Day 4: A pretty good average
It dawned on me this morning that it's still mid-November, today was my fourth day on skis this season and I'm 4 for 4 on skiing untracked snow this winter. Not a bad average at all.
Alta picked up overnight another four inches of heavy, dense, creamy snow, bringing this weekend's storm total to 8" with more snow falling throughout the day above, say, the base of Snowbird (it was rain below there). The last couple of hundred verts were thick and sticky, but above there it skied beautifully.
It's remarkable how much better this season is thus far than the last one, although that's admittedly not a major accomplishment. What has made a difference is the fact that much of our snowfall thus far has been the base-building material that you want to fall at this time of year, plus we've avoided any of those 70 mph wind stripping events, so stuff has stayed where it fell with a chance to consolidate in place.
I spent my day with the usual posse -- Bobby Danger, Telejon, AmyZ and Skidog -- plus a few runs with mbaydala, Justin (who unbeknownst to me has moved from Park City to Truckee to return to school) and George. First run was down through smooth untracked beneath the upper Collins liftline. Skidog was right on my a$$ while we absolutely bombed it all the way to the flats just above the Angle Station before finally stopping for a breather. West Rustler and (once again) East Greeley really delivered the goods today.
We lunched at Watson Shelter, and as I sat there I was debating whether to stick around for one more run or just ski down to my car. Peer pressure for a High Boy LRP (Last Run Protocol) won out, and before long we were once again shooting out the High T, this time for my first trip down High Boy this year.
We were actually able to enter from the uppermost entrance, a route that I wasn't able to take at all last season.
The snow was soft, smooth and loose, with no discernible base underneath. In a word, perfect.
Bobby took a few photos, too, so I'm sure he'll add a few to this topic with the usual pleading to click on one of them to enlarge it. :lol:
I really hope this streak continues for a while.
Today's track: http://www.mountaindynamics.com/en/sdmap.php?tid=28065
It dawned on me this morning that it's still mid-November, today was my fourth day on skis this season and I'm 4 for 4 on skiing untracked snow this winter. Not a bad average at all.
Alta picked up overnight another four inches of heavy, dense, creamy snow, bringing this weekend's storm total to 8" with more snow falling throughout the day above, say, the base of Snowbird (it was rain below there). The last couple of hundred verts were thick and sticky, but above there it skied beautifully.
It's remarkable how much better this season is thus far than the last one, although that's admittedly not a major accomplishment. What has made a difference is the fact that much of our snowfall thus far has been the base-building material that you want to fall at this time of year, plus we've avoided any of those 70 mph wind stripping events, so stuff has stayed where it fell with a chance to consolidate in place.
I spent my day with the usual posse -- Bobby Danger, Telejon, AmyZ and Skidog -- plus a few runs with mbaydala, Justin (who unbeknownst to me has moved from Park City to Truckee to return to school) and George. First run was down through smooth untracked beneath the upper Collins liftline. Skidog was right on my a$$ while we absolutely bombed it all the way to the flats just above the Angle Station before finally stopping for a breather. West Rustler and (once again) East Greeley really delivered the goods today.
We lunched at Watson Shelter, and as I sat there I was debating whether to stick around for one more run or just ski down to my car. Peer pressure for a High Boy LRP (Last Run Protocol) won out, and before long we were once again shooting out the High T, this time for my first trip down High Boy this year.
We were actually able to enter from the uppermost entrance, a route that I wasn't able to take at all last season.
The snow was soft, smooth and loose, with no discernible base underneath. In a word, perfect.
Bobby took a few photos, too, so I'm sure he'll add a few to this topic with the usual pleading to click on one of them to enlarge it. :lol:
I really hope this streak continues for a while.
Today's track: http://www.mountaindynamics.com/en/sdmap.php?tid=28065
