Alta, UT 3/21-22/2015

[Admin]

Days 44-45: Full-on spring.

Warm sunshine, plenty of snow and lots of friends in town. What's not to like?

Mira and Sima arrived this week from NYC with their 4-year-old, their newborn, Miki from Serbia and Mira's Serbian mother in tow for a built-in babysitter. I finally got to ski with Arnie, Kay & Jtran this season. And I also finally met and skied with Staley, who joined us for most of the day on Sunday. There were times that our group size even hit a usually unmanageable 10.

On Saturday morning the view from the Rock 'n Roll gun tower was so gorgeous...

...that when it came time for lunch, we ran into Goldminer's for sandwiches and beer, and carted them all the way up there for an impromptu spring picnic.

Corn on Backside ripened right around noon each day. West Rustler was off the charts by 3:30 on Saturday, but increasing clouds on Sunday afternoon kept the sun from working its magic on west-facing terrain, and therefore kept me from venturing back there before I wrapped up my weekend.

Rumor has it that it might actually snow again this week. [-o<

 

[Staley]

Thanks for showing me around! Although Sunday was the least good day (of Fri-Sun) and Snowbird was better than Alta last weekend, Admin and crew took me down what must have been the best line on Backside at Alta--a line I doubt I could have pieced together on my own.

Friday and Saturday were spent mostly at Snowbird, where Mineral Basin had perfect spring conditions. White Diamonds had been groomed a few days back and held the best snow; widely spaced bumps at the top and smooth enough snow down low to make big, high-speed turns. In general, I'd give Mineral Basin the nod over Backside at Alta for spring skiing. Mineral Basin softens early and also receives more skier traffic, helping to avoid the unconsolidated snow that is less pleasant to ski.

On Friday, I got a bit overexcited to be skiing mountains with an actual snow base, so I gave Silver Fox a shot around noon. Let's just say that run convinced me to sharpen my edges. I continued my masochism by heading to High Rustler around 1:30pm, where my lack of Alta knowledge resulted in a "sporting" traverse. High Rustler was big, icy moguls with icy snow chunks in the troughs--an all-time bad run.

 

[Tony Crocker]

High Rustler was big, icy moguls with icy snow chunks in the troughs--an all-time bad run.

High Rustler is normally one of the last refuges of winter snow at AltaBird. Weather must have been insanely warm sometime to produce a melt/freeze in March there. Silver Fox is similarly well protected, though its base is thin this season so I'm less surprised by deteriorating snow quality there.