Alta, UT 1/20/08

[Admin]

Day 25: Spoiled

I didn't ski yesterday, but should have. While Skidog, Marc_C and crew were skiing freshies I had a lack-of-sleep hangover from staying up until nearly 3 a.m. the night before prepping for my dream laptop to arrive from Dell. Pathetic.

Today I was feeling less than inspired, as Bob Dangerous would say. Following week after week of scoring powder each and every day, skiing groomers ahead of the next storm that moves in tonight just wasn't cutting it for me. Yep, I'm a powder slut. Powder princess. Sally. Call me what you will, but I packed it up and headed home at 11:45.

They mowed down bumps all over the hill in anticipation of this next storm. Such uncommonly groomed runs as Spring Valley (top to bottom), Challenger and No. 9 Express sported corduroy today. Fun in its own way, of course, but not what I'm looking for these days.

No photos today, as it was thick and grey and getting thicker as the storm approaches.

Next up: Snowbasin on Tuesday for Outdoor Retailer Backcountry Base Camp.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Alta today was day 13 for me. The rattling, chattering, scraping, and roaring of my skis as we dropped down those freshly groomed steeps made me realize why I sold my house and moved 2,300 miles to come and ski here in UT. Those were sounds I heard far too often whenever I skied in the NE. While it is fun to "rip" a "packed powder" groomer on occasion, it is far more pleasurable to experience the soft, floating sensation of skiing the low moisture powder that falls hereabouts. Thanks to Admin, Bob Dangerous, et al, (aka "the crew") I have been treated to day after day of powder experiences, many of them over completely untracked open slopes, and through tree runs that I never thought I would ever get to ski. Each additional day I get to experience such delightful conditions reaffirms the correctness of my decision to make the move west.

 

[ChrisC]

Wouldn't other places besides Alta/Bird be better for groomers? Like Deer Valley or Snowbasin.

Although I would have problems motivating to these alternatives if I lived near the base of LCC/BCC and had a pass.

 

[Admin]

Although I would have problems motivating to these alternatives if I lived near the base of LCC/BCC and had a pass.

Bingo.

Snowing like a bastich here now.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Wouldn't other places besides Alta/Bird are better for groomers. Like Deer Valley or Snowbasin.

Although I would have problems motivating to these alternatives if I lived near the base of LCC/BCC and had a pass.

Yes, "groomers" are far more prevalent in other areas surrounding SLC. But, the general lack of groomers is precisely why we live near BCC and LCC. I also wouldn't describe an Alta "groomer" as "perfect corduroy" either.

As a season pass holder I chose to locate 16 miles from the Snowbird Tram. I would have lived closer, but we liked the house we now have, and I had to consider the needs of my non-skiing spouse.

 

[eysikal]

Snowing like a bastich here now.

Are you guys interlodged? I'm trying to decide if it's worth going and waiting in line to get into the canyon.

Any word on when it will be opened?

 

[Admin]

Welcome, eysikal.

By "here" I meant the mouth of Parley's Canyon. :lol: Dunno the situation in LCC right now any more than you do, for I'm stuck working today.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Snowing like a bastich here now.

Are you guys interlodged? I'm trying to decide if it's worth going and waiting in line to get into the canyon.

Any word on when it will be opened?

Check out this site:

http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/f?p=100 ... 1:T,V:1672,

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Alta today was day 13 for me. The rattling, chattering, scraping, and roaring of my skis as we dropped down those freshly groomed steeps made me realize why I sold my house and moved 2,300 miles to come and ski here in UT. Those were sounds I heard far too often whenever I skied in the NE. While it is fun to "rip" a "packed powder" groomer on occasion, it is far more pleasurable to experience the soft, floating sensation of skiing the low moisture powder that falls hereabouts. Thanks to Admin, Bob Dangerous, et al, (aka "the crew") I have been treated to day after day of powder experiences, many of them over completely untracked open slopes, and through tree runs that I never thought I would ever get to ski. Each additional day I get to experience such delightful conditions reaffirms the correctness of my decision to make the move west.

How about skipping the Utah Chamber of Commerce marketing boilerplate and posting some photos?

 

[tirolerpeter]

Alta today was day 13 for me. The rattling, chattering, scraping, and roaring of my skis as we dropped down those freshly groomed steeps made me realize why I sold my house and moved 2,300 miles to come and ski here in UT. Those were sounds I heard far too often whenever I skied in the NE. While it is fun to "rip" a "packed powder" groomer on occasion, it is far more pleasurable to experience the soft, floating sensation of skiing the low moisture powder that falls hereabouts. Thanks to Admin, Bob Dangerous, et al, (aka "the crew") I have been treated to day after day of powder experiences, many of them over completely untracked open slopes, and through tree runs that I never thought I would ever get to ski. Each additional day I get to experience such delightful conditions reaffirms the correctness of my decision to make the move west.

How about skipping the Utah Chamber of Commerce marketing boilerplate and posting some photos?

If I knew how, I would.

 

[Admin]

Alta today was day 13 for me. The rattling, chattering, scraping, and roaring of my skis as we dropped down those freshly groomed steeps made me realize why I sold my house and moved 2,300 miles to come and ski here in UT. Those were sounds I heard far too often whenever I skied in the NE. While it is fun to "rip" a "packed powder" groomer on occasion, it is far more pleasurable to experience the soft, floating sensation of skiing the low moisture powder that falls hereabouts. Thanks to Admin, Bob Dangerous, et al, (aka "the crew") I have been treated to day after day of powder experiences, many of them over completely untracked open slopes, and through tree runs that I never thought I would ever get to ski. Each additional day I get to experience such delightful conditions reaffirms the correctness of my decision to make the move west.

How about skipping the Utah Chamber of Commerce marketing boilerplate and posting some photos?

If I knew how, I would.

See the attachment section at http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/faq.php

 

[Tony Crocker]

Yes they are spoiled. Alta's grooming is a lot better than it used to be. But even sticking to their home turf I think there are better fall line groomers at Snowbird and even the Eagle quad at Solitude.

This was maybe one of those 30th percentile days. The disparity between eastern and western skiing is much bigger on the low end of the conditions spectrum than the high end, as touched on by tirolerpeter's remarks.

With regard to the pictures, each person's digital camera is typically set for a certain resolution, in my case 2592x1944. So you figure out what reduction multiplier you need (24% in my case) to get under admin's 640x480 limit. So I use that multiplier in the MS Paint that comes with every PC (I'm sure many of you have more sophisticated software to do this) and then the pictures load just fine as detailed in admin's instructions.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

The disparity between eastern and western skiing is much bigger on the low end of the conditions spectrum than the high end, as touched on by tirolerpeter's remarks.

I'm stoopid... what does this mean? That the worst Utah conditions are far better than the worst EC conditions?

 

[Tony Crocker]

The best eastern conditions (numerous face shot days reported by Riverc0il, powderfreak, Patrick in December) are comparable to many of admin's in Alta. A 30th percentile day in Utah is packed powder groomers, packed powder bumps (note joegm) on popular ungroomed runs, maybe some smooth windblown chalk (more of that at Snowbird), all lifts and runs open. A 30th percentile day in the East is mostly hardpack, probably some frozen granular in busy areas, the woods and some of the advanced runs closed or unskiable.

1) Pick a date, Jan. 20, Feb. 15, March 28 (for those of you want to continue the spring argument), whatever.
2) Look up FTO reports close to that date for the past decade for selected areas.
3) Rank the 10 days of skiing at each area in order of quality
4) Compare the 3rd worst day on each list vs. the best day on each list.

I don't have the data readily at hand except for Mammoth and SoCal, but perhaps Patrick would like to give it a try somewhere in the East :wink: .

My point is that if you're not happy with conditions on that 3rd worst day, you probably shouldn't be advance planning a trip to that ski area.

 

[Marc_C]

This was maybe one of those 30th percentile days. The disparity between eastern and western skiing is much bigger on the low end of the conditions spectrum than the high end, as touched on by tirolerpeter's remarks.

Actually, it was far better than a 30th percentile day. Tirolpeter doesn't yet have the experience base for comparative purposes. Conditions at Alta and the Bird can be far worse (and thus more Eastern like) than they were yesterday. The groomers were in fine packed powder shape (save for Challenger, which almost always sucks except on a big powder day). Even the Killingtonesque Devil's Elbow wasn't in it's usual over-hammered shape.

 

[Marc_C]

Snowing like a bastich here now.

Are you guys interlodged? I'm trying to decide if it's worth going and waiting in line to get into the canyon.

Any word on when it will be opened?

Check out this site:

http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/f?p=100 ... 1:T,V:1672,

Alas, while that UDOT site seems like a really good idea, it's updated so infrequently as to be totally useless. One one of the days in the big storm cycle between Xmas and New Years, when LCC was closed until "at least 12:30 when an assessment will be made" (it actually opened a little after 1pm), the UDOT site proclaimed "No planned avalanche control work" and "Last Edited: 3-DEC-2007". This was at 10:30am while they were doing control work.

Frankly the best, most up-to-date, and accurate LCC road information is the Snowbird snow report:
On the web: http://www.snowbird.com/ski_board/snowreport.php
By phone: 801-933-2100

BTW, the road wasn't closed this morning but it was restricted to 4x4 or chains. I'd guess they were checking at the mouth of the canyon.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Snowing like a bastich here now.

Are you guys interlodged? I'm trying to decide if it's worth going and waiting in line to get into the canyon.

Any word on when it will be opened?

Check out this site:

http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/f?p=100 ... 1:T,V:1672,

Alas, while that UDOT site seems like a really good idea, it's updated so infrequently as to be totally useless. One one of the days in the big storm cycle between Xmas and New Years, when LCC was closed until "at least 12:30 when an assessment will be made" (it actually opened a little after 1pm), the UDOT site proclaimed "No planned avalanche control work" and "Last Edited: 3-DEC-2007". This was at 10:30am while they were doing control work.

Frankly the best, most up-to-date, and accurate LCC road information is the Snowbird snow report:
On the web: http://www.snowbird.com/ski_board/snowreport.php
By phone: 801-933-2100

BTW, the road wasn't closed this morning but it was restricted to 4x4 or chains. I'd guess they were checking at the mouth of the canyon.

Thanks Marc, that's good to know. BTW, I bought a new Subaru this afternoon. I'm picking it up on Wed. No more bus or bugging people for a lift up the canyon road when it is restricted to 4WD or chains!

 

[Tony Crocker]

We would need input from long time locals, as MarcC notes, to determine what a 30th percentile day in Utah means.

In terms of snowfall, Alta's 30th percentile for January is about 70 inches. The worst January was 2003 at 30.5 inches and last year was second worst at 36 inches, though the 20th percentile is 43 inches. Last year produced 2 weekends of less than 50% packed powder conditions (based upon admin's reports) at Altabird as a result of the lean January.

So MarcC is looking at January 2003 and 2007 and thinking that's 30th percentile when it's more like 10th percentile. FYI there is only one season, 1977, when Altabird did not have adequate coverage in mid-January.

I would agree that last weekend was probably better than 30th percentile, because it wasn't 60-70% packed powder, but more like 90%. Also base depths are above average, so perhaps a few more extreme and technical lines are skiable than normal.