Our dry spell has been broken!
About 8 inches or so new by my estimate draped Alta's slopes today, and except for a lull around noon, it snowed fairly heavily at Alta throughout the day. Tonight's separate storm system is anticipated to drop up to an additional foot of new snow, just in time for the holiday week.
We had a large group today: Marc_C, Dale, Dale's wife Pat, Marc_C's friends Kerry & Liz who are still here from New Jersey, and Eric and wife Sara from yesterday, who had one last day in Utah before returning to Austin, TX. Sara packed away her snowboard for a day and switched to skis to enjoy a day at Alta.
With such a large group, however, we splintered several times. Sara was the first to drop out, as we lost her on their first run even before hooking up with the rest of the group. The rest of us headed up for our customary new-snow warmup run through Fred's Trees, which despite hitting a small rock or two beneath the new snow I still found extremely enjoyable. We headed back up Collins and down to Supreme, where en route I again found a few rocks on Razorback, which Marc_C assures me I hit only because I don't know where they lie in wait.
We spent nearly the rest of my day on Supreme with multiple runs there. First up was No. 9 trees to White Squaw Chutes: darned good, even if 8 inches of snow fails to qualify as a "powder day" at Alta. :lol: We then splintered for the second time that day, with Marc_C, Kerry, Pat and Liz striking out for Sugarloaf, while Dale, Eric and I shouldered our skis to head out to Catherine's. That was easily the run of the day, for snow was rapidly deepening and there were few tracks to cross. Well worth the hike.
We then headed out the Supreme Bowl gate, but skied along the Challenger ropeline to where we could traverse right to the chair, then ski back down to tower 10 and drop into one of my favorite lines through the trees. Out Supreme Bowl gate again, but this time into Supreme Bowl itself, where my lack of local knowledge led Eric and I to a rock-lined choke point some 300 cm or so wide. He and I were forced to sideslip for about 50 or 60 verts through its gut while Dale, the smart one of the three, skied a much more user-friendly line to our right. Finally, before lunch, Dale and I repeated our run from two runs earlier while Eric headed down to Alf's to rejoin Sara.
Lunch verified that the holiday week is here. After an early season with a mountain populated nearly entirely by locals, groups visiting from out of state filled Alf's. We chuckled to ourselves over the smell of moth balls from ski clothes pulled out of storage, a sure sign that tourists had returned for the season.
After lunch I had just about enough in me for one more run, and Eagle's Nest was calling. Eric headed out to cruise blue groomers with Sara, and Liz and Pat headed down Sugarloaf as Kerry, Marc_C, Dale and I sped out the High T. Kerry hooked a ski on the fence at the split and tumbled down below the traverse line, opting to ski Jitterbug rather than climb back up. The rest of us had a dreamy line through the Nest before hooking back up with Kerry on its lower flanks. By that point I'd had enough, my body was screaming, and Dale quit as well as Marc_C and Kerry continued on for a few more runs.
About 8 inches or so new by my estimate draped Alta's slopes today, and except for a lull around noon, it snowed fairly heavily at Alta throughout the day. Tonight's separate storm system is anticipated to drop up to an additional foot of new snow, just in time for the holiday week.
We had a large group today: Marc_C, Dale, Dale's wife Pat, Marc_C's friends Kerry & Liz who are still here from New Jersey, and Eric and wife Sara from yesterday, who had one last day in Utah before returning to Austin, TX. Sara packed away her snowboard for a day and switched to skis to enjoy a day at Alta.
With such a large group, however, we splintered several times. Sara was the first to drop out, as we lost her on their first run even before hooking up with the rest of the group. The rest of us headed up for our customary new-snow warmup run through Fred's Trees, which despite hitting a small rock or two beneath the new snow I still found extremely enjoyable. We headed back up Collins and down to Supreme, where en route I again found a few rocks on Razorback, which Marc_C assures me I hit only because I don't know where they lie in wait.
We spent nearly the rest of my day on Supreme with multiple runs there. First up was No. 9 trees to White Squaw Chutes: darned good, even if 8 inches of snow fails to qualify as a "powder day" at Alta. :lol: We then splintered for the second time that day, with Marc_C, Kerry, Pat and Liz striking out for Sugarloaf, while Dale, Eric and I shouldered our skis to head out to Catherine's. That was easily the run of the day, for snow was rapidly deepening and there were few tracks to cross. Well worth the hike.
We then headed out the Supreme Bowl gate, but skied along the Challenger ropeline to where we could traverse right to the chair, then ski back down to tower 10 and drop into one of my favorite lines through the trees. Out Supreme Bowl gate again, but this time into Supreme Bowl itself, where my lack of local knowledge led Eric and I to a rock-lined choke point some 300 cm or so wide. He and I were forced to sideslip for about 50 or 60 verts through its gut while Dale, the smart one of the three, skied a much more user-friendly line to our right. Finally, before lunch, Dale and I repeated our run from two runs earlier while Eric headed down to Alf's to rejoin Sara.
Lunch verified that the holiday week is here. After an early season with a mountain populated nearly entirely by locals, groups visiting from out of state filled Alf's. We chuckled to ourselves over the smell of moth balls from ski clothes pulled out of storage, a sure sign that tourists had returned for the season.
After lunch I had just about enough in me for one more run, and Eagle's Nest was calling. Eric headed out to cruise blue groomers with Sara, and Liz and Pat headed down Sugarloaf as Kerry, Marc_C, Dale and I sped out the High T. Kerry hooked a ski on the fence at the split and tumbled down below the traverse line, opting to ski Jitterbug rather than climb back up. The rest of us had a dreamy line through the Nest before hooking back up with Kerry on its lower flanks. By that point I'd had enough, my body was screaming, and Dale quit as well as Marc_C and Kerry continued on for a few more runs.
