Day 41: Tie everything down!
I was driving Tony up LCC this morning when I foolishly commented that we almost never have wind on the backside of a storm. No sooner did the words pass my lips than a gust sent snow flying up the embankment and across the road ahead of us.
8-[
By the time we reached the Wildcat parking lot, it was positively howling. Sitting in Goldminer's with Bobby Danger, Skidog, Tele Jon, Tony Crocker, Acidchrist and AC's Greek Peak (NY) patrol buddy Nick, at times the pre-opening line queued up at Collins would disappear in a cloud of blowing snow. This was going to be one of those days that we seldom have...
Skidog had a hall pass only good for a couple of hours, so he was anxious to get out the door right at 9:15 when both Collins and Wildcat still had a full lift queue. That isn't saying a lot for Wildcat, so we headed over there for a first run to let things die down at Collins. Sugarloaf wasn't spinning at all in the wind, which strangely was blowing out of the southeast, which puts it perpendicular to the Sugarloaf chair line. Looking at the wind slab beneath the chair I was glad that I grabbed my familiar Movement Goliaths instead of the Salomon Czars that were left waiting for me that morning. I wanted something that I'd be comfortable with, not testing something new. My phone also rang, as Pat and Dale called saying that they'd forgotten to change their clocks and overslept. With that kind of wind, I told them to stay home.
Atop Wildcat it was a full-on gale. I'm guessing that it was blowing 30 or more sustained. Poling out the Wildcat ridgeline, our faces were being sandblasted with snow blowing up the ridge. I felt like I was back atop Jay Peak in Vermont. I couldn't get off that ridgeline fast enough.
We headed for Bridge Shot, which could have been best described as consolidated, variable wind slab. The storm totaled 11" but one minute you'd be rocketing across a hard mogul and the next you'd be stopped dead in your tracks in a thigh-deep drift. It was truly rather unpleasant. Had I not had visitors with me I likely would have gone home right then and there, but instead we loaded Collins to head to West Rustler, hoping that terrain on the lee side of the ridge would hold better snow.
Alas, it really didn't, but at least the lift ride was in relative calm shadowed by the ridge. We had to concoct a Plan C, and figured that if anything would be sheltered from the effects of the wind it would be the north-facing trees of Eagle's Nest.
Score! Not only did those trees do the trick, but by that time they had been skied enough that it broke up the slab, leaving in its wake deep, steep sluff. It gave hope for the rest of the day, hope that was quickly dashed when we returned to the base to encounter the longest line that I've seen all season on Collins. It was clear out beyond the maze and turned back up the hill toward Wildcat. While it looked horrendous, we timed it and it was actually 16 minutes, but no matter -- we called John over at Snowbird who gave an encouraging report of the liftlines over there. We figured that once we got through the line and down another run Tony would upgrade to an AltaBird ticket and Tele Jon and I would head with him over to the Bird. Frank and Nick decided that they'd stay at Alta.
Back out a High T in braille conditions, we zipped back through Piss Pass and headed for Garbage Chute for a repeat of the deep, loose fluffy snow that we found in Eagle's Nest. And by the time we returned to Collins the line was back to normal. Modifying an old windsurfing adage we figured, "Don't leave snow to find snow," and all but Bobby Danger decided to remain at Alta for the day.
Save for one bus run, we spent literally the entire rest of the day heading out the High T and skiing something in the Eagle's Nest/North Rustler area, including Greeley Slot, North Rustler proper, an attempt at Hourglass (where we accidentally ended up back in Eagle's Nest instead), Rustler 4, etc. Lunch was a relaxing affair at Rustler Lodge.
From noon on, we never had a Collins liftline longer than 90 seconds or so. Our bus run was via one of my favored lines out there, which at 2:00 p.m. was still virtually untracked, yet sheltered from the prevailing winds. Dense, heavy, yet untracked and eminently skiable. Within less than a minute two kind souls in a pickup stopped to give us a lift back to Alta without so much as holding out a thumb. (Thank you!!!) And we finished the day with a delightful, yet tight Regal Chute.
After beer at GMD I gave Tony a lift to the airport, then met Tele Jon, Acidchrist and Nick downtown for dinner. We'd planned on Pat's BBQ without realizing that they're closed on Sundays, and instead ended up at The Bayou for their delectable crawfish etouffée washed down with a Deschutes Inversion IPA that is available in Utah only at The Bayou.
Yet another good day in Mecca!
(Oh, and side note to Tony: while at dinner, Nick commented that he liked Snowbird, "but it always feels like it takes a long traverse to get to anything good over there." :lol: )
I was driving Tony up LCC this morning when I foolishly commented that we almost never have wind on the backside of a storm. No sooner did the words pass my lips than a gust sent snow flying up the embankment and across the road ahead of us.
8-[
By the time we reached the Wildcat parking lot, it was positively howling. Sitting in Goldminer's with Bobby Danger, Skidog, Tele Jon, Tony Crocker, Acidchrist and AC's Greek Peak (NY) patrol buddy Nick, at times the pre-opening line queued up at Collins would disappear in a cloud of blowing snow. This was going to be one of those days that we seldom have...
Skidog had a hall pass only good for a couple of hours, so he was anxious to get out the door right at 9:15 when both Collins and Wildcat still had a full lift queue. That isn't saying a lot for Wildcat, so we headed over there for a first run to let things die down at Collins. Sugarloaf wasn't spinning at all in the wind, which strangely was blowing out of the southeast, which puts it perpendicular to the Sugarloaf chair line. Looking at the wind slab beneath the chair I was glad that I grabbed my familiar Movement Goliaths instead of the Salomon Czars that were left waiting for me that morning. I wanted something that I'd be comfortable with, not testing something new. My phone also rang, as Pat and Dale called saying that they'd forgotten to change their clocks and overslept. With that kind of wind, I told them to stay home.
Atop Wildcat it was a full-on gale. I'm guessing that it was blowing 30 or more sustained. Poling out the Wildcat ridgeline, our faces were being sandblasted with snow blowing up the ridge. I felt like I was back atop Jay Peak in Vermont. I couldn't get off that ridgeline fast enough.
We headed for Bridge Shot, which could have been best described as consolidated, variable wind slab. The storm totaled 11" but one minute you'd be rocketing across a hard mogul and the next you'd be stopped dead in your tracks in a thigh-deep drift. It was truly rather unpleasant. Had I not had visitors with me I likely would have gone home right then and there, but instead we loaded Collins to head to West Rustler, hoping that terrain on the lee side of the ridge would hold better snow.
Alas, it really didn't, but at least the lift ride was in relative calm shadowed by the ridge. We had to concoct a Plan C, and figured that if anything would be sheltered from the effects of the wind it would be the north-facing trees of Eagle's Nest.
Score! Not only did those trees do the trick, but by that time they had been skied enough that it broke up the slab, leaving in its wake deep, steep sluff. It gave hope for the rest of the day, hope that was quickly dashed when we returned to the base to encounter the longest line that I've seen all season on Collins. It was clear out beyond the maze and turned back up the hill toward Wildcat. While it looked horrendous, we timed it and it was actually 16 minutes, but no matter -- we called John over at Snowbird who gave an encouraging report of the liftlines over there. We figured that once we got through the line and down another run Tony would upgrade to an AltaBird ticket and Tele Jon and I would head with him over to the Bird. Frank and Nick decided that they'd stay at Alta.
Back out a High T in braille conditions, we zipped back through Piss Pass and headed for Garbage Chute for a repeat of the deep, loose fluffy snow that we found in Eagle's Nest. And by the time we returned to Collins the line was back to normal. Modifying an old windsurfing adage we figured, "Don't leave snow to find snow," and all but Bobby Danger decided to remain at Alta for the day.
Save for one bus run, we spent literally the entire rest of the day heading out the High T and skiing something in the Eagle's Nest/North Rustler area, including Greeley Slot, North Rustler proper, an attempt at Hourglass (where we accidentally ended up back in Eagle's Nest instead), Rustler 4, etc. Lunch was a relaxing affair at Rustler Lodge.
From noon on, we never had a Collins liftline longer than 90 seconds or so. Our bus run was via one of my favored lines out there, which at 2:00 p.m. was still virtually untracked, yet sheltered from the prevailing winds. Dense, heavy, yet untracked and eminently skiable. Within less than a minute two kind souls in a pickup stopped to give us a lift back to Alta without so much as holding out a thumb. (Thank you!!!) And we finished the day with a delightful, yet tight Regal Chute.
After beer at GMD I gave Tony a lift to the airport, then met Tele Jon, Acidchrist and Nick downtown for dinner. We'd planned on Pat's BBQ without realizing that they're closed on Sundays, and instead ended up at The Bayou for their delectable crawfish etouffée washed down with a Deschutes Inversion IPA that is available in Utah only at The Bayou.
Yet another good day in Mecca!
(Oh, and side note to Tony: while at dinner, Nick commented that he liked Snowbird, "but it always feels like it takes a long traverse to get to anything good over there." :lol: )
