Day 13: It's amazing how good 2" can feel.
(And yes, that double entendre was intentional. :wink: )
I woke up this morning and checked the Mid-Collins snow plot. We were supposed to get ~6" overnight but instead we got 2" of 16.5%. Major buzz kill.
Little did I realize, however, how much that 2" would change the game, and judging by the crowd (or more precisely the lack thereof) neither did most Salt Lake locals. With that kind of meat it stuck to everything, and it also acted as an insulation blanket to keep the underlying base from freezing up solid. It wouldn't slide on the base, and it was so dense that often times you didn't even feel the base. Everything was smoothed over and creamy again.
Amazing. So good, in fact, that I didn't take my boots off until 3:30 p.m. We had a great group today, too, including not only our complete usual posse but also @BraveSkiMom (www.braveskimom.com) and her whole family (husband and 2 kids) over from Grand Junction, Colo., and About.com snow writer and blogger Matt Gibson(@xpatmatt) who recently moved to SLC from B.C. When I found out that Matt has been on skis precisely one time since he was 10 years old (he's a ~30-year-old snowboarder now) I was a bit apprehensive, but he deserves huge props for hanging with the group today, skiing virtually anywhere and everywhere and actually doing it rather well and having fun at it. We also picked up stray Denver dog and Alta virgin Eric on the lift during the afternoon, and he stuck with us for the remainder of the day. Jamey Parks was in and out of segments of our group, too, but I didn't enjoy the privilege of skiing with him myself today.
The good stuff from today is almost too extensive to list, but it included Backside (which absolutely rocked this morning -- we were the first ones out there and the only ones for a few laps), Susie's, Tombstone/Graveyard/Armpit, Greeley Hill and Eagle's Nest. The High T wasn't bad in the morning but by late afternoon was getting fairly chewed up again.
Throughout the afternoon I kept saying, "OK, that was so good, one more run before I leave." That repeated itself for 4 or 5 "last runs." It looks like tomorrow's storm won't start until the evening, so we won't enjoy its benefit during the day tomorrow.
I didn't take any photos today, but Matt got some good ones which should be posted soon to this topic thread, once he does so or once I get them.
(And yes, that double entendre was intentional. :wink: )
I woke up this morning and checked the Mid-Collins snow plot. We were supposed to get ~6" overnight but instead we got 2" of 16.5%. Major buzz kill.
Little did I realize, however, how much that 2" would change the game, and judging by the crowd (or more precisely the lack thereof) neither did most Salt Lake locals. With that kind of meat it stuck to everything, and it also acted as an insulation blanket to keep the underlying base from freezing up solid. It wouldn't slide on the base, and it was so dense that often times you didn't even feel the base. Everything was smoothed over and creamy again.
Amazing. So good, in fact, that I didn't take my boots off until 3:30 p.m. We had a great group today, too, including not only our complete usual posse but also @BraveSkiMom (www.braveskimom.com) and her whole family (husband and 2 kids) over from Grand Junction, Colo., and About.com snow writer and blogger Matt Gibson(@xpatmatt) who recently moved to SLC from B.C. When I found out that Matt has been on skis precisely one time since he was 10 years old (he's a ~30-year-old snowboarder now) I was a bit apprehensive, but he deserves huge props for hanging with the group today, skiing virtually anywhere and everywhere and actually doing it rather well and having fun at it. We also picked up stray Denver dog and Alta virgin Eric on the lift during the afternoon, and he stuck with us for the remainder of the day. Jamey Parks was in and out of segments of our group, too, but I didn't enjoy the privilege of skiing with him myself today.
The good stuff from today is almost too extensive to list, but it included Backside (which absolutely rocked this morning -- we were the first ones out there and the only ones for a few laps), Susie's, Tombstone/Graveyard/Armpit, Greeley Hill and Eagle's Nest. The High T wasn't bad in the morning but by late afternoon was getting fairly chewed up again.
Throughout the afternoon I kept saying, "OK, that was so good, one more run before I leave." That repeated itself for 4 or 5 "last runs." It looks like tomorrow's storm won't start until the evening, so we won't enjoy its benefit during the day tomorrow.
I didn't take any photos today, but Matt got some good ones which should be posted soon to this topic thread, once he does so or once I get them.
