A touch of Utah advice
- Thread starter salida
- Start date
Yeah! Someone told me that Main Chute is 50 degrees!
:lol:
:lol:
jamesdeluxe":3is33oag said:
I need to add an emoticon to our system for whacking another guy upside the head.
Although my reply was poorly worded, what I meant was you need to have a clue what's being covered before you can decide whether or not the need for more snow is due to rocks underneath. This ain't Greek Peak, some of those rocks right out in the open are bigger than an SUV.
ChrisC
Well-known member
I prefer Alta on a powder day because: more open terrain, faster openings, and less technical terrain that does not get skidded off by one snowboarder.
All other times, I'd rather be at the Bird.
I though these maps might help the discussion regarding aspects of certain runs. ie: Mineral Basin is a lot more east-facing than I expected.
Alta
Snowbird
All other times, I'd rather be at the Bird.
I though these maps might help the discussion regarding aspects of certain runs. ie: Mineral Basin is a lot more east-facing than I expected.
Alta
Snowbird
20+ minute hike to get comparable vertical to its counterparts at Snowbird.
See above. I've never done these and only been very far out in Devil's Castle once. Admin does not include these on his excellent locals' tours because they are not worth the trouble unless there is high quality fresh powder, which seems to be rare on my visits.
So I do yield to those who have greater familiarity with the big powder days. Does Alta really open terrain faster than Snowbird after storms? I've heard mention of significant delays on Backside and even Ballroom. During storms I can understand that Wildcat/Westward Ho would be exceptionally good. Nonetheless Adam had a 24/17 day at Snowbird on Friday, after I went home of course.
I'll agree with admin about the rocks. No different geologic formations. Snowbird goes to the top of Hidden Peak while Alta stops 500 vertical short of Baldy, so Snowbird has more exposure to windstripping. The lower mountain is to Alta's advantage also due to being 600 feet higher with 10% more snowfall. By say, January 15th on average, the rocks are sufficiently covered and I'll take that extra 1,100 vertical at Snowbird more of the time.
To some extent we are nitpicking or beating a dead horse here.
My point is that the Alta/Snowbird comparison is like Chateau Latour vs. Heitz Martha's Vineyard. Both great but some differences in style. And thus it makes no sense IMHO to prefer one to the other by a lopsided 6-1 ratio. It appears that ChrisC and Sharon see this issue very much as I do.
rfarren
New member
The nice part about the traverses is that the powder in those sections last longer.
I have to say that I'm not against delayed openings. Many times I've been to Alta they've opened up terrain the day after a storm, when its bluebird. The advantage of that is you get two powder days for the price of one!
Very true, as Adam and friends are enjoying this morning. Mammoth has major avy control issues and often has sequential openings of terrain during the day. Adam has had a couple of midweek days this year following those openings around and thus scoring 70+% of the ski day in fresh tracks. Which is close to a Powder Mt./Castle Mt. benchmark and about as good as you can do lift served.