitting on the deck of Albion Grill for lunch, or listening to a folk guitar and mandolin on the patio of Goldminer's Daughter après-ski sipping on a Cutthroat Pale Ale. A guy can get used to living around here.
Liftlines forum moderator Tony Crocker was out here this weekend from L.A., and we started the day together on the Collins chair at Alta from the opening bell on Saturday. Waiting for things to soften a bit in the morning sun, we started off with a few high-speed groomers to warm up. An early foray into bumps showed them to be not yet ready for prime time, as they were firm and crunchy still, to say the least.
We were riding Sugarloaf when I pulled out my radio to try to make contact with Marc C. "Guido, is that you?" came the reply. "This is Todd F."
I knew out of the corner of my consciousness that Todd was visiting the Ogden area from his Boston home sometime in March, but as his plans didn't bring him near SLC I hadn't paid much attention to it. Now, however, he was on Gadzoom at Snowbird next door, and my buddy John C was also somewhere over there visiting from S.F. We ducked into the Sugar Shack, purchased AltaBird upgrades, and headed across into Mineral Basin and up to the top of Hidden Peak.
Tony and I dropped into the very top of Silver Fox, finding nothing but steep, smooth, dry chalk. The northern exposure and high altitude kept the snow here from softening and refreezing, and it was a delight until we reached the now familiar rock-hard bumps lower down. We traversed out to the groomed and high-tailed it down to the Tram deck to meet up with Todd F. After a bit of monkeying around, we managed to swing by Mid-Gad to pick up John C, too.
We stood atop Jaws, looking down the steep entrance to the rock-lined chute. Todd F stood atop the next chute north, and his cousins picked a slightly tamer entry point a bit further down Peruvian Cirque. John C's modesty belies the fact that he's a former Development Squad member with the USST. "You'd better go first," Tony told John. "From what I hear about you, I'd probably just get in your way."
John pushed over the lip, and made a tentative turn or two to test the surface. Satisfied at the consistency, made up of the same smooth dry chalk that filled Silver Fox's entry chute, he quickly ratcheted things into high gear, nailing three more turns before disappearing further into the chute.
"Just as advertised," Tony deadpanned.
We sure didn't ski it like John did, but delighted in the adrenaline rush nonetheless. Dalton's Draw (decent bumps), Bookends (OK chalk), and the east side of Mineral Basin (unconsolidated rotten junk) all passed beneath our skis as well before Tony and I returned to Alta at 3 pm. We took a blistering groomer back to the base as I called it a day, but the Energizer bunny just kept going until the final bell. I now fully understand how Tony racks up such insane vert totals.
Sunday was more of the same: cloudless skies, light breezes (save for a headwind on the Germania Return), and warm sunshine. Friends Ken & Julie were in town from Ontario with their two daughters, and I spent the morning cruising around with them providing an Alta Tour de Groomers. Ken foolishly followed me into a line just north of Sunspot just before lunch, but the sun hadn't yet done its thing, and it was still refrozen junk. I think that I lost a filling or two on that run and stuck to the groomers for a couple of more hours.
Wife Patricia joined the crew during the afternoon, and the group gradually amped up the terrain choices, primarily off Supreme. Bumps on southwest-facing aspects were now softening nicely, and another descent below the High T yielded the corn we were looking for earlier. The Ontario girls particularly enjoyed sampling steeper bumps through the access gate to skier's right of Vicky's. I tried to get over to Snowbird to hook up with Tony and his friends, but the gods conspired against me and by the time it was possible to make the move, it was too late in the day to make trans-border travel practical. We retired at 4:15 to the deck of the Goldminer's Daughter for smiles and beer, and joined Tony's huge 35-person crew at their condos at Snowbird for a delicious dinner, fine wine, and engaging conversation.
Just another phine weekend in Ootah!
