Alta/Snowbird Mar. 14, 2025

[kingslug]

Woke up today at 530 to see how buried my house was...it was pretty bad.
Waited a little while before starting the blower. Had at least a foot in the driveway and 2 feet in front of it from the plow. Spent 2 hours blowing it and my neighbors..he doesnt own a blower.
Friend of mine texted me that he was giving up trying to get to bird...too insane with the road closed..traffic backed up for miles.
Ive been a little sick all week and this did me in..so i figured take the day off as it was too late to go anywhere.
Trying to ski after these storms has gotten insane. You have to be there already.
Tomorrow..Alta. Ill be in the parking lot at 730 to beat the traffic...that will probably be insane.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Trying to ski after these storms has gotten insane. You have to be there already.

A couple of Adam's friends who live in SLC stayed in one of our Iron Blosam units vacated by someone in our group who left Thursday.

Staying up here, we root for road closures/delays. The one today wasn't that long but it helped.

Liz, George and I got to Wilbere chair at 9AM opening bell. The new Wilbere quad is not high speed but it never had much of a line either. One of the powder days a couple of years ago I started with 3 Wilbere laps before it was cut up too much, but this one was better. On my second ride up I could see cars driving up the canyon but few were parked at Snowbird yet. So this time I got 7 Wilbere powder laps in: 2 Wilbere Ridge, 3 Harper's Ferry East and 2 Harper's Ferry West. Liz and George got 5 laps before we left Wilbere at 10:20. George on the last Harper's Ferry West run:

When we moved to Gadzoom's ~5 minute line, Tseeb joined us and we continued to Little Cloud, where Tseeb had already taken 4 laps. Liz and George skied some leftovers near the lift as no surprise Road to Provo was closed. They continued down to Baby Thunder.

I figured I had one long and steep powder run in me today so I recalled last year I had followed Bryce out the Cirque Traverse and skied South Chute. This time with Tseeb we went a bit farther to Wilbere Bowl. View down including new Wyssen Tower for avalanche control:

Wilbere Chute had been skied but with 2 feet new snow it was nearly always possible to make turns in big swaths of powder. I had two suck wind breaks before hitting the road above Big Emma. Upper Big Emma still had some powder too. I crossed past the mid-Gad mid-station to make sure I could get directly to Baby Thunder.

I did not find out until later that Baby Thunder had only been open since 11AM. So no wonder my initial approach and first two runs there were mostly untracked. On my second chair ride Liz has plenty of freshies right under the lift.

This did not last long. The third run was good but I ventured into some too tight shrubbery on the fourth to avoid tracks.

So we left Baby Thunder at 12:45 and Liz and George called it a day, skiing from Wilbere to the bridge in cut up powder. I wasn't that lively either but I had one more objective to complete my day. I had my biggest lift line of the day at Peruvian, close to 15 minutes, as it also had opened around 11AM. I got some bits and pieces of powder off the low Baldy traverse and dropping into Blackjack.

As on Sunday I skied Blackjack to the condos to meet the Alta Shuttle, and as on Sunday he was right there. However this time he refused to pick me up because I was not staying at the condos. I guess I need to have Liz with me to get sympathy from the driver. I walked to the stop sign pickup area where there were 5 other skiers. The Alta shuttle driver drove past all of us without stopping even though he only had 2 other passengers; he must have been having a bad day. Fortunately a Powder House ski shop van came by and took all of us to the Collins base. Here's a sticker on the stop sign that you would find nowhere else but Alta.

I had contemplated a Collins/High T lap but decided at 2:30 I was too tired for that. So I rode Wildcat and amazingly Tseeb had gone over there too and was about 5 chairs behind me. We skied back to Snowbird via the route former admin had taught us well, putting the only two tracks into the skier's right scattered trees. It was the best run of the day for me and great finale to Iron Blosam week 2025.

I skied 16,700 vertical, about 11K of powder. Yes I know, on a big powder day I am less willing to stop frequently for photo ops. Weather was mostly overcast with occasional snow and a few sunny breaks in the afternoon. Temps were in the 20's at the base and teens up higher.

 

[tseeb]

It was a great day to be staying across the street from Snowbird. We only wished the Interlodge ended well before the road opened.

There was a lot of bombing beginning about 5 AM that we could feel a little and hear a lot. I saw buses about 9 AM which meant that road closure ended about 845. I hurried out of Iron Blosam and loaded Gadzoom not much after 9:15 and got four laps on Little Cloud. New snow reported was 18" overnight. I got untracked on skiers left ropeline first lap, then skied just to right of rocks between ropeline and Regulator, then dropped off next to right ropeline just before entrance to Middle Cirque Traverse and skied some untracked above top of Gadzoom on my third lap. Snow was MANY FACESHOTS deep, a little wind-affected in places and visibility and breathing were challenging at times. Not sure if next photo was off Middle Cirque Traverse back to Little Cloud, or more likely on other side dropping under Tram which I did on 4th lap. Peruvian was on hold until almost 11.

I skied a couple of good powder lines in small trees under Tram towers, then continued into Green Forest and Rathman's then skied trees on right side of Mach Schell. I ran into @Tony Crocker, his wife Liz and friend George who had been skiing Wilbere. We all went up Gadzoom and Little Cloud and Tony and I went out Middle Cirque Traverse, dropping off to left into South Chute/Wilbere Bowl area. Snow was chopped up, but so deep that speed on steep slope was easily managed by skiing into deep piles of new snow.

I met up with my wife, Lucia, who had taken Thursday off and rode Wilbere 4x with her. She was looking for packed runs and the best we could find was Big Emma which we did twice and Wilbere Ridge which was skier-packed, but lower half, Bryce's Run, had narrower packed strip. I found and skied some powder on edges and in trees next to runs. I left her and went up Peruvian where singlesline went well up hill. After joining three boarders I had ~12 min liftline. I went out Middle Baldy Traverse, catching a couple of short powder shots then a longer one through gate named Palm Something where entry was deep chopped powder.

I found some untracked lower down (my tracks on left), then continued to Blackjack condos where ride to Alta was not as easy as it used to be.

Blackjack Condo shuttle only seemed to be for residents, but I was able to get ride to Albion with two guys in Audi SUV. After re-filling my water at Albion, I rode Sunnyside twice, dropping off Vail Ridge into deep chopped up powder in different place each time. Supreme had a moderate line (but Catherine's area was open) and I heard visibiIity was poor on Sugarloaf which had shorter line. Sign at Wildcat.

I skied past Sunnyside base, then used ropetow and a little hike to get to Wildcat. Near the top I saw Tony Crocker and we skied gate back to Snowbird that had deepest snow of the day. I quit about 2:45 with 18.5K, my lowest vertical of trip, but also my deepest snow. My first attempt to get my SUV out of parking space was not successful, but 2nd was after shoveling to pavement behind each tire.

 

[tseeb]

Edit previous post to cleanup a typo or two and add "MANY FACESHOTS" to 'Snow was deep' skiing Little Cloud.
I'd thought about skiing a couple of runs on Sat 3/15, but did not. It was enough to get all our stuff to SUV and make most of the ~800 mile drive home. I purposely had left a suitcase and another bag in room where we stayed on the 8th floor (Thanks Adam@skiace!). When I went back, none of the 4 keys I had worked. After getting a key from my wife who was waiting near lobby door with rest of our luggage and a short wait for elevator, her key also would not work. I had much longer elevator waits to get to/from front desk where they told me keys thought it was 11 AM (past our checkout) and gave me one that worked. The two extra elevator round-trips added at least 20 minutes to our departure.

Trip Summary: Drive home started with windshield wipers that would not move until I cleaned all the snow from around their bases and manually rocked them free and a very slick steep downhill where I used a lot of 1st gear and antilock brakes to keep speed down to 15-20 mph to stay away from the many vehicles going up and the snowbank on right. For the second time in a row leaving Iron Blosam after more than a foot of snow fell in one day, Cruise Control did not work at all for a while. This time it would engage, but disconnected after hitting bump or randomly until we were past Elko, NV.

Trip mileage: exactly 2,900. Longest day Iron Blosam to San Jose: ~800 miles. 9:40 AM to 9:40 PM + gained an hour after Wendover
Ski days: 16 (as planned) Palisades, Snowbird/Alta (one on way E plus last two days), Steamboat and Snowbird two days each,
Aspen three (I skied all four areas, Lucia Buttermilk two, Snowmass one), Deer Valley from East Village, Copper Mountain four
Days off: 2 (Moab/Arches on 3/10 and to drive home on 3/15)
Days with vertical over 30K: Deer Valley 35.7K on 2/28 and busy Saturday 3/1 at Steamboat 32.5K
edit to add I left out 3/7, the day I skied both Buttermilk (21.4K) and Aspen Mtn (11.9) with 4" new = 33.3K
Lowest vertical: 18.5K at Snowbird with some Alta on 3/14, best and last day of trip
Nights in back of SUV: 2 (first was short night at Wendover, NV with many big rigs nearby including one that nearly blocked me in behind McDonalds, second was in bowling alley parking lot in Craig, CO not very far from McDonalds)

Biggest problems other than room keys not working when trying to get last load out of Iron Blosam:
1. Friend remembered he left his jacket at highly recommended 2-bedroom vrbo we stayed at in Hayden, CO when we were 10 miles into drive to Steamboat. When we returned to get it, he also found one of his gloves was on ground where he had entered SUV. He made it up by paying $55 to park very close to where he caught shuttle from Copper Mountain to DEN after skiing one day there.
2. Lucia had returned from El Salvador the night before I left. She thinks she got a stomach bug from SAL airport meal. A three-day course of antibiotics picked up in Aspen did not resolve it and she took a lot of Pepto Bismol tablets to get through the last two days. She skied her first eight days of the season in a row in CO, then after day off for Arches, skied Snowbird three days, taking Thursday off when she did not feel up to it. And not really a problem, but she only drove 30-40 minutes twice: first from Wells to Elko, NV when I really needed a break and she had to drive through blowing, but not sticking snow, then from Fernley (our last gas stop) to last NV exit.
3. Took her and friend on very long and trying for her traverse across steep frozen moguls at Steamboat. It was her choice to avoid groomed black run, but I should have looked at map and found there was a better alternative, a groomed blue run to alternative base to avoid long liftline we'd just endured. She also did not appreciate the 1-2" new on long run to Timberline chair our last day at Copper.
4. I took a hard fall on an easy narrow part of blue Chip's Run at Snowbird. I did not bruise hip I landed on but will feel it for a while.
5. I also fell just after going past gate returning from Alta to Snowbird on my last run. @Tony Crocker asked if I'd caught a root. I said no. I just wasn't expecting new snow to be so deep ~30".

 

[jasoncapecod]

Edit previous post to cleanup a typo or two and add "MANY FACESHOTS" to 'Snow was deep' skiing Little Cloud.
I'd thought about skiing a couple of runs on Sat 3/15, but did not. It was enough to get all our stuff to SUV and make most of the ~800 mile drive home. I purposely had left a suitcase and another bag in room where we stayed on the 8th floor (Thanks Adam@skiace!). When I went back, none of the 4 keys I had worked. After getting a key from my wife who was waiting near lobby door with rest of our luggage and a short wait for elevator, her key also would not work. I had much longer elevator waits to get to/from front desk where they told me keys thought it was 11 AM (past our checkout) and gave me one that worked. The two extra elevator round-trips added at least 20 minutes to our departure.

Trip Summary: Drive home started with windshield wipers that would not move until I cleaned all the snow from around their bases and manually rocked them free and a very slick steep downhill where I used a lot of 1st gear and antilock brakes to keep speed down to 15-20 mph to stay away from the many vehicles going up and the snowbank on right. For the second time in a row leaving Iron Blosam after more than a foot of snow fell in one day, Cruise Control did not work at all for a while. This time it would engage, but disconnected after hitting bump or randomly until we were past Elko, NV.
View attachment 44850
Trip mileage: exactly 2,900. Longest day Iron Blosam to San Jose: ~800 miles. 9:40 AM to 9:40 PM + gained an hour after Wendover
Ski days: 16 (as planned) Palisades, Snowbird/Alta (one on way E plus last two days), Steamboat and Snowbird two days each,
Aspen three (I skied all four areas, Lucia Buttermilk two, Snowmass one), Deer Valley from East Village, Copper Mountain four
Days off: 2 (Moab/Arches on 3/10 and to drive home on 3/15)
Days with vertical over 30K: Deer Valley 35.7K on 2/28 and busy Saturday 3/1 at Steamboat 32.5K
Lowest vertical: 18.5K at Snowbird with some Alta on 3/14, best and last day of trip
Nights in back of SUV: 2 (first was short night at Wendover, NV with many big rigs nearby including one that nearly blocked me in behind McDonalds, second was in bowling alley parking lot in Craig, CO not very far from McDonalds)

Biggest problems other than room keys not working when trying to get last load out of Iron Blosam:
1. Friend remembered he left his jacket at highly recommended 2-bedroom vrbo we stayed at in Hayden, CO when we were 10 miles into drive to Steamboat. When we returned to get it, he also found one of his gloves was on ground where he had entered SUV. He made it up by paying $55 to park very close to where he caught shuttle from Copper Mountain to DEN after skiing one day there.
2. Lucia had returned from El Salvador the night before I left. She thinks she got a stomach bug from SAL airport meal. A three-day course of antibiotics picked up in Aspen did not resolve it and she took a lot of Pepto Bismol tablets to get through the last two days. She skied her first eight days of the season in a row in CO, then after day off for Arches, skied Snowbird three days, taking Thursday off when she did not feel up to it. And not really a problem, but she only drove 30-40 minutes twice: first from Wells to Elko, NV when I really needed a break and she had to drive through blowing, but not sticking snow, then from Fernley (our last gas stop) to last NV exit.
3. Took her and friend on very long and trying for her traverse across steep frozen moguls at Steamboat. It was her choice to avoid groomed black run, but I should have looked at map and found there was a better alternative, a groomed blue run to alternative base to avoid long liftline we'd just endured. She also did not appreciate the 1-2" new on long run to Timberline chair our last day at Copper.
4. I took a hard fall on an easy narrow part of blue Chip's Run at Snowbird. I did not bruise hip I landed on but will feel it for a while.
5. I also fell just after going past gate returning from Alta to Snowbird on my last run. @Tony Crocker asked if I'd caught a root. I said no. I just wasn't expecting new snow to be so deep ~30".

that is a real testament to Honda!! and doing proper maintenance

 

[tseeb]

Avalanche hit cars near Snowbird.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1902151624858202508

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Gimme a break:

 

[kingslug]

SPorty out there...im safe and sound teaching on the bunny hill.
Got 2.5 hours of knee deep yesterday though after classes were canceled

 

[tseeb]

Gimme a break:

Monday I drove 65 miles each way to 2nd cousin's house in Tracy to catch ride to service for another 2nd cousin in Chico and hit 325K. Note that I am 10K overdue for my 4th timing belt (~$1000 job that my mechanic said he thinks I'm OK holding off for another 5K miles). On my trip to CO and UT, I carried a checkbook with enough to buy whatever SUV was available if timing belt broke and took out engine.

I stopped at Toyota dealer in Livermore that used to advertise no dealer markup on way home to see what Highlander Hybrids they had. They had a 2023 with 20,032 miles for $48,777 (I told them it listed for less than that when new and they said they are competing with the whole world at auctions.) and two new 25th Anniversary editions at $54,420 plus dealer markup.

With a 600 mile range, I could make it well into CO or BC with only one stop for re-fueling. Below is from Consumer Reports 2025 Auto Issue.

 

[kingslug]

Cant wait to see what prices are in 6 months.