Day 12: Face shots, baby! \
/
I spent the morning at Alta today. Alta was reporting only 7 inches this a.m., but that was underreporting as I found knee-deep freshies in most spots and scored face shots literally all morning. The 7-inch report kept most locals away, such that the place was relatively deserted -- lots of empty chairs were ascending the hill on all lifts.
As the storm was still gasping its last breath visibility was predictably miserable. I was therefore going to head into Fred's Trees for my milk run before some chairlift companions suggested that the snow was slabby in there, and instead took their recommendation to head for Greeley Hill.
While still not in mid-season form, the High T is now adequately covered that I didn't hit anything en route to Piss Pass. I chose my line carefully, but was able to get through unscathed nonetheless. Even the mats at Piss Pass were completely covered.
Once out in the open on Greeley Hill, though, I found skiing the varying density snow (the avi report claimed 7%) in braille conditions to be both difficult and unnerving. To top things off I got greedy down near the alders and my usual exit stage right hadn't yet been established, so I skied all the way down to the Little Cottonwood Creek gully and had to climb back up to the groomed. I was exhausted from being awake from 4:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. yesterday, and the climb out in loose snow damn near killed me. I felt about as far from dialed in as I could be, and I seriously considered heading home right then and there.
But I'm sure glad that I didn't. As the storm was quite warm I figured that trees higher on the hill would surely be better, so off to Supreme I headed. Riding the chair there were some tracks coming in under the chair from the lower Supreme Bowl gate. Only a few, but definitely some that made turns instead of the usual Ski Patrol ski cuts. I decided to investigate and headed down Challenger.
Sure enough, the lower gate into Supreme Bowl was open! \/ I actually had to set the latter part of the traverse out beneath the chair myself, but was rewarded with literally bottomless untracked. I scooted across the top of Supreme Challenge and headed for what I call Supreme Nose, the ridgelet that separates Supreme Challenge from the chute beneath the lift. (If anyone knows the legitimate name for this shot, one of my favorite hideaways at Alta that nonetheless sits in direct view of lift riders, please speak up -- there's a photo below.) It had one more track in it from when I rode up the lift above it, and that made -- count 'em -- two total. Mine would be the third.
Divine. Wonderful. Ideal. Sorry, those words simply don't work. I can't come up with any to describe how well Supreme Nose skied, so well that I had to do it two more times. By this point, however, others had noticed my discovery and were beginning to track out the terrain below that gate, so it was off to other areas to stay ahead of what little crowd there was today. I went through the same gate, but this time hugged the outside of the ropeline for untracked powder stairsteps down to the upper entrance to White Squaw. Only lightly tracked, White Squaw delivered more of the goods.
It was now noon, and I needed a nap, so I skied down to Sugarloaf, rode the lift, and monkeyed around in the trees off Mambo and Spring Valley, finishing in Watson Trees and the scrub to skier's right of Low Boy.
Tomorrow's storm is now predicted to be a two-footer. I should be back out Friday afternoon, and things are really starting to come together in the Wasatch, just in time for the Christmas holidays.
No action photos today as I was skiing alone.
/ I spent the morning at Alta today. Alta was reporting only 7 inches this a.m., but that was underreporting as I found knee-deep freshies in most spots and scored face shots literally all morning. The 7-inch report kept most locals away, such that the place was relatively deserted -- lots of empty chairs were ascending the hill on all lifts.
As the storm was still gasping its last breath visibility was predictably miserable. I was therefore going to head into Fred's Trees for my milk run before some chairlift companions suggested that the snow was slabby in there, and instead took their recommendation to head for Greeley Hill.
While still not in mid-season form, the High T is now adequately covered that I didn't hit anything en route to Piss Pass. I chose my line carefully, but was able to get through unscathed nonetheless. Even the mats at Piss Pass were completely covered.
Once out in the open on Greeley Hill, though, I found skiing the varying density snow (the avi report claimed 7%) in braille conditions to be both difficult and unnerving. To top things off I got greedy down near the alders and my usual exit stage right hadn't yet been established, so I skied all the way down to the Little Cottonwood Creek gully and had to climb back up to the groomed. I was exhausted from being awake from 4:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. yesterday, and the climb out in loose snow damn near killed me. I felt about as far from dialed in as I could be, and I seriously considered heading home right then and there.
But I'm sure glad that I didn't. As the storm was quite warm I figured that trees higher on the hill would surely be better, so off to Supreme I headed. Riding the chair there were some tracks coming in under the chair from the lower Supreme Bowl gate. Only a few, but definitely some that made turns instead of the usual Ski Patrol ski cuts. I decided to investigate and headed down Challenger.
Sure enough, the lower gate into Supreme Bowl was open! \
/ I actually had to set the latter part of the traverse out beneath the chair myself, but was rewarded with literally bottomless untracked. I scooted across the top of Supreme Challenge and headed for what I call Supreme Nose, the ridgelet that separates Supreme Challenge from the chute beneath the lift. (If anyone knows the legitimate name for this shot, one of my favorite hideaways at Alta that nonetheless sits in direct view of lift riders, please speak up -- there's a photo below.) It had one more track in it from when I rode up the lift above it, and that made -- count 'em -- two total. Mine would be the third.Divine. Wonderful. Ideal. Sorry, those words simply don't work. I can't come up with any to describe how well Supreme Nose skied, so well that I had to do it two more times. By this point, however, others had noticed my discovery and were beginning to track out the terrain below that gate, so it was off to other areas to stay ahead of what little crowd there was today. I went through the same gate, but this time hugged the outside of the ropeline for untracked powder stairsteps down to the upper entrance to White Squaw. Only lightly tracked, White Squaw delivered more of the goods.
It was now noon, and I needed a nap, so I skied down to Sugarloaf, rode the lift, and monkeyed around in the trees off Mambo and Spring Valley, finishing in Watson Trees and the scrub to skier's right of Low Boy.
Tomorrow's storm is now predicted to be a two-footer. I should be back out Friday afternoon, and things are really starting to come together in the Wasatch, just in time for the Christmas holidays.
No action photos today as I was skiing alone.
