Day 46:
My cell phone provider never changed the time on their tower overnight, so when my alarm went off at 7 am, it was really 8:00.
The Kid and I rushed and didn't get out of the house too late. I called Dale from the car. I knew there was a problem when his daughter answered his cell phone at their home all the way over in Park City. Eventually he came to the phone.
"Hey, what's going on."
"Are you going to get ready? You're still at home. There's powder to be had."
"But they don't open until 9:15."
"Yeah, I know...it's 8:45."
My last comment was followed by a good 7 or 8 seconds of dead silence before he finally responded:
"Awww, $hit!!"
Ah, the light bulb finally turned on. :lol:
My next call was to Marc_C. He stopped me before I even started: "Yeah, I know...I forgot to change the clock. I'm getting dressed now."
So much for a powder start. #-o
Acidchrist and the Labrador Mountain crew, however, were ready to go. There's nothing quite like a hike to start the day, so when the lower Backside gate was still closed, we started hiking to High Notch. Remember -- Backside, Ballroom and Devil's Castle were closed all through yesterday's storm, so untracked awaited.
Backside was, in a word, amazing. Beautiful consistent slightly-heavy powder draped the slope for untracked turns. \
/ We headed for Sugarloaf at the last possible opportunity, and rode back up for more, hooking up with Dale at the top of Collins. Marc_C was still nowhere to be seen, so we hoofed it out the High Traverse -- which was in just about as good a shape as it ever gets -- and dropped into an untracked Greeley Hill. The southeasterly aspect was already becoming baked in the sun, and while it was quite good untracked powder snow, the April UV had already begun working its evil magic.
We continued down to the Transfer Tow to return to Collins and meet up with Marc_C, who was skiing down with Amy. With the entire gang grouped together, we headed back to Sugarloaf to await the rope drop for Devil's Castle.
We played on the hillocks separating Roller Coaster and Devil's Elbow, then rode Sugarloaf again as the patrol made a second bombing run out through the Castle. Although folks were lining up for the rope drop, it was becoming apparent that opening the Castle was going to take a while. Each bomb produced results, and the heavy mid-day sunshine ensured that they'd continue to do so. We waited out one more run by skiing Chartreuse Nose as a group, but by the time we got back atop Sugarloaf to a gate still closed, the group split up -- Frank, Amy and the NY crew headed for Wildcat, while Dale, Marc_C, The Kid and I went to Supreme to wait it out a bit more. We had one run down through north-facing untracked in Tower 12 chute and the apron below the cliffs before a line of ants heading out to the Castle confirmed that indeed, the gate was open.
By this time, however, the heavy, wet snow that had baked in the sun didn't seem to justify the hike out to the Castle. Instead, we let gravity take over and went out the newly-opened Cecret Saddle gate, finding heavy but manageable untracked below the cliffs by threading lines between the piles of avalanche debris.
We headed out the High T one last time to North Rustler, bumping into Bob Dangerous at the top of High Rustler. He went his way and we went ours, finding good snow in the upper reaches but progressively heavier, wet snow in the low-angle trees near the bottom.
A 1:15 pm lunch at the Rustler Lodge ensured that our day was done. Dale even went back to his truck and changed out of his ski boots before dining, and while Marc_C headed back up Collins after lunch at 2:30 for one more groomer, The Kid and I called it a day.
I was a beautiful day to be in the Wasatch today. 8) Our settled mid-mountain snow depth is now at 178 inches, and 575 inches have fallen to date this season, ensuring lots and lots of spring skiing to come. And we've got another, reportedly more potent storm moving in for Tuesday into Wednesday, then another one lining up for Friday into Saturday.
My cell phone provider never changed the time on their tower overnight, so when my alarm went off at 7 am, it was really 8:00.
The Kid and I rushed and didn't get out of the house too late. I called Dale from the car. I knew there was a problem when his daughter answered his cell phone at their home all the way over in Park City. Eventually he came to the phone.
"Hey, what's going on."
"Are you going to get ready? You're still at home. There's powder to be had."
"But they don't open until 9:15."
"Yeah, I know...it's 8:45."
My last comment was followed by a good 7 or 8 seconds of dead silence before he finally responded:
"Awww, $hit!!"
Ah, the light bulb finally turned on. :lol:
My next call was to Marc_C. He stopped me before I even started: "Yeah, I know...I forgot to change the clock. I'm getting dressed now."
So much for a powder start. #-o
Acidchrist and the Labrador Mountain crew, however, were ready to go. There's nothing quite like a hike to start the day, so when the lower Backside gate was still closed, we started hiking to High Notch. Remember -- Backside, Ballroom and Devil's Castle were closed all through yesterday's storm, so untracked awaited.
Backside was, in a word, amazing. Beautiful consistent slightly-heavy powder draped the slope for untracked turns. \
/ We headed for Sugarloaf at the last possible opportunity, and rode back up for more, hooking up with Dale at the top of Collins. Marc_C was still nowhere to be seen, so we hoofed it out the High Traverse -- which was in just about as good a shape as it ever gets -- and dropped into an untracked Greeley Hill. The southeasterly aspect was already becoming baked in the sun, and while it was quite good untracked powder snow, the April UV had already begun working its evil magic. We continued down to the Transfer Tow to return to Collins and meet up with Marc_C, who was skiing down with Amy. With the entire gang grouped together, we headed back to Sugarloaf to await the rope drop for Devil's Castle.
We played on the hillocks separating Roller Coaster and Devil's Elbow, then rode Sugarloaf again as the patrol made a second bombing run out through the Castle. Although folks were lining up for the rope drop, it was becoming apparent that opening the Castle was going to take a while. Each bomb produced results, and the heavy mid-day sunshine ensured that they'd continue to do so. We waited out one more run by skiing Chartreuse Nose as a group, but by the time we got back atop Sugarloaf to a gate still closed, the group split up -- Frank, Amy and the NY crew headed for Wildcat, while Dale, Marc_C, The Kid and I went to Supreme to wait it out a bit more. We had one run down through north-facing untracked in Tower 12 chute and the apron below the cliffs before a line of ants heading out to the Castle confirmed that indeed, the gate was open.
By this time, however, the heavy, wet snow that had baked in the sun didn't seem to justify the hike out to the Castle. Instead, we let gravity take over and went out the newly-opened Cecret Saddle gate, finding heavy but manageable untracked below the cliffs by threading lines between the piles of avalanche debris.
We headed out the High T one last time to North Rustler, bumping into Bob Dangerous at the top of High Rustler. He went his way and we went ours, finding good snow in the upper reaches but progressively heavier, wet snow in the low-angle trees near the bottom.
A 1:15 pm lunch at the Rustler Lodge ensured that our day was done. Dale even went back to his truck and changed out of his ski boots before dining, and while Marc_C headed back up Collins after lunch at 2:30 for one more groomer, The Kid and I called it a day.
I was a beautiful day to be in the Wasatch today. 8) Our settled mid-mountain snow depth is now at 178 inches, and 575 inches have fallen to date this season, ensuring lots and lots of spring skiing to come. And we've got another, reportedly more potent storm moving in for Tuesday into Wednesday, then another one lining up for Friday into Saturday.
