Days 33-35. A three-day TR.
Friday, Jan. 7: Mrs. Admin and I went up for a few runs at the end of the day.
Unfortunately, so did the rest of the Salt Lake Valley to get out of the inversion smog.
Eventually the line became twice that long to grow to the longest I've skied all season, even during Christmas week as it was sunny and warm in the mountains Friday and cold, humid and smoggy/foggy in the Valley. Now, in all fairness that was the lineup for the "Free After 3" program at Alta, which allows anyone to simply board Sunnyside from 3-4:30 pm each day, with or without a lift ticket. All other chairs were empty. The good news is that Mrs. Admin is now getting bored with Sunnyside, but unfortunately the weather wouldn't cooperate to get her back up there this weekend.
Saturday, Jan. 8: White on white.
Tele Jon and I joined rfarren and his father Richard for the day. Groomers were firm and fast. Off-piste was stiff and other than a run down Harold's and a trip out to my Favorite Secret Spot we stuck to them.
The biggest problem was visibility. At times you were in a thick fog bank. Other times when you weren't the light was flat as could be. All in all it was incredibly difficult to see, hence the lack of photos.
rfarren wanted to see the Secret Spot, but with this week's warm weather it held a stiff slightly penetrable sun crust. This meant making survival hop turns while somehow still staying light enough on your feet to keep from punching through. Not an easy feat.
I still stuck it out until 2 p.m. Our hopes were pinned on the snowfall Saturday night, but the forecast didn't look terribly promising.
Sunday, Jan. 9: C-c-c-c-c-c-cold!
-1ºF atop Collins Sunday morning, and the temperature merely dropped throughout the day. We had sunshine first thing, but eventually the cold air began squeezing out ice crystals at those temperatures, blocking out the sun. Damned cold. How cold? As mentioned elsewhere, cold enough to send Bobby Danger straight to the bar to watch football after lunch and cold enough for me to wear this:
Yeah, I looked like a dork...but at least my face was warm after that. The problem was when I got off the top of Supreme and put it on, in that short time my hands froze. Bobby had to re-close the buckles on my pack for me for my hands simply wouldn't work. We each headed straight for Alf's, cruising with our poles underneath one arm to allow our fingers to retreat into a fist within our gloves. Yeah, that cold.
Tele Jon, Bobby Danger and I joined mrgskier, rfarren and his father, with Dale fading in and out of the group. Saturday night's storm delivered four inches of mere 3% fluff overnight, which was deeper in some areas but still not enough to cover the base beneath. Some runs were decent, including Eagle's Nest and Garbage Chute, while others like High Boy were tough going.
rfarren had never been down High Boy, so even though we knew it would have big, stiff moguls we skied it nonetheless.
Tele Jon was having binding issues, and by the time we got to Eagle's Nest one ski simply wouldn't stay off and he skied nearly all of it on one ski to get down and go home. rfarren and his father headed to the airport after lunch as Bobby headed to the bar and Dale and I headed home. mrgskier was the only one tough enough to stick it out.
Friday, Jan. 7: Mrs. Admin and I went up for a few runs at the end of the day.
Unfortunately, so did the rest of the Salt Lake Valley to get out of the inversion smog.
Eventually the line became twice that long to grow to the longest I've skied all season, even during Christmas week as it was sunny and warm in the mountains Friday and cold, humid and smoggy/foggy in the Valley. Now, in all fairness that was the lineup for the "Free After 3" program at Alta, which allows anyone to simply board Sunnyside from 3-4:30 pm each day, with or without a lift ticket. All other chairs were empty. The good news is that Mrs. Admin is now getting bored with Sunnyside, but unfortunately the weather wouldn't cooperate to get her back up there this weekend.
Saturday, Jan. 8: White on white.
Tele Jon and I joined rfarren and his father Richard for the day. Groomers were firm and fast. Off-piste was stiff and other than a run down Harold's and a trip out to my Favorite Secret Spot we stuck to them.
The biggest problem was visibility. At times you were in a thick fog bank. Other times when you weren't the light was flat as could be. All in all it was incredibly difficult to see, hence the lack of photos.
rfarren wanted to see the Secret Spot, but with this week's warm weather it held a stiff slightly penetrable sun crust. This meant making survival hop turns while somehow still staying light enough on your feet to keep from punching through. Not an easy feat.
I still stuck it out until 2 p.m. Our hopes were pinned on the snowfall Saturday night, but the forecast didn't look terribly promising.
Sunday, Jan. 9: C-c-c-c-c-c-cold!
-1ºF atop Collins Sunday morning, and the temperature merely dropped throughout the day. We had sunshine first thing, but eventually the cold air began squeezing out ice crystals at those temperatures, blocking out the sun. Damned cold. How cold? As mentioned elsewhere, cold enough to send Bobby Danger straight to the bar to watch football after lunch and cold enough for me to wear this:
Yeah, I looked like a dork...but at least my face was warm after that. The problem was when I got off the top of Supreme and put it on, in that short time my hands froze. Bobby had to re-close the buckles on my pack for me for my hands simply wouldn't work. We each headed straight for Alf's, cruising with our poles underneath one arm to allow our fingers to retreat into a fist within our gloves. Yeah, that cold.
Tele Jon, Bobby Danger and I joined mrgskier, rfarren and his father, with Dale fading in and out of the group. Saturday night's storm delivered four inches of mere 3% fluff overnight, which was deeper in some areas but still not enough to cover the base beneath. Some runs were decent, including Eagle's Nest and Garbage Chute, while others like High Boy were tough going.
rfarren had never been down High Boy, so even though we knew it would have big, stiff moguls we skied it nonetheless.
Tele Jon was having binding issues, and by the time we got to Eagle's Nest one ski simply wouldn't stay off and he skied nearly all of it on one ski to get down and go home. rfarren and his father headed to the airport after lunch as Bobby headed to the bar and Dale and I headed home. mrgskier was the only one tough enough to stick it out.
