Day 44: Thank you, Sharon, for leaving Utah and going home. :lol:
It seems that every time Sharon comes out here we're in a snow drought that ends right after she leaves. February 2007 will go on the record as being no different. :wink:
Easily a good foot or more of dense snow fell overnight and throughout the day today. (It's still cranking up there, with another 4-8 inches in the forecast for tonight.) Normally I prefer my powder of the light and dry variety, but this stuff was perfect for hiding the crust and the nasties underneath. It was a fantastic day today, with freshies all day long!
I had rain in the Valley and 50 degrees -- it was actually pretty ugly and dreary looking around the house this morning. I hit snain just below Seven Sisters at 6,300 feet, and by the time I reached Tanner's at 7,100 feet it was all snow. Roads got slushy up through the Racetrack, and it was a full-on blizzard by the time I reached Snowbird Entry 1.
Stick a snowfall like this after a long dry spell, though, and you have what marketers refer to as "pent up demand." Upon arrival a Goldminer's Daughter employee outside having a smoke and I chatted about how the pre-opening lineup for Collins was the biggest we've seen all year. I went inside and met up with Marc_C, and we both waited for friend Pat to arrive. By the time we got outside, things had dissipated to a five-minute line.
We started the day off in Fred's Trees, finding the conditions to be a different world from what they had been on Friday: scratchy. I had feared that the new snow would be too dense to enjoy, but I was thankfully dead wrong -- it skied beautifully!
It felt a lot colder today than the 28-degree reading on my thermometer, but it was very humid with wet snow falling, and got progressively windier throughout the day. Winds would blast your face with the wet snow falling, adding to the evaporational cooling.
We spent most of our time today, though, on Supreme enjoying multiple laps of great untracked snow. For lunch, fearing that the crowds would make tables scarce in the on-mountain eateries, we opted for a sit-down lunch at Rustler Lodge, and rode Sugarloaf to get there via Susie's Trees, navigating Yellow Trail and the traverse by braille before reaching the shelter and definition of the trees. Susie's Trees was actually one of the only more or less hammered lines we'd ski all day, but there were still many untracked turns available for those willing to seek them out.
After a 90-minute Euro-style lunch of seared ahi tuna and mixed greens, topped with a creme brulee for dessert, we were going to head for Collins again but heard that the lift was once again down for maintenance...on what may well be the busiest day of the year to date! We thus headed up the Transfer Tow to Sunnyside, but by the time we got there Collins was loading again, although only running at half speed. Part of that may be due to wind, but the rumor floating around the hill was that a shaft bearing has failed, and that they'll be repairing it all night tonight in time for tomorrow's opening.
Rather than brave a slow Colllins, we returned to Supreme for a couple of more laps with a digesting lunch that felt like a 15-lb bowling ball in my stomach, including a Catherine's run, before I called it a day. Marc_C and Pat went back up Supreme for reportedly one more.
The dome of high pressure is officially dead! \
/
It seems that every time Sharon comes out here we're in a snow drought that ends right after she leaves. February 2007 will go on the record as being no different. :wink:
Easily a good foot or more of dense snow fell overnight and throughout the day today. (It's still cranking up there, with another 4-8 inches in the forecast for tonight.) Normally I prefer my powder of the light and dry variety, but this stuff was perfect for hiding the crust and the nasties underneath. It was a fantastic day today, with freshies all day long!
I had rain in the Valley and 50 degrees -- it was actually pretty ugly and dreary looking around the house this morning. I hit snain just below Seven Sisters at 6,300 feet, and by the time I reached Tanner's at 7,100 feet it was all snow. Roads got slushy up through the Racetrack, and it was a full-on blizzard by the time I reached Snowbird Entry 1.
Stick a snowfall like this after a long dry spell, though, and you have what marketers refer to as "pent up demand." Upon arrival a Goldminer's Daughter employee outside having a smoke and I chatted about how the pre-opening lineup for Collins was the biggest we've seen all year. I went inside and met up with Marc_C, and we both waited for friend Pat to arrive. By the time we got outside, things had dissipated to a five-minute line.
We started the day off in Fred's Trees, finding the conditions to be a different world from what they had been on Friday: scratchy. I had feared that the new snow would be too dense to enjoy, but I was thankfully dead wrong -- it skied beautifully!
It felt a lot colder today than the 28-degree reading on my thermometer, but it was very humid with wet snow falling, and got progressively windier throughout the day. Winds would blast your face with the wet snow falling, adding to the evaporational cooling.
We spent most of our time today, though, on Supreme enjoying multiple laps of great untracked snow. For lunch, fearing that the crowds would make tables scarce in the on-mountain eateries, we opted for a sit-down lunch at Rustler Lodge, and rode Sugarloaf to get there via Susie's Trees, navigating Yellow Trail and the traverse by braille before reaching the shelter and definition of the trees. Susie's Trees was actually one of the only more or less hammered lines we'd ski all day, but there were still many untracked turns available for those willing to seek them out.
After a 90-minute Euro-style lunch of seared ahi tuna and mixed greens, topped with a creme brulee for dessert, we were going to head for Collins again but heard that the lift was once again down for maintenance...on what may well be the busiest day of the year to date! We thus headed up the Transfer Tow to Sunnyside, but by the time we got there Collins was loading again, although only running at half speed. Part of that may be due to wind, but the rumor floating around the hill was that a shaft bearing has failed, and that they'll be repairing it all night tonight in time for tomorrow's opening.
Rather than brave a slow Colllins, we returned to Supreme for a couple of more laps with a digesting lunch that felt like a 15-lb bowling ball in my stomach, including a Catherine's run, before I called it a day. Marc_C and Pat went back up Supreme for reportedly one more.
The dome of high pressure is officially dead! \
/
