Day 6: A Wasatch hat-trick.
This morning was cold. Brutally cold: 0 at the base, -10dF at the top of Collins. On top of that last night's lake effect never really happened, leaving only an inch -- as much if not less than at my house in the Salt Lake Valley. It was also one of those days when the unstable air is so cold that it just squeezes a steady snow mist out of the sky.
Never mind, I still met Bobby Danger at GMD at 9 a.m., and we were joined by his friends Greg and Ginnymarie. Again, the place was deserted with Collins ski-on with every other chair or so carrying a body. It was one of those take-two-or-three-runs-and-go-get-a-coffee mornings, and we alternated stops at GMD and Watson Shelter.
Many of our runs were the same as yesterday's, including Harold's and a trip around the world down Devil's Elbow back to the Transfer Tow at Albion Day Lodge. By 11:30 a.m., though, I'd hatched another plan. I still had to pick up a couple of passes on the Wasatch back so I returned to the truck, headed down Little Cottonwood Canyon and up Parley's Canyon to The Canyons.
I took three runs after commuting to the snow via the Cabriolet and the Flight of the Canyons Gondola.
The Saddleback Express and High Meadows chairlifts were running, plus the beginner poma next to Red Pine Lodge. There were basically two routes open, Snow Dancer and Kokopelli/Pine Draw/The Meadows.
I fully expected things to be scraped off by the time I got there, but was pleasantly surprised as surfaces remained soft and eminently edgeable. A decent amount of elbow room, save for The Meadows which was a zoo when I went through, although not in this picture.
Satisfied, I returned to my truck in the parking lot. I removed only my right ski boot and drove to Park City Mountain Resort still wearing my helmet, goggles and left ski boot.
PayDay, First Time and Bonanza were spinning, with skiing from the Summit House to the base. The Town Lift was spinning, too, but only for uploading/downloading. Again I fully expected things to be scraped off but I was pleasantly surprised. Only the PayDay run itself was a bit scratchy. There was plenty of elbow room, especially off Bonanza which was perfect for laying down high speed arcs. They were blowing a ton of snow, including in the Three Kings area, off Bonanza, on Silver Queen and Claim Jumper.
They had a series of jumps built lower down on Home Run and a rail park set up on PayDay.
I called it quits at 4 p.m. I'm beat.
Our Monday/Tuesday storm has now prompted an upgrade to a Winter Storm Warning from the National Weather Service. Predictions currently stand at 1-2 feet in the northern Wasatch, and 2-4 feet in the central and southern Wasatch. Anyone in Vegas should be hatching plans to head for Brian Head, but a good two footer will put us into the ball game as well.
This morning was cold. Brutally cold: 0 at the base, -10dF at the top of Collins. On top of that last night's lake effect never really happened, leaving only an inch -- as much if not less than at my house in the Salt Lake Valley. It was also one of those days when the unstable air is so cold that it just squeezes a steady snow mist out of the sky.
Never mind, I still met Bobby Danger at GMD at 9 a.m., and we were joined by his friends Greg and Ginnymarie. Again, the place was deserted with Collins ski-on with every other chair or so carrying a body. It was one of those take-two-or-three-runs-and-go-get-a-coffee mornings, and we alternated stops at GMD and Watson Shelter.
Many of our runs were the same as yesterday's, including Harold's and a trip around the world down Devil's Elbow back to the Transfer Tow at Albion Day Lodge. By 11:30 a.m., though, I'd hatched another plan. I still had to pick up a couple of passes on the Wasatch back so I returned to the truck, headed down Little Cottonwood Canyon and up Parley's Canyon to The Canyons.
I took three runs after commuting to the snow via the Cabriolet and the Flight of the Canyons Gondola.
The Saddleback Express and High Meadows chairlifts were running, plus the beginner poma next to Red Pine Lodge. There were basically two routes open, Snow Dancer and Kokopelli/Pine Draw/The Meadows.
I fully expected things to be scraped off by the time I got there, but was pleasantly surprised as surfaces remained soft and eminently edgeable. A decent amount of elbow room, save for The Meadows which was a zoo when I went through, although not in this picture.
Satisfied, I returned to my truck in the parking lot. I removed only my right ski boot and drove to Park City Mountain Resort still wearing my helmet, goggles and left ski boot.
PayDay, First Time and Bonanza were spinning, with skiing from the Summit House to the base. The Town Lift was spinning, too, but only for uploading/downloading. Again I fully expected things to be scraped off but I was pleasantly surprised. Only the PayDay run itself was a bit scratchy. There was plenty of elbow room, especially off Bonanza which was perfect for laying down high speed arcs. They were blowing a ton of snow, including in the Three Kings area, off Bonanza, on Silver Queen and Claim Jumper.
They had a series of jumps built lower down on Home Run and a rail park set up on PayDay.
I called it quits at 4 p.m. I'm beat.
Our Monday/Tuesday storm has now prompted an upgrade to a Winter Storm Warning from the National Weather Service. Predictions currently stand at 1-2 feet in the northern Wasatch, and 2-4 feet in the central and southern Wasatch. Anyone in Vegas should be hatching plans to head for Brian Head, but a good two footer will put us into the ball game as well.
