Alta, UT 1/7/11

[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.

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

It's resort-reported data to OnTheSnow.com, which is republished here on our Conditions page if you drill all the way down to the resort-specific conditions page. During the week, Snowbird reported X of 2500 acres open (I honestly don't recall what X was), equaling 13% -- a number that I remember distinctly. Now they're reporting "N/A of 2500 acres" open, and 73% which coincidentally matches precisely what Alta is reporting. As mentioned earlier, with all of Mineral and most of the Cirque closed, not to mention areas like Tiger Tail, Gad Chutes, North Baldy, etc., there's no way in hell that equals 73%.

 

[Marc_C]

It's resort-reported data to OnTheSnow.com, which is republished here on our Conditions page if you drill all the way down to the resort-specific conditions page. During the week, Snowbird reported X of 2500 acres open (I honestly don't recall what X was), equaling 13% -- a number that I remember distinctly. Now they're reporting "N/A of 2500 acres" open, and 73% which coincidentally matches precisely what Alta is reporting. As mentioned earlier, with all of Mineral and most of the Cirque closed, not to mention areas like Tiger Tail, Gad Chutes, North Baldy, etc., there's no way in hell that equals 73%.

Aha! They're reporting 62 of 85 trails open (72.94%) and calling that the open terrain figure, conveniently ignoring acreage.

 

[Admin]

Aha! They're reporting 62 of 85 trails open (72.94%) and calling that the open terrain figure, conveniently ignoring acreage.

And we all know that reporting "trails" in a place like LCC is useless.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Yes the 73% for Snowbird comes from the 62 out of 85 trail count. And yes I know it's BS. I would actually like a constructive estimate from you guys what the real number is. Bobby did post a couple of reports skiing "interesting terrain" at Snowbird, albeir with challenging access. If I were guessing from afar I'd say 40% of Snowbird and 2/3 of Alta. Regardless of Snowbird's status I stand by my "B" grade because for an A I want

90+% of terrain open at Alta or Snowbird, with primarily powder/packed powder. In early season this means both Supreme and most of the High Traverse/Backside runs at Alta open.

The High T is not open. And the Supreme lift may be running but I'd be surprised if as much as 50% of the ungroomed terrain over there is skiable if you're not willing to take to the air. So no way it's 90% and I think 73% of acreage is a bit generous though not a complete fabrication like next door. I'll remind admin that I have noted many times that Alta is vastly preferable to Snowbird under these conditions.

 

[Bobby Danger]

reporting open trails at either resort is frivilious at best . when the mid cirque traverse is closed as the situation is now snowbird is a different place , people are forced down either peruvian gulch or the gad valley with no way to mix up the terrain by going out the ho-chi-min trail (mid-cirque traverse) there's alot of acreage out there that takes a boat load of snow to cover . really i should think that snowbird has somewhere around 45 to 50 percent of their acreage open at best !! this weekend for sure alta was the place to ski , with the storm yesterday and the openings this morning this was by far the best skiing in at least 8 weeks. EXCEPTIONAL VIDEO very willing participants ..

 

[Admin]

Yes the 73% for Snowbird comes from the 62 out of 85 trail count. And yes I know it's BS. I would actually like a constructive estimate from you guys what the real number is.

Knowing what I know is open over there I'd reckon 25-30% on a good day. I'll take exception to Bobby's estimate, for with all of Mineral, Cirque, Baldy, Gad Chutes, Tiger Tail, etc. closed they're nowhere close to 1250 of 2500 acres in my belief.

If I were guessing from afar

...which is essentially what you're usually doing...

I'd say 40% of Snowbird and 2/3 of Alta.

From what I'd believe, Alta's 73% number is accurate. I'll remind you that we've actually been skiing it and seeing what's skiable and what's not. It feels about right and Alta has a history of under-reporting if anything. But the difference between 67% and 73% is a matter of semantics.

Regardless of Snowbird's status I stand by my "B" grade because for an A I want

90+% of terrain open at Alta or Snowbird, with primarily powder/packed powder. In early season this means both Supreme and most of the High Traverse/Backside runs at Alta open.

Which is completely subjective. The skiing this weekend rocked, no matter how you slice it. You can call your A-day criteria anything you want, it matters not to me. My own subjective definition of a good or bad ski day hinges entirely on the snow quality and has nothing to do with how much of the mountain is open or closed. This wasn't nipple-deep 4%, but it was just about the next best thing.

And the Supreme lift may be running but I'd be surprised if as much as 50% of the ungroomed terrain over there is skiable if you're not willing to take to the air.

Nonsense. In terms of acreage, in my opinion the Catherine's Area alone constitutes a good 50% of Supreme terrain all by itself. The only terrain accessible from the Supreme chair that remains closed is Supreme Bowl (i.e., Spiny Chutes and Supreme Challenge) and White Squaw. Most of that closed terrain remains closed due to avalanche risk, not lack of snow cover -- there were huge propagation cracks in the snow pack over Christmas week. Nothing open requires anything remotely resembling mandatory air -- Catherine's simply isn't that steep. Note that virtually all of mbaydala's video was shot on Supreme terrain.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Catherine's simply isn't that steep.

Agree, that's why I've never been impressed with the ski to grunt work ratio over there.

My "A" criterion is 90% open. Historically that's been a very easy bar for Alta to clear (median second week of December) and more difficult for Snowbird.

While we're on the subject how credible are the claims of Brighton 71% open, Solitude 56% and Park City 49%?

 

[Admin]

Catherine's simply isn't that steep.

Agree, that's why I've never been impressed with the ski to grunt work ratio over there.

The world doesn't turn simply because terrain is steep, otherwise a place like Powder Mountain would be useless. It's about quality. On Saturday, the lines that skied best were those with a lower angle and without bumps so you didn't hit the base beneath, and Catherine's was ideal for that (although a few of Catherines' steeper shots were divine as well). For example, I made the mistake of dropping Warm Up off the top of Wildcat in the fog and couldn't see the monster ice bumps beneath the new snow until my knees hit my chin. I'll take low angle powder over crusty steeps absolutely any day of the week.

And, "grunt work"? Puh-leeze...getting to Catherine's Area is a three-minute walk in the park. We did a half dozen laps in a row out there, each time going at least halfway out and often going as far out as we could. You want grunt work? Go ski the East Castle.

While we're on the subject how credible are the claims of Brighton 71% open, Solitude 56% and Park City 49%?

No clue, others will have to answer that.

 

[Tony Crocker]

On Saturday, the lines that skied best were those with a lower angle and without bumps so you didn't hit the base beneath, and Catherine's was ideal for that (although a few of Catherines' steeper shots were divine as well). For example, I made the mistake of dropping Warm Up off the top of Wildcat in the fog and couldn't see the monster ice bumps beneath the new snow until my knees hit my chin. I'll take low angle powder over crusty steeps absolutely any day of the week.

I agree with all of this and would have made the same choices under the conditions of the day. Admin's comments demonstrate that the day, though very good, was not up to the usual Alta powder day excellence because steeper terrain was limited by not enough new snow to avoid bottoming out. It was also limited by some of it not being open yet. :stir:

 

[jtran10]

I agree with all of this and would have made the same choices under the conditions of the day. Admin's comments demonstrate that the day, though very good, was not up to the usual Alta powder day excellence because steeper terrain was limited by not enough new snow to avoid bottoming out. It was also limited by some of it not being open yet. :stir:

How was California this past weekend? :lol: