Day 31
Sometimes it pays to have low expectations, for occasionally you end up pleasantly surprised.
Saturday was one of those days. The Kid and I went up to Alta, but got a late start as it was cold and dry in the morning and there seemed to be no reason to rush. We thus rolled into the Wildcat lot at the ripe old hour of 11 am or so. Driving up canyon, we were surprised to see that the snow had already commenced, for the storm was not forecast to get underway until afternoon. Still, I was sure that we'd be skiing primarily groomers for most of the day, awaiting the new snow due us for Sunday morning.
Boy, was I wrong! It accumulated fast and furious throughout the day, ranging from light to heavy at times, and after lunch time started to really freshen the surfaces. It was a flat light day, and we therefore stuck to treed areas, trying to avoid some of the areas that had been sun-baked earlier in the week before Thursday's storm. In the end, we were at times wildly successful.
Early in our day on the Supreme chair we met John, a Canadian Air Force pilot from Cold Lake, Alberta. He ended up tagging along with us into Catherine's, and stuck with us throughout the day. His company was pleasant, his ski skills strong, and it was a pleasure to share with him many of Alta's lesser-known secrets.
By the end of our day we were skiing honest-to-goodness lightly tracked powder, especially in north-facing locales such as Eagle's Nest and North Rustler where we helped a wayward British visitor thread his way through the cliff bands. As we finally called it a day by 3:30, we were certain that the morning would be a good one.
Sometimes it pays to have low expectations, for occasionally you end up pleasantly surprised.
Saturday was one of those days. The Kid and I went up to Alta, but got a late start as it was cold and dry in the morning and there seemed to be no reason to rush. We thus rolled into the Wildcat lot at the ripe old hour of 11 am or so. Driving up canyon, we were surprised to see that the snow had already commenced, for the storm was not forecast to get underway until afternoon. Still, I was sure that we'd be skiing primarily groomers for most of the day, awaiting the new snow due us for Sunday morning.
Boy, was I wrong! It accumulated fast and furious throughout the day, ranging from light to heavy at times, and after lunch time started to really freshen the surfaces. It was a flat light day, and we therefore stuck to treed areas, trying to avoid some of the areas that had been sun-baked earlier in the week before Thursday's storm. In the end, we were at times wildly successful.
Early in our day on the Supreme chair we met John, a Canadian Air Force pilot from Cold Lake, Alberta. He ended up tagging along with us into Catherine's, and stuck with us throughout the day. His company was pleasant, his ski skills strong, and it was a pleasure to share with him many of Alta's lesser-known secrets.
By the end of our day we were skiing honest-to-goodness lightly tracked powder, especially in north-facing locales such as Eagle's Nest and North Rustler where we helped a wayward British visitor thread his way through the cliff bands. As we finally called it a day by 3:30, we were certain that the morning would be a good one.
