Day 26
Weather: Gorgeous cloudless skies and rather warm, great to get out of the doom and gloom in the valley. (Nope, mid-January dry spells with accompanying inversions in Utah are a myth, or so I'm told; nothing to see here, folks, just move along.)
Snow: Surprisingly compliant, even on the stuff that's been heavily skied. We got freshies when they opened Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder, Backside and Devil's Castle, all for first time since this week's storms (yes, more untracked even today).
Terrain is now remarkably well-covered. Not only is our base closing in on that magic 100", but many of this season's big storms came in wet and dense without too much wind. Things are covered like I haven't seen them covered in 5 years. Tight gullies like Dumb Chute are now broad boulevards. Getting into North Rustler below High Nowhere is now completely trivial. It's remarkable...as long as no one closes the spigot like happened two years ago, this is truly going to be a great year.
Nevertheless, dropping in from High Notch I inched a bit too close to one of the ridges on a right turn and found a spot where avalanche control had left only a couple of inches of seemingly unblemished snow atop a spine of jagged granite. I feared that my left ski was going to be ripped off my foot. According to Telejon, my impact managed to break off a piece of rock about the size of a large shoebox or small mailbox (I didn't stop to look). I think that's the only thing that prevented damage to the ski. It's unscathed, apparently only because the rock gave way instead of my ski. Still, it's my own fault, for I knew that line had avalanched down to a more shallow layer and I never should've turned so close to the edge of that ridge. I've gotten accustomed to not even thinking about coverage as base depths stack up in this stellar season, but due to avalanches that line probably had a third of the snow that the rest of the mountain does.
Crowds: Mobbed. I honestly think that today was busier than Christmas week. The longest lift lines we dealt with, however, were a manageable 6-10 minutes. Just a lot of map readers on random vectors -- yes, I found myself unexpectedly dodging more than a few -- and the aforementioned new terrain openings got tracked out much faster than they usually do. Snowbird was parked on both sides of the LCC Road. I left at 4 p.m. and it took me 45 minutes to get home on dry roads, twice the normal drive time largely due to Snowbird traffic.
Dining: We escaped the lunch crowds by dining at Rustler Lodge instead -- and yes, the soft shell crab BLT was back on the specials menu! \
/ Thanks Meg! It came with fries or a different side if you prefer, and with tax and a 20% tip I spent $16 and change on my lunch...very reasonable in both quality and quantity for a sit-down meal in a ski resort. Actually, as much as I love them, a burger and fries at Watson Shelter would've cost me more.
Weather: Gorgeous cloudless skies and rather warm, great to get out of the doom and gloom in the valley. (Nope, mid-January dry spells with accompanying inversions in Utah are a myth, or so I'm told; nothing to see here, folks, just move along.)
Snow: Surprisingly compliant, even on the stuff that's been heavily skied. We got freshies when they opened Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder, Backside and Devil's Castle, all for first time since this week's storms (yes, more untracked even today).
Terrain is now remarkably well-covered. Not only is our base closing in on that magic 100", but many of this season's big storms came in wet and dense without too much wind. Things are covered like I haven't seen them covered in 5 years. Tight gullies like Dumb Chute are now broad boulevards. Getting into North Rustler below High Nowhere is now completely trivial. It's remarkable...as long as no one closes the spigot like happened two years ago, this is truly going to be a great year.
Nevertheless, dropping in from High Notch I inched a bit too close to one of the ridges on a right turn and found a spot where avalanche control had left only a couple of inches of seemingly unblemished snow atop a spine of jagged granite. I feared that my left ski was going to be ripped off my foot. According to Telejon, my impact managed to break off a piece of rock about the size of a large shoebox or small mailbox (I didn't stop to look). I think that's the only thing that prevented damage to the ski. It's unscathed, apparently only because the rock gave way instead of my ski. Still, it's my own fault, for I knew that line had avalanched down to a more shallow layer and I never should've turned so close to the edge of that ridge. I've gotten accustomed to not even thinking about coverage as base depths stack up in this stellar season, but due to avalanches that line probably had a third of the snow that the rest of the mountain does.
Crowds: Mobbed. I honestly think that today was busier than Christmas week. The longest lift lines we dealt with, however, were a manageable 6-10 minutes. Just a lot of map readers on random vectors -- yes, I found myself unexpectedly dodging more than a few -- and the aforementioned new terrain openings got tracked out much faster than they usually do. Snowbird was parked on both sides of the LCC Road. I left at 4 p.m. and it took me 45 minutes to get home on dry roads, twice the normal drive time largely due to Snowbird traffic.
Dining: We escaped the lunch crowds by dining at Rustler Lodge instead -- and yes, the soft shell crab BLT was back on the specials menu! \
/ Thanks Meg! It came with fries or a different side if you prefer, and with tax and a 20% tip I spent $16 and change on my lunch...very reasonable in both quality and quantity for a sit-down meal in a ski resort. Actually, as much as I love them, a burger and fries at Watson Shelter would've cost me more.
