Day 17: Surprising finds.
We rang in the New Year on both sides of the border today. Our visiting friends were all skiing Snowbird, and I met up with Bobby Danger and Tele Jon at the usual 9 am GMD rendezvous (Doug, where were you??). Not one for a warmup, Bobby drew us into Harold's, which skied much, much better than it looked...and it looked like a couple of inches of new overnight snow on top of chunky monkey underneath. Fortunately, what looked chunky was much softer than anticipated. Unfortunately, both Jon and I started the day off with spent legs. We followed a freshly groomed Collins Face covered in the aforementioned couple of inches back to the base, and when the other two struck off for Backside I opted for a groomer down Devil's Elbow to get my body cooperating, as Sugarloaf was delayed opening this morning and I passed no one...and I mean no one...all the way down Devil's Elbow and Roller Coaster.
We rode back up Sunnyside and the now-opened Sugarloaf to head through the Sugar Shack checkpoint and into Snowbird's Mineral Basin, where a dramatic undercast created stunning scenery.
We zipped up Mineral Basin Express to Hidden Peak and tried to reconnect with Mira/Sima/David/Larissa, as well as Ben and Tawny visiting from Vermont, but couldn't get a call out.
We headed for the Cirque Traverse and dropped into Mid Cirque, again finding soft fluffy cut-up snow.
We were able to connect with both groups at the base, but Mira et al were all in Mineral Basin, and Ben and Tawny hadn't yet left the house. Back up Peruvian, through the Basshole and into Mineral, we found absolutely delightful snow by playing in the gullies in and around Not Quite Corn and High Stakes -- in this time of shallow base depths they skied like natural halfpipes filled with smooth, soft and forgiving snow. When we met up with Mira and crew we had to do it again.
We headed back up to Hidden Peak, but I wasn't able to convince David to follow us to Great Scott. I haven't skied it all year, and the entrance is still quite bony. So bony, in fact, that Mira and Sima opted to ski Mid Cirque instead, but I followed Bobby in. Once down 30 yards and past the rocks, we found the snow of the day -- loose, fluffy, smooth and steep. We connected with Ben and Tawny as well as Ben's 16 year-old cousin Jake at the base and returned for a second helping, and this time Mira and Sima joined us along with our latest connectees (Tele Jon was spent and headed back to Alta to go home). It was every bit as wonderful the second time, and even though Jake's parents own a house at Snowbird it was his first time dropping into Great Scott. Jake, you've been initiated!
Bobby and I joined David and Larissa in the Rendezvous for a late lunch while the others kept skiing. It was getting so late, in fact, that Bobby and I needed to head back to Alta, so we returned via Peruvian/Tunnel/Baldy Express to Sugarloaf Pass, where Bobby finished with a High Boy and I with a cruiser down Mambo. It was now 3 pm and I was spent.
We rang in the New Year on both sides of the border today. Our visiting friends were all skiing Snowbird, and I met up with Bobby Danger and Tele Jon at the usual 9 am GMD rendezvous (Doug, where were you??). Not one for a warmup, Bobby drew us into Harold's, which skied much, much better than it looked...and it looked like a couple of inches of new overnight snow on top of chunky monkey underneath. Fortunately, what looked chunky was much softer than anticipated. Unfortunately, both Jon and I started the day off with spent legs. We followed a freshly groomed Collins Face covered in the aforementioned couple of inches back to the base, and when the other two struck off for Backside I opted for a groomer down Devil's Elbow to get my body cooperating, as Sugarloaf was delayed opening this morning and I passed no one...and I mean no one...all the way down Devil's Elbow and Roller Coaster.
We rode back up Sunnyside and the now-opened Sugarloaf to head through the Sugar Shack checkpoint and into Snowbird's Mineral Basin, where a dramatic undercast created stunning scenery.
We zipped up Mineral Basin Express to Hidden Peak and tried to reconnect with Mira/Sima/David/Larissa, as well as Ben and Tawny visiting from Vermont, but couldn't get a call out.
We headed for the Cirque Traverse and dropped into Mid Cirque, again finding soft fluffy cut-up snow.
We were able to connect with both groups at the base, but Mira et al were all in Mineral Basin, and Ben and Tawny hadn't yet left the house. Back up Peruvian, through the Basshole and into Mineral, we found absolutely delightful snow by playing in the gullies in and around Not Quite Corn and High Stakes -- in this time of shallow base depths they skied like natural halfpipes filled with smooth, soft and forgiving snow. When we met up with Mira and crew we had to do it again.
We headed back up to Hidden Peak, but I wasn't able to convince David to follow us to Great Scott. I haven't skied it all year, and the entrance is still quite bony. So bony, in fact, that Mira and Sima opted to ski Mid Cirque instead, but I followed Bobby in. Once down 30 yards and past the rocks, we found the snow of the day -- loose, fluffy, smooth and steep. We connected with Ben and Tawny as well as Ben's 16 year-old cousin Jake at the base and returned for a second helping, and this time Mira and Sima joined us along with our latest connectees (Tele Jon was spent and headed back to Alta to go home). It was every bit as wonderful the second time, and even though Jake's parents own a house at Snowbird it was his first time dropping into Great Scott. Jake, you've been initiated!
Bobby and I joined David and Larissa in the Rendezvous for a late lunch while the others kept skiing. It was getting so late, in fact, that Bobby and I needed to head back to Alta, so we returned via Peruvian/Tunnel/Baldy Express to Sugarloaf Pass, where Bobby finished with a High Boy and I with a cruiser down Mambo. It was now 3 pm and I was spent.
