Day 31: An unexpected powder day.
First off, to all of the idiots who chose to ignore the chain/4x4 restrictions and drive their 2WD crap boxes up LCC this morning, I was thrilled to see the Sheriff bust your ass. That was the biggest crapshow I've seen on the LCC road all year. 0-2 mph from below Tanners all the way to past Snowbird Entry 1, because that's where those geniuses thought that the way to get up the hill was to rev their engines at 4000 rpm and spin their wheels. Thanks a bunch for screwing up the road for absolutely everyone else because you're too lazy, cheap or ignorant to take the freakin' bus. :evil:
OK, that's off my chest now.
A surprisingly small posse today for an unexpected powder day: Skidog, jkamien visiting from NJ, and yours truly. Young guns Perry and jtran joined us for the first few runs, but we never did meet up with PattiMac visiting from Vermont as she had to ride the bus up and cell phone difficulties prevented ever connecting with her.
We had already picked up a few inches of dense snow/graupel by opening bell, and by the time we left I'm guessing that it had accumulated to about 8 inches. Winds were honking, however, so depths were far greater in many places, often approaching shin or knee deep. The density was just what we needed, for it prevented bottoming out for all but our first run. And that's in addition to the ~10 inches that fell over the past couple of days. Numerous face shots were earned despite the snow density.
You'd also have never known it was Saturday of President's weekend, for Collins was ski-on all day with no lines. We alternated between Collins and Wildcat all day and never rode another lift.
jkamien had until 2 p.m. today, when he had to pack up and head for the airport, so we skied straight through from 9:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. without a break. Fred's Trees first run was somewhat inconsistent, but we found lower West Rustler untracked and smooth, so good that we went back for a second lap from the High T. We then headed down through Keyhole into Snowbird, where Perry launched a small ledge.
We somehow timed that run impeccably, sliding up to the bus stop on the Bypass Road at Blackjack right as the bus pulled up and opened it's door. \
/
Perry and jtran went for another serving, but with Jonathan on limited time we opted to maximize our powder potential instead. We skied a lap down into North Rustler below High Nowhere and traversed through the woods into Garbage Chute, finding face shot material directly below. It was still good lower down although not as deep, when jkamien asked me to shoot a video clip:
Screenshot:
Video:
[skitube2]http://www.firsttracksonline.com/modules/crpVideo/pnmedia/videos/1266101045_2010-02-13_Alta_jkamien.flv[/skitube2]
Eagle's Nest was so good we hit it twice, although jkamien erred on the first lap and somehow climbed up to Thirds. Backside, Ballroom, Baldy Shoulder, Catherine's, etc. all remained closed throughout the storm. Stonecrusher was smooooooth and deep from the top.
By the time we got to 2 p.m., both jkamien and I were shot for the day (I've got to learn to not stay up until 2:30 a.m. the night before a ski day). Skidog headed up for another helping of Stonecrusher goodness while jkamien and I both headed down the canyon.
First off, to all of the idiots who chose to ignore the chain/4x4 restrictions and drive their 2WD crap boxes up LCC this morning, I was thrilled to see the Sheriff bust your ass. That was the biggest crapshow I've seen on the LCC road all year. 0-2 mph from below Tanners all the way to past Snowbird Entry 1, because that's where those geniuses thought that the way to get up the hill was to rev their engines at 4000 rpm and spin their wheels. Thanks a bunch for screwing up the road for absolutely everyone else because you're too lazy, cheap or ignorant to take the freakin' bus. :evil:
OK, that's off my chest now.
A surprisingly small posse today for an unexpected powder day: Skidog, jkamien visiting from NJ, and yours truly. Young guns Perry and jtran joined us for the first few runs, but we never did meet up with PattiMac visiting from Vermont as she had to ride the bus up and cell phone difficulties prevented ever connecting with her.
We had already picked up a few inches of dense snow/graupel by opening bell, and by the time we left I'm guessing that it had accumulated to about 8 inches. Winds were honking, however, so depths were far greater in many places, often approaching shin or knee deep. The density was just what we needed, for it prevented bottoming out for all but our first run. And that's in addition to the ~10 inches that fell over the past couple of days. Numerous face shots were earned despite the snow density.
You'd also have never known it was Saturday of President's weekend, for Collins was ski-on all day with no lines. We alternated between Collins and Wildcat all day and never rode another lift.
jkamien had until 2 p.m. today, when he had to pack up and head for the airport, so we skied straight through from 9:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. without a break. Fred's Trees first run was somewhat inconsistent, but we found lower West Rustler untracked and smooth, so good that we went back for a second lap from the High T. We then headed down through Keyhole into Snowbird, where Perry launched a small ledge.
We somehow timed that run impeccably, sliding up to the bus stop on the Bypass Road at Blackjack right as the bus pulled up and opened it's door. \
/ Perry and jtran went for another serving, but with Jonathan on limited time we opted to maximize our powder potential instead. We skied a lap down into North Rustler below High Nowhere and traversed through the woods into Garbage Chute, finding face shot material directly below. It was still good lower down although not as deep, when jkamien asked me to shoot a video clip:
Screenshot:
Video:
[skitube2]http://www.firsttracksonline.com/modules/crpVideo/pnmedia/videos/1266101045_2010-02-13_Alta_jkamien.flv[/skitube2]
Eagle's Nest was so good we hit it twice, although jkamien erred on the first lap and somehow climbed up to Thirds. Backside, Ballroom, Baldy Shoulder, Catherine's, etc. all remained closed throughout the storm. Stonecrusher was smooooooth and deep from the top.
By the time we got to 2 p.m., both jkamien and I were shot for the day (I've got to learn to not stay up until 2:30 a.m. the night before a ski day). Skidog headed up for another helping of Stonecrusher goodness while jkamien and I both headed down the canyon.
