Day 6: When is 6" more than 6"?
No comments from the peanut gallery. :lol: The answer: When six inches of new snow falls on terrain not previously opened yet this season.
AmyZ skis Westward Ho
Thanksgiving Day at Alta started out surprisingly nippy (temps in the mid-single digits). Terrain-wise it was more of the same ol', same ol'. Hopes had been high for the Thanksgiving storm, but it all but petered out with 3" falling during the ski day yesterday and another 3" overnight -- not really enough to make much of a difference. In all honesty I was getting a little bit bored with it.
It was busy, but lift lines maxed out at around 5 minutes or so. However, at lunch time while Collins was sending up empty chairs because no one was loading, this was the scene at Gadzoom next door at Snowbird:
And while all of those people were skiing one or two man-made routes at Snowbird, we were skiing this:
Bobby Danger skis Westward Ho
This was as close to Snowbird as we were willing to get.
Frankly, we got lucky. After lunch, Alta Ski Patrol quietly opened the Punch Bowl gate, allowing access to all of Wildcat out to Westward Ho and the Snowbird boundary rope line for the first time this season. By that point, however, many, if not most folks had already left to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner, and the parking lot was only peppered with widely spaced vehicles. We had Westward Ho entirely to ourselves.
AmyZ skis Westward Ho
Bobby Danger skis Westward Ho
Bobby Danger skis Westward Ho
AmyZ skis Westward Ho
We all left around 2:30 p.m. We had a small ski orphan's holiday dinner at our place, hosting AmyZ, Bobby Danger, Skidog and family, and Marc_C and his wife. Over deep fried turkey we had a lot to be thankful for.
No comments from the peanut gallery. :lol: The answer: When six inches of new snow falls on terrain not previously opened yet this season.
AmyZ skis Westward Ho
Thanksgiving Day at Alta started out surprisingly nippy (temps in the mid-single digits). Terrain-wise it was more of the same ol', same ol'. Hopes had been high for the Thanksgiving storm, but it all but petered out with 3" falling during the ski day yesterday and another 3" overnight -- not really enough to make much of a difference. In all honesty I was getting a little bit bored with it.
It was busy, but lift lines maxed out at around 5 minutes or so. However, at lunch time while Collins was sending up empty chairs because no one was loading, this was the scene at Gadzoom next door at Snowbird:
And while all of those people were skiing one or two man-made routes at Snowbird, we were skiing this:
Bobby Danger skis Westward Ho
This was as close to Snowbird as we were willing to get.
Frankly, we got lucky. After lunch, Alta Ski Patrol quietly opened the Punch Bowl gate, allowing access to all of Wildcat out to Westward Ho and the Snowbird boundary rope line for the first time this season. By that point, however, many, if not most folks had already left to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner, and the parking lot was only peppered with widely spaced vehicles. We had Westward Ho entirely to ourselves.
AmyZ skis Westward Ho
Bobby Danger skis Westward Ho
Bobby Danger skis Westward Ho
AmyZ skis Westward Ho
We all left around 2:30 p.m. We had a small ski orphan's holiday dinner at our place, hosting AmyZ, Bobby Danger, Skidog and family, and Marc_C and his wife. Over deep fried turkey we had a lot to be thankful for.
