Day 58: A true sleeper powder day.
For the second Tuesday in a row a Wasatch snowstorm under-promised and over-delivered. Expectations were for around three inches, accompanied by blasting winds arriving with the trailing cold front as the bulk of the storm's energy would pass by to our north. The winds yesterday were enough to shut Collins down for four hours and Snowbasin threw in the towel completely before noon and remained closed for the rest of the day. Gusts atop the Snowbird Tram were exceeding 90 mph and many of their lifts closed during the day, too. Everybody from the National Weather Service and the Utah Avalanche Center to Wasatch Snow Forecast pooh-poohed the chance of anything of any substance coating the ground, and the northwesterly winds behind the front would likely carry it to Moab anyway.
After the wind died down last night, however, the snowfall started cranking and we ended up with a foot. And for once it wasn't high-density graupel. It started out that way but ended up with Chamber of Commerce fluff on top, 6% average overall but definitely right-side-up. That is precisely what the doctor ordered to mask most of the bumps and old tracks but yet deliver a plethora of face shots.
I was apparently one of the few locals besides Skidog who noticed the signs last night: persistent radar echoes, a time extension on the Winter Weather Advisory from the National Weather Service, and the road going to 4x4 or chains at around 10:30 p.m., long after the storm should have wound down. I say that because for a foot-deep powder day things were awfully quiet on the mountain today. I sailed up the canyon at the speed limit or better. Skidog and I scored the 10th chair on Collins. And we just lapped run after run of pure unadulterated powder!
It was such a surprise, in fact, that Skrad told us before opening this morning that he abandoned his plans to return home to Seattle for the summer a week early. Skidog and I absolutely pounded out 7 laps in under 2 hours:
About 13,500 vertical feet and 98.63498528374372 % powder, even by my definition and not by Crocker's. After I left for work Skidog stuck around for an Eagle's Nest, three more Condo Runs and two Westward Hos. He's reportedly "cooked." :lol:
On our last lap together we popped out onto the Bypass Road and shared a shuttle with Ski Utah Powderhound mbaydala, Alta's Joe Johnson, pro photogs Corey Kopischke and Lee Cohen, and a bunch of their athletes. What a day! When you take all factors into account -- the snow depth, the snow quality and the dearth of competition -- this morning has pretty much propelled itself into the #1 position of my favorite days of 2013-14.
For the second Tuesday in a row a Wasatch snowstorm under-promised and over-delivered. Expectations were for around three inches, accompanied by blasting winds arriving with the trailing cold front as the bulk of the storm's energy would pass by to our north. The winds yesterday were enough to shut Collins down for four hours and Snowbasin threw in the towel completely before noon and remained closed for the rest of the day. Gusts atop the Snowbird Tram were exceeding 90 mph and many of their lifts closed during the day, too. Everybody from the National Weather Service and the Utah Avalanche Center to Wasatch Snow Forecast pooh-poohed the chance of anything of any substance coating the ground, and the northwesterly winds behind the front would likely carry it to Moab anyway.
After the wind died down last night, however, the snowfall started cranking and we ended up with a foot. And for once it wasn't high-density graupel. It started out that way but ended up with Chamber of Commerce fluff on top, 6% average overall but definitely right-side-up. That is precisely what the doctor ordered to mask most of the bumps and old tracks but yet deliver a plethora of face shots.
I was apparently one of the few locals besides Skidog who noticed the signs last night: persistent radar echoes, a time extension on the Winter Weather Advisory from the National Weather Service, and the road going to 4x4 or chains at around 10:30 p.m., long after the storm should have wound down. I say that because for a foot-deep powder day things were awfully quiet on the mountain today. I sailed up the canyon at the speed limit or better. Skidog and I scored the 10th chair on Collins. And we just lapped run after run of pure unadulterated powder!
It was such a surprise, in fact, that Skrad told us before opening this morning that he abandoned his plans to return home to Seattle for the summer a week early. Skidog and I absolutely pounded out 7 laps in under 2 hours:
- Watson Line/Saddle/Pinball Gully/Low Boy
- Ballroom/Four Sisters/Strawberry Mambo
- Armpit/Taint Aggies
- Backside
- Backside/Susie's Trees
- Greeley Bowl/Greeley Hill
- Condo Run
About 13,500 vertical feet and 98.63498528374372 % powder, even by my definition and not by Crocker's. After I left for work Skidog stuck around for an Eagle's Nest, three more Condo Runs and two Westward Hos. He's reportedly "cooked." :lol:
On our last lap together we popped out onto the Bypass Road and shared a shuttle with Ski Utah Powderhound mbaydala, Alta's Joe Johnson, pro photogs Corey Kopischke and Lee Cohen, and a bunch of their athletes. What a day! When you take all factors into account -- the snow depth, the snow quality and the dearth of competition -- this morning has pretty much propelled itself into the #1 position of my favorite days of 2013-14.
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