Day 41: Bluebird.
If we're not going to have fresh powder, today's weather was the way it should be for a ski day: sunny, warm and with light breezes. In a word, gorgeous.
Snow off the groomers, though, wasn't nearly as stiff as we'd anticipated it would be. It snowed a few inches on Thursday, but this week we also had some significant wind events so I was expecting the worst but hoping for the best. What we got was something somewhere in the middle. We also had an inordinately large group this morning that grew throughout the day to eventually hit 10, so that meant some slow going and a bunch of standing around this morning which was only mildly frustrating. Telejon's brother Malcolm and nephew Devon were in town, as was TheOtherAmy's husband Corey. Bobby Danger headed for The Bird around 10:30 a.m. to meet up with his buddy Mike from New Hampshire.
In our search for loose snow we headed out Devil's Castle for my first time this season. When I head out there I want to go all the way to The Wall, but taking a slightly lower traverse meant that we lost out on only 4 or 5 turns but reached it with far less work than otherwise required. And just for the record, after watching him zip up the sidestep below the Sugarloaf Cliffs I can tell you that Corey is a friggin' animal. =D> I am not worthy.
As we neared the wall another skier approached on the traverse and introduced himself as Nelson B, a Liftlines user who joined these forums last month. Nelson resides in New Jersey but spends his winters here in Utah, as does his buddy Bruce, who lives in Maine near Sunday River. We hooked up for a few runs, as well as lunch at Rustler Lodge where the softshell crab BLT was once again on the menu! \
/
After skiing North Rustler after lunch our group unintentionally splintered. AmyZ and I traversed across Baldy Shoulder and below Bad News to drop into Snowbird via Keyhole Right, which skied well where it was untracked but had stiff refrozen chunks of snow where it had been skied. We took a long circuitous route through Snowbird, riding Gadzoom for a quick lap in Little Cloud Bowl (small, round, chalky bumps) before dropping into Mineral Basin via Hyena Ridge and back to Snowbird East, a.k.a. Alta.
By the time we returned to Germania Pass it was 3 p.m. and my legs were shot. Energizer bunny AmyZ still had fuel in the tank, so she headed to Highboy while I wrapped up the day with a Ballroom to Aggie's Alley.
It was another beautiful day in the Wasatch. Devon took some action shots so I'm hopeful that he'll join up and post a few.
If we're not going to have fresh powder, today's weather was the way it should be for a ski day: sunny, warm and with light breezes. In a word, gorgeous.
Snow off the groomers, though, wasn't nearly as stiff as we'd anticipated it would be. It snowed a few inches on Thursday, but this week we also had some significant wind events so I was expecting the worst but hoping for the best. What we got was something somewhere in the middle. We also had an inordinately large group this morning that grew throughout the day to eventually hit 10, so that meant some slow going and a bunch of standing around this morning which was only mildly frustrating. Telejon's brother Malcolm and nephew Devon were in town, as was TheOtherAmy's husband Corey. Bobby Danger headed for The Bird around 10:30 a.m. to meet up with his buddy Mike from New Hampshire.
In our search for loose snow we headed out Devil's Castle for my first time this season. When I head out there I want to go all the way to The Wall, but taking a slightly lower traverse meant that we lost out on only 4 or 5 turns but reached it with far less work than otherwise required. And just for the record, after watching him zip up the sidestep below the Sugarloaf Cliffs I can tell you that Corey is a friggin' animal. =D> I am not worthy.
As we neared the wall another skier approached on the traverse and introduced himself as Nelson B, a Liftlines user who joined these forums last month. Nelson resides in New Jersey but spends his winters here in Utah, as does his buddy Bruce, who lives in Maine near Sunday River. We hooked up for a few runs, as well as lunch at Rustler Lodge where the softshell crab BLT was once again on the menu! \
/ After skiing North Rustler after lunch our group unintentionally splintered. AmyZ and I traversed across Baldy Shoulder and below Bad News to drop into Snowbird via Keyhole Right, which skied well where it was untracked but had stiff refrozen chunks of snow where it had been skied. We took a long circuitous route through Snowbird, riding Gadzoom for a quick lap in Little Cloud Bowl (small, round, chalky bumps) before dropping into Mineral Basin via Hyena Ridge and back to Snowbird East, a.k.a. Alta.
By the time we returned to Germania Pass it was 3 p.m. and my legs were shot. Energizer bunny AmyZ still had fuel in the tank, so she headed to Highboy while I wrapped up the day with a Ballroom to Aggie's Alley.
It was another beautiful day in the Wasatch. Devon took some action shots so I'm hopeful that he'll join up and post a few.
