Day 36: Need snow. Now.
This week's predicted couple of feet will be welcome, especially because the first part should be coming in really wet and sticky. We need it. How badly? This badly:
That photo shows just how low the lack of snow was forcing us on the High Traverse. So low that there's a lot of "up" past that temporary fence just to reach Piss Pass. Although High Boy was still skiing great, it's become a real chore just to get in there without some significant damage.
I accompanied the crew on a foray into Snowbird, but it was so much busier that I quickly retreated back to Alta. One thing that left me speechless was a cat road that they cut in from the Powder Paradise groomer zig-zagging up to the pass into Mary Ellen Gulch between the Sunday Cliffs and Bookends. As a result of that road cut they roped off everything on the Powder Paradise traverse beginning about 300 feet shy of Hilary Step -- i.e. anything with a fall line that would bring you down onto that cat road. That eliminates virtually 90% of the north-facing terrain in Mineral Basin. From a cost-benefit analysis, that seems to me to be a huge mistake.
We gathered for a hoity-toity dinner that night at Log Haven in Millcreek Canyon to celebrate the birthdays of Mrs. Admin and Karen, Marc_C's better half.
That helped to make up for a disappointing day on the hill. This week's pattern change hasn't come quickly enough!
This week's predicted couple of feet will be welcome, especially because the first part should be coming in really wet and sticky. We need it. How badly? This badly:
That photo shows just how low the lack of snow was forcing us on the High Traverse. So low that there's a lot of "up" past that temporary fence just to reach Piss Pass. Although High Boy was still skiing great, it's become a real chore just to get in there without some significant damage.
I accompanied the crew on a foray into Snowbird, but it was so much busier that I quickly retreated back to Alta. One thing that left me speechless was a cat road that they cut in from the Powder Paradise groomer zig-zagging up to the pass into Mary Ellen Gulch between the Sunday Cliffs and Bookends. As a result of that road cut they roped off everything on the Powder Paradise traverse beginning about 300 feet shy of Hilary Step -- i.e. anything with a fall line that would bring you down onto that cat road. That eliminates virtually 90% of the north-facing terrain in Mineral Basin. From a cost-benefit analysis, that seems to me to be a huge mistake.
We gathered for a hoity-toity dinner that night at Log Haven in Millcreek Canyon to celebrate the birthdays of Mrs. Admin and Karen, Marc_C's better half.
That helped to make up for a disappointing day on the hill. This week's pattern change hasn't come quickly enough!
