Alta, UT 1/7/11

[Admin]

Day 25: It finally snowed!

OK, it was only 9 inches, but I've never been so excited over 9 inches before. (Hold those comments, please.)

I'm giving credit to Telejon, who showed up today for the first time this season since his knee surgery this fall. He's batting 100% on his season powder days. :lol:

Spent the day with Bobby Danger, AmyZ, Telejon, rdwore and for most of the day, mbaydala who we picked up as a stray cat on about the 4th run. Brandon from Ski Utah and a few others came and went with the group. On steep, moguled lines you'd punch through to the base. Lower angled stuff, however, was positively divine. Catherine's Area was where it was at today, and surprisingly few were skiing it. We scored untracked out there all day, and even the steeper lines there were very, very enjoyable. Really, there weren't many out there because the reported 5" at 5 a.m. wasn't enough to prompt the powder hounds to show.

Here's completely raw and unedited video I shot today (mbaydala's working on a fully produced video tonight for Ski Utah with this footage and stuff he shot, too):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8iogyRMsXA[/youtube]

No gates other than Catherine's opened today, so it'll be another powder day tomorrow on Baldy Shoulder, Backside, etc.

 

[Bobby Danger]

THAT WAS MORE THE ALTA WE KNOW AND LOVE !!!!!!!!!! eight weeks waiting for a handful of runs like that . the powder hounds footage is gonna be sweeeeeet !!! a little foggy at times but the viz was pretty good when it wasn't dumping. took a few photos of the u.t.a. bus that almost slid off the road in the up lane , at the top of seven sisters.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Congratulations on your first "B" weekend since November. Anyone in CA or CO would be envious.

 

[Admin]

Bobby, thanks for reminding me...

I rode down the canyon with mbaydala. The road was rather greasy but in the greater scheme of things it truly wasn't that bad. However, we were in an endless line of cars behind a guy who was...I kid you not...doing 4-6 mph the ENTIRE WAY. A couple of people passed him, but many others didn't and at 8 cars or so back from him mbaydala didn't have enough sight distance to pull it off from where we were.

At one point a guy ran past us along the double yellow line. He started from a car somewhere behind us and was actually running down the snow covered road faster than the cars were moving. He caught up to the problem driver, knocked on his window and told him to pull over to let people pass. He wouldn't. I high-fived the guy as we inched past him and gave him an "A" for the effort.

As a result it took us a full hour to descend the 8-mile canyon. When we finally got out to Wasatch Boulevard he turned left into a local neighborhood. Sure enough, California tags :roll: . And I swear I'm not making this up, the next 10 cars to pass him all flipped him the bird as he waited to make his left turn.

Un-freakin'-believable. If you can't drive, at least pull over to allow those who can to pass. If you're too dumb to realize that on your own, listen to someone who actually goes to a lot of trouble to point it out to you. (And never mind that it's actually a Utah law that if five cars are behind you you're obligated by law to pull over.)

 

[Bobby Danger]

O tommorrow should be just as nice !!! jon broke all his own rules for his first day out after knee surgery . it's nice to have him back , now maybe the season will turn more normal. tonys right it really was only a B day , lower angle was the ticket and to steeply pitched terrain one was to the hard sub-surface quickly , this storm didn't have alot of beef but it wasn't dust either. the groomers were terrible , the man made snow was rock hard underneath , couldn't for the life of me sink an edge in at some points , not that we skied groomers with any length to a run but traveling about, from place to place you either cross or ski them for a bit (much more crowded than off-piste) off-piste was the ticket , natural snow underneath was firm but not nearly as hard as the groomers ...

 

[Tony Crocker]

The B is for the considerable amount of expert terrain that does not yet have enough coverage to open. But most of us in other regions would be delighted to have a low angle powder day now.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I haven't been keeping score (and it's hard when forum posters don't put dates on their TRs :lol, but was yesterday the first measurable precip since when I was out there (3.5 weeks ago) ?

 

[EMSC]

It finally snowed!

OK, it was only 9 inches, but I've never been so excited over 9 inches before.

Anyone in CA or CO would be envious.

Yes and no.

Most of Colorado got 6-9" as well from this one. So it'll have helped surface conditions here just as well.... But Alta definitely started with better base/coverage than much of Colo obviously.

 

[Admin]

it's hard when forum posters don't put dates on their TRs :lol:

Fixed.

The B is for the considerable amount of expert terrain that does not yet have enough coverage to open.

"Considerable"? At Snowbird, yes. At Alta, no. Alta is 73% open while Snowbird is ~15% open. All that remains closed at Alta is West Rustler from Sunspot to Jitterbug, and Devil's Castle/East Castle, Supreme Bowl and Baldy Chutes. Devil's Castle/East Castle and Baldy Chutes are normally closed the majority of the season anyway. Backside and Baldy Shoulder were closed yesterday only due to normal post-storm avalanche closures. Supreme Bowl would be open but for the unstable snowpack -- there were large propagation cracks in the snowpack in Supreme Bowl during the week before yesterday's storm.

 

[Tony Crocker]

At Alta, no. Alta is 73% open while Snowbird is ~15% open.

I'm sure a higher percent of Alta is skiable than Snowbird (I've been advising that elsewhere despite Snowbird website claiming 72%) but I'd be interested in BobbyD's take on what the real percentage is, since he has actually spent some time poking around there.

 

[Admin]

At Alta, no. Alta is 73% open while Snowbird is ~15% open.

I'm sure a higher percent of Alta is skiable than Snowbird (I've been advising that elsewhere despite Snowbird website claiming 72%) but I'd be interested in BobbyD's take on what the real percentage is, since he has actually spent some time poking around there.

We already discussed your misinformed post this morning and he's during right here with me now. He agrees with me.

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[Marc_C]

All that remains closed at Alta is West Rustler from Sunspot to Jitterbug, and Devil's Castle/East Castle, Supreme Bowl and Baldy Chutes.

Add in: upper Backside (High Notch, Eddie's High, Gunsight, Thirds), upper Yellow Trail, Razorback, and the Cecret Saddle area. Although Glory Hole is open, the entrances are pretty damned ugly. Also, while technically open, there are some large areas that remain unskiable due to the thick shwack and brush that still isn't covered.

Where are you guys getting your Snowbird open terrain percentages from?

 

[Admin]

That's what they reported open during the week, then it shot up this weekend without explanation. With both Mineral and most of the Cirque closed, 73 percent is ludicrous.

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[Admin]

Oh, and please...upper Yellow Trail? Three turns. Razorback? Blue square. Thirds? Hike Jitterbug. Upper Backside? Closed half the time even in a good year.

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[Marc_C]

Oh, and please...upper Yellow Trail? Three turns. Razorback? Blue square. Thirds? Hike Jitterbug. Upper Backside? Closed half the time even in a good year.

Mostly true, but we're talking about total percentage of open terrain and comparing the two resorts - the difficulty of the terrain is irrelevant.

As to the specifics - no, hiking Jitterbug does not give you access to Thirds without a significant additional hike. Even going right from Piss Pass when the T is open doesn't give access to Thirds, which starts between the two prominent pines on the ridgeline that are even with the top of Gunsight.

Upper Backside (accessed from High Notch or Eddie's High) closed "half the time"? Hardly. Where have you been the last 6 years? Over 95% of the time, if lower Backside is open, so is the upper half. In fact, on the expected openings page on Alta's site, the Backside entry in that table refers to High Notch and not the instructor's traverse.

 

[Admin]

Mostly true, but we're talking about total percentage of open terrain and comparing the two resorts - the difficulty of the terrain is irrelevant.

No it's not, because:

The B is for the considerable amount of expert terrain that does not yet have enough coverage to open.

And while we're at it, runs like Gunsight, Eddie's High, etc. aren't closed for lack of snow, it's only the wind scouring on the High T that's preventing access to them. We were speculating, however, that with the most recent storm there may now be enough to open the T midweek when weekend traffic won't pound it to crap. That will allow the traverse to settle in and give patrol the opportunity to see where they'd need to shovel. Just speculation, mind you, but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Marc_C]

Mostly true, but we're talking about total percentage of open terrain and comparing the two resorts - the difficulty of the terrain is irrelevant.

No it's not, because:

The B is for the considerable amount of expert terrain that does not yet have enough coverage to open.

Oh. I get it now.

And while we're at it, runs like Gunsight, Eddie's High, etc. aren't closed for lack of snow, it's only the wind scouring on the High T that's preventing access to them. We were speculating, however, that with the most recent storm there may now be enough to open the T midweek when weekend traffic won't pound it to crap. That will allow the traverse to settle in and give patrol the opportunity to see where they'd need to shovel. Just speculation, mind you, but it wouldn't surprise me.

I agree, but there may also have been concerns about stability. Last week stuff was staying put....if there wasn't a trigger on it.

 

[Admin]

I agree, but there may also have been concerns about stability. Last week stuff was staying put....if there wasn't a trigger on it.

Very true, but if they were concerned about Eddie's and Gunsight, they wouldn't have had Backside or the Jitterbug bootpack open for obvious reasons.

 

[Admin]

And mbaydala finished his video just moments ago:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXaOmzlxPsQ[/youtube]

 

[Marc_C]

That's what they reported open during the week, then it shot up this weekend without explanation. With both Mineral and most of the Cirque closed, 73 percent is ludicrous.

I'm still missing where these percentages are reported. I sure can't find it on Snowbird's site.