Days 21-22: Rare rime, perfect pow.
Alta is now up to 1600 of its 2200 acres, with only Backside, Supreme Bowl/Catherine's Area, Devil's Castle/East Castle, and Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder still closed (although the Shoulder has been open before the current avalanche danger). Saturday, however, fell victim to Friday's rare rime event in the Wasatch that left everything sealed by a thick windowpane-like layer of crust. Groomers were fine, and anything already chewed up was OK, but untracked was nearly unskiable as sometimes the crust could support you, and other times (usually the most inopportune times) you'd punch through.
Still waiting impatiently for Backside
Greeley Bowl looks good, but looks can be deceiving.
We got a lap on Supreme early in the morning before the lift closed again for an hour or two as ASP triggered several large avalanches, including one that crossed the cat road at the top. With all natural snow and only one day of traffic thus far this season, Supreme's groomers were the best of the day.
It felt good to be riding Supreme again.
The Castle wears a rare coating of rime.
Kingslug's next to last day in Utah.
Today, however, was an entirely different story. Snow began to fall around daybreak and stacked up 5" during the ski day. That new snow stuck to the rime crust and gradually sucked the moisture out of it, to the point that our last run through North Greeley at 2:45 p.m. was absolutely divine with legitimate untracked powder. \
/
Absolutely nuking on Wildcat at 10:08 a.m.
Albion Basin
Now it's time to gear up for the big'un, which is expected to get underway tomorrow afternoon through Wednesday with three feet (or more) of heavier snow, perfect for locking in that base ahead of the holiday week hordes that I calculate will begin arriving Saturday. I doubt that I'll be on skis again before Friday, Christmas Day. That's OK, for a) I've skied 9 out of the past 10 days, and b) gates and terrain will be slow to open following this storm, as the avalanche risk is going to skyrocket through the roof -- they're talking about as much as 4" of water weight possible.
Alta is now up to 1600 of its 2200 acres, with only Backside, Supreme Bowl/Catherine's Area, Devil's Castle/East Castle, and Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder still closed (although the Shoulder has been open before the current avalanche danger). Saturday, however, fell victim to Friday's rare rime event in the Wasatch that left everything sealed by a thick windowpane-like layer of crust. Groomers were fine, and anything already chewed up was OK, but untracked was nearly unskiable as sometimes the crust could support you, and other times (usually the most inopportune times) you'd punch through.
Still waiting impatiently for Backside
Greeley Bowl looks good, but looks can be deceiving.
We got a lap on Supreme early in the morning before the lift closed again for an hour or two as ASP triggered several large avalanches, including one that crossed the cat road at the top. With all natural snow and only one day of traffic thus far this season, Supreme's groomers were the best of the day.
It felt good to be riding Supreme again.
The Castle wears a rare coating of rime.
Kingslug's next to last day in Utah.
Today, however, was an entirely different story. Snow began to fall around daybreak and stacked up 5" during the ski day. That new snow stuck to the rime crust and gradually sucked the moisture out of it, to the point that our last run through North Greeley at 2:45 p.m. was absolutely divine with legitimate untracked powder. \
/ Absolutely nuking on Wildcat at 10:08 a.m.
Albion Basin
Now it's time to gear up for the big'un, which is expected to get underway tomorrow afternoon through Wednesday with three feet (or more) of heavier snow, perfect for locking in that base ahead of the holiday week hordes that I calculate will begin arriving Saturday. I doubt that I'll be on skis again before Friday, Christmas Day. That's OK, for a) I've skied 9 out of the past 10 days, and b) gates and terrain will be slow to open following this storm, as the avalanche risk is going to skyrocket through the roof -- they're talking about as much as 4" of water weight possible.
