Well my quest for skiing straight through until 08/09 season continued on Independence Day....and boy did we do it independently. 
Met with Telejon in the GMD parking lot at about 10:45 07/04/08. We hadnt decided if we were spotting a car and taking the tram or just taking the hike/skin up Alta. We decided on the latter. Geared up and ready we started our way up the service road toward Collins mid station. On the way up we met a couple from Park City that werent that familiar with Alta and the husband Stephen (steven? I forgot to ask), asked if he could tag along. Jon and I of course said he was more than welcome and the hike to Collins mid continued.
We reached Watson shelter pretty quickly, however I didn't have a watch, though I figure somewhere right around an hour. We had found continuous snow and it was time to skin. Towards main chute it was. Pretty quickly the terrain got to be too much for both Stephen and myself to continue skinning. Time to boot pack. Telejon on the other hand was seemingly having no issues skinning and pretty much billy goated right up to nearly the apron of main chute.
I was surprised to see roughly 5 skiers exit main chute on our initial ascent. MANY were using snowbirds tram and signing the waiver to bring their skis. Many more than i have ever thought. As Stephen and I were booting up I hear screaming from above......its a female voice....ROOOOCCCCKKKKK.......ROOOOOCCCCCKKKK....well here Stephen and I are standing on whats likely a nearly 40 degree pitch below the apron of main chute and I see a rock tumbling down...bout softball sized. We were headed toward the right side rock outcropping at the exit of main chute so we WOULD be in a safe zone for rocks, but apparently this particular rock had other ideas. No again we're wearing ski boots and booting up, when a rock is bouncing down a steep slope, jumping this way and that, you have to watch and make VERY quick decisions and move at the last possible minute as the rock could change direction at any time..Stephen is aware and is right behind me...im watching.....watching....I make my move and quickly slide to my right and gain foothold in the snow....I HEAR BAM.....and I turn to see the rock sitting at Stephens feet..apparently the a-frame of his skis on his pack took the rock right on the tips and popped off his tip strap. Literally 5 inches lower and Stephen would have had a fast moving rock to the face and it would've been ugly...thankfully noone was hurt and the skier apologized, even though it was really out of her control...Main chute is rocky.
Now where to ski..since we had decided not to use the Tram at Snowbird we thought maybe we'll just boot right up Main Chute...well after the rock incident and the amount of downhill traffic in Main we decided that would not be a good idea...so we sidestepped ourselves over to the area of Perlas. I guess we booted up to about the apron at the bottom of Perlas and decided that would be enough as the snow was cupped and there were many large rock obstacles. The snow was soft, but the sun cups large and the skiing on the steep sections was "survival" skiing at best. We decided that was enough and it was down the groomers to the car.
There is still a lot of snow there but its melting FAST.......we skied continuous from Perlas apron to Collins Mid, then a VERY short walk to the next patch just below Collins mid skis off. Then a couple sidesteps over to the top of Corkscrew, and a few over the road to nearly the Collins base...
All in all a fun way to spend the beginning of the day July 4, 2008..
Happy Independence Day Everyone..
Looking Up towards the bottom opening of Main Chute
Telejon skiing down from Perals
Stephen looking back up at Perlas
We started at the rock outcropping direclty in the middle. If you look close you can see the dot that is Stephen getting ready to descend
Stephen looking accomplished after his first pitch after the hike
Telejon giving it his all to make it to the next pitch
Telejon bottom of Corkscrew
Stephen bottom Corkscrew
A look towards the High T
The Mt Superior Butterfly is coming in nicely
M
Met with Telejon in the GMD parking lot at about 10:45 07/04/08. We hadnt decided if we were spotting a car and taking the tram or just taking the hike/skin up Alta. We decided on the latter. Geared up and ready we started our way up the service road toward Collins mid station. On the way up we met a couple from Park City that werent that familiar with Alta and the husband Stephen (steven? I forgot to ask), asked if he could tag along. Jon and I of course said he was more than welcome and the hike to Collins mid continued.
We reached Watson shelter pretty quickly, however I didn't have a watch, though I figure somewhere right around an hour. We had found continuous snow and it was time to skin. Towards main chute it was. Pretty quickly the terrain got to be too much for both Stephen and myself to continue skinning. Time to boot pack. Telejon on the other hand was seemingly having no issues skinning and pretty much billy goated right up to nearly the apron of main chute.
I was surprised to see roughly 5 skiers exit main chute on our initial ascent. MANY were using snowbirds tram and signing the waiver to bring their skis. Many more than i have ever thought. As Stephen and I were booting up I hear screaming from above......its a female voice....ROOOOCCCCKKKKK.......ROOOOOCCCCCKKKK....well here Stephen and I are standing on whats likely a nearly 40 degree pitch below the apron of main chute and I see a rock tumbling down...bout softball sized. We were headed toward the right side rock outcropping at the exit of main chute so we WOULD be in a safe zone for rocks, but apparently this particular rock had other ideas. No again we're wearing ski boots and booting up, when a rock is bouncing down a steep slope, jumping this way and that, you have to watch and make VERY quick decisions and move at the last possible minute as the rock could change direction at any time..Stephen is aware and is right behind me...im watching.....watching....I make my move and quickly slide to my right and gain foothold in the snow....I HEAR BAM.....and I turn to see the rock sitting at Stephens feet..apparently the a-frame of his skis on his pack took the rock right on the tips and popped off his tip strap. Literally 5 inches lower and Stephen would have had a fast moving rock to the face and it would've been ugly...thankfully noone was hurt and the skier apologized, even though it was really out of her control...Main chute is rocky.
Now where to ski..since we had decided not to use the Tram at Snowbird we thought maybe we'll just boot right up Main Chute...well after the rock incident and the amount of downhill traffic in Main we decided that would not be a good idea...so we sidestepped ourselves over to the area of Perlas. I guess we booted up to about the apron at the bottom of Perlas and decided that would be enough as the snow was cupped and there were many large rock obstacles. The snow was soft, but the sun cups large and the skiing on the steep sections was "survival" skiing at best. We decided that was enough and it was down the groomers to the car.
There is still a lot of snow there but its melting FAST.......we skied continuous from Perlas apron to Collins Mid, then a VERY short walk to the next patch just below Collins mid skis off. Then a couple sidesteps over to the top of Corkscrew, and a few over the road to nearly the Collins base...
All in all a fun way to spend the beginning of the day July 4, 2008..
Happy Independence Day Everyone..
Looking Up towards the bottom opening of Main Chute
Telejon skiing down from Perals
Stephen looking back up at Perlas
We started at the rock outcropping direclty in the middle. If you look close you can see the dot that is Stephen getting ready to descend
Stephen looking accomplished after his first pitch after the hike
Telejon giving it his all to make it to the next pitch
Telejon bottom of Corkscrew
Stephen bottom Corkscrew
A look towards the High T
The Mt Superior Butterfly is coming in nicely
M
