AltaBird 3/2/2014

J

jojo_obrien

Member
I'll let Admin add a more detailed report...

Started out w/ the APP on Wildcat to warm up, Collins to Supreme.

Beautiful lines out in Catherine's area before the lift line grew. I took Sugarloaf and got first tracks on Glory Hole. All of the lower section of Backside was pure bliss. I quickly lapped Supreme again and got seconds with phenomenal untracked lines. Took a third lap (through one of the lower gates off of Devil's Elbow). More bliss. Ran into the group @ Supreme and skied with them for a while (Admin's report to follow).

The group stopped for lunch (I normally skip lunch)....and I went over and lapped Backside. The >40 deg F temperatures and sun were beginning to affect snow quality somewhat. Nevertheless, still fun lines.

ASP was still bombing Ballroom at around 1230 and my goal was to hop on the 116 PM bus down the canyon.

I rode up Mineral Basin and it appeared that Road to Provo had just opened. It was SWEET...........but boy was it a feeding frenzy! I thought about sticking around longer but I saw the lift line at Little Cloud and called it a day.

A killer bluebird day with lots of untracked or minimally tracked lines. Good times @ Alta........
 

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Would have loved to have been there...planned to.....
I think I may have passed a kidney stone last night.
 
bummer.........you think you might have passed a kidney stone...wouldn't you know? isnt that ..........one of the most painful things for a man to go through?
 
Today was pretty nice up there. Great snow, great people, lots of fun. Thanks to all you Utah people for showing me such a great time. I only got one shot, from sugarloaf lift, but it was more fun to ski than to take photos.
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jojo_obrien":3ju7zcaj said:
bummer.........you think you might have passed a kidney stone...wouldn't you know? isnt that ..........one of the most painful things for a man to go through?
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Yeah. I passed one in mid-December. At the time I had no idea what the debilitating pain was, hence a lot of concern and a trip to the ER. The CT scan showed two others hanging out. The amount of pain and how much you're doubled over is dependent on the size of the stone and the diameter of your urethra. My Dec stone was 3mm, my urethra 2mm. The two remaining are 3mm and 1mm, so if indeed it was a stone, I'm guessing it was the smaller one. Once it's in the bladder, there isn't any pain. The only way to be certain of passage is either through imaging or peeing through a fine mesh strainer. My doc says they start to consider breaking them up when they reach 5-6mm. I can't imagine the pain that would cause trying to pass one of those boulders.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled skiing posts.
 
rfarren":140b5b43 said:
I only got one shot, from sugarloaf lift, but it was more fun to ski than to take photos.
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I didn't take many either.

jojo_obrien":140b5b43 said:
I'll let Admin add a more detailed report...

Started out w/ the APP on Wildcat to warm up, Collins to Supreme.
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Hamburger Hill was a great first run.

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We spent part of our morning on Supreme but never made it out to Catherine's, opting instead for Home Plate and Back 40. By staying over there we missed the Backside opening, although we still found lightly tracked in Susie's Trees.

jojo_obrien":140b5b43 said:
The group stopped for lunch (I normally skip lunch)....and I went over and lapped Backside.
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We lunched when we did to give ASP time to finish getting Baldy Shoulder ready, and after missing Backside this morning, when it still wasn't ready after lunch we decided to wait.
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That wait turned into an unexpected 40 minutes, so some of the folks in front of me gave up and left. I didn't mind as it was a beautiful afternoon to hang out in the warm sun and pay snowball/ski pole baseball. :lol: I was about 10th through the gate, and by the time it opened the lineup was all the way back to the Germania patrol shack. Most of those in front of me opted for early lines in Ballroom, so my patience was rewarded with 24" of untracked down Graveyard, clearly the run of my day.

jojo_obrien":140b5b43 said:
The >40 deg F temperatures and sun were beginning to affect snow quality somewhat.
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Not if you chose carefully, for the snow on North Rustler was cold and dry even at 4pm. Also, it never got as warm as you indicate. While the high temp hit 40 at the base (not > 40), Mid-Collins got to just 32 and the top of Collins only 29. Of course, with no wind, while the sun was shining it felt like 60.

I forgot to mention yesterday that we broke the 100-inch base milestone for the first time this season. Today was busier than yesterday, but with all lifts and nearly all terrain it didn't feel that way until I hit a red snake driving down canyon even on today's dry roads.

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I continue to ponder why this season has felt so extraordinarily busy. I know that we've seen a dramatic increase in Californian visitation because of a dearth of snow in their home state, but I've also now realized something else. Season pass holders at Mammoth, the second busiest ski area in the U.S. with something like 1.4 million skier visits on average annually (nearly one-third of what the entire state of Utah sees in a typical winter), now get half price tickets at Alta/Snowbird. Not only has Utah been one of the closest destinations to California metro areas with decent snow for much of this season, but also many of SoCal's hardcore skiers also ride here now for cheap. I think that both factors are driving a big increase in skier visits this season, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Utah easily break 4 Million skier visits this winter.
 
Admin":8s28g329 said:
Not only has Utah been one of the closest destinations to California metro areas with decent snow for much of this season, but many of SoCal's hardcore skiers also ride here now for cheap. I think that both factors are driving a big increase in skier visits this season, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Utah easily break 4 Million skier visits this winter.
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I've had more than one lift ride conversations with LA folks who said they can get to LCC from their home in less time than it takes to get to Mammoth.
 
Marc_C":15lt0034 said:
Admin":15lt0034 said:
Not only has Utah been one of the closest destinations to California metro areas with decent snow for much of this season, but many of SoCal's hardcore skiers also ride here now for cheap. I think that both factors are driving a big increase in skier visits this season, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Utah easily break 4 Million skier visits this winter.
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I've had more than one lift ride conversations with LA folks who said they can get to LCC from their home in less time than it takes to get to Mammoth.
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Count me as another one, 730 flight out of long beach on Friday and 6pm home. Not as cheap as it used to be back in 07-08 but still easier than fighting 2hrs traffic to get to the 14 from the westside.

In 08 I think I made 7 weekend trips to SLC and probably 2 to mammoth, both in the spring.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
admin":3ubomrgn said:
Mammoth, the second busiest ski area in the U.S. with something like 1.4 million skier visits on average annually
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Mammoth has not had that many visits since 2005-06. The recession cut visitation ~15%. Big year 2010-11 was 1.29 million vs. record high 1.59 million in 2005-06. Bad year 2011-12 was 910K vs. 1.05 million in somewhat comparable 2006-07. Mammoth expects ~850K this season (lowest in 20 years), even though the rest of this season will be just fine after the 55 inches from the recent storm.

Squaw/Alpine season passholders also get the 1/2 AltaBird tickets. I have used my Mammoth pass 7 days at AltaBird already with Iron Blosam week starting next weekend. My first day at Mammoth will be March 24.

It will be interesting to see a breakout of skier visits this season. Utah's season, though reasonable on an absolute scale, is still well below average. Colorado might be quite noteworthy, with lots of visits from Tahoe Epic Pass holders.
 
It's Crocker, so he's of course brought snowfall numbers into the mix. There's no way that he could know visitation numbers for the season to date because they don't release interim figures.
 
Wait i thought mammoth was the best resort in the lower 48? Am i mistaken? :stir:

I am willing to bet that high rustler was about the only spot that didnt get "wet". Even at 3:00 stone crusher was getting pretty heavy and damp in the sunny spots. Sheltered snow on skiers left side proved excellent though. Boy did both those runs bump up quite a bit from a week ago or for that matter all season.

More snow on the way.
 
Skidog":32p5x0dr said:
I am willing to bet that high rustler was about the only spot that didnt get "wet".
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Anything north-facing or east-facing stayed dry. From my own experience, Bombay/Garbage Chute, North Rustler, and even Greeley Bowl stayed good right to the end. Garbage Chute in particular was so much fun that we repeated it. It's got great cover now, and a rhythm that allows you to bomb right down it with abandon.

Skidog":32p5x0dr said:
Boy did both those runs bump up quite a bit from a week ago or for that matter all season.
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Which is precisely why I avoided High Boy and Stonecrusher yesterday.
 
Blah blah blah... we don't have all day -- cut to the chase. How much did Admin spend on his last lunch at the Rustler Lodge? :-k
 
Seriously, I just gave you NWS SnoTel data, complete with the graph that they created, and you're actually disputing it? Are you for real?
 
Admin's numbers are snow-water-equivalent numbers, Tony's are snowfall. Those two can diverge, obviously: especially when you have warmer than usual temps like we did.
 
Evren":1u8pbvwx said:
Admin's numbers are snow-water-equivalent numbers, Tony's are snowfall. Those two can diverge, obviously: especially when you have warmer than usual temps like we did.
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Good point.
 
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