Day 8: First trans-border day of the year.
At 11ºF it was a full 22 degrees warmer at GMD this morning than yesterday, but that didn't stop people from careening off the Little Cottonwood Canyon road this morning, thanks to a healthy coating of black ice. One guy headed down canyon jumped the snowbank, chopped off the tops of a bunch of aspen trees, went across the driveway to the White Pine lot and another 50 feet or some down into the aspens beyond. Another, as Bobby put it, tried using the "north entrance" to the Tanners Flat campground. Four spun off into the snowbank right in front of him at D Gate.
Four of us -- Bobby, Dale, Pat and yours truly -- spent the morning at Alta. We noticed that Backside open, and there were only four tracks in Glory Hole proper when I dropped in, finding deep and fluffy untracked between the slide debris:
There's actually enough snow already to escape Glory Gulch via the left wall to Glitch and Glatch without hitting anything. Amazing, amazing for November. As I skied Glory Hole the others went to far Backside, and we reconvened out at Sunnyside, returning to Collins via the tow.
Supreme at Alta is scheduled to open Dec. 10, and Mineral Basin at Snowbird TBA. However, this morning it was clear that they're getting ready to open both. Each lift was spinning, and each had grooming finished. Patrol was working lines on Supreme, and they were even carrying signage and bamboo in Mineral. We had to make a decision on what to do, and decided to get into position for Mineral. We headed to Snowbird from the top of Sugarloaf via Blackjack, joining Paul Clementi from Jackson, his girlfriend and her daughter on Snowbird's Tram Plaza. Temperatures were continuing to rise and even at this time of year the sun was incredibly warm. I dropped my mid-layer, skiing in just a turtleneck and shell, and it was the right call.
It wasn't until we reached Hidden Peak, however, that we ran into a patroller we know well and learned that Mineral won't open until tomorrow. Furthermore, he indicated that the snow back there is largely wind affected.
So now we were at Snowbird in need of a Plan B. Bobby and I pushed off to Great Scott, while the others opted for the mid-Cirque, meeting up below Some Sunny Spot. The entrance to Great Scott looked far worse than it was, and after negotiating the few rock bands still exposed at the entrance, Great Scott yielded perfectly smooth chalk for big high speed arcs. From Some Sunny Spot we got a shot of the others dropping into the mid-Cirque.
We got separated as we headed for Peruvian, losing Paul and his companions. From the top of Peruvian we hit upper Primrose, which was soft, tracked up but still unconsolidated snow. Snowbird, however, was far busier than Alta today, and we headed back to the bucket to return, encountering Skrad along the way. He's now back in town from Seattle for the winter. Skrad, we have to make some turns together soon.
To get back, Snowbird has already opened the High Baldy Traverse, so we headed down the Peruvian ridgeline, I strapped my skis to my pack and started booting. By this point, however, I was getting tired and the going was slow. The High Baldy Traverse is in decent shape until you reach Memorial Buttress, where it's wind scoured right down to the shark's teeth like the Mid-Cirque Traverse at Snowbird and the High T at Alta. Control work took Colossus right down to bare ground, and it ran all the way from Memorial Buttress to the Amphitheater down on Chip's Flats.
The Armpit gate is closed, so we skied a few turns down Eddie's before banging a right to reach the Doorknob Gate back into Alta, finding fresh snow immediately below to head back to GMD to change and head home.
With 12-24" forecast for Sunday/Monday, I may just take tomorrow as a recuperation day in anticipation of Sunday's new snow.
The number of visitors I'm starting to encounter is surprising for November. I'm guessing that over 100 inches here and virtually nothing back East is starting to draw them out. Chicago, New York, New Jersey, etc., they're all here for Thanksgiving. As mentioned, Snowbird was quite busy today. This has got to be a revenue stream that the resorts hadn't counted on, which bodes well for a decent season ahead business-wise.
At 11ºF it was a full 22 degrees warmer at GMD this morning than yesterday, but that didn't stop people from careening off the Little Cottonwood Canyon road this morning, thanks to a healthy coating of black ice. One guy headed down canyon jumped the snowbank, chopped off the tops of a bunch of aspen trees, went across the driveway to the White Pine lot and another 50 feet or some down into the aspens beyond. Another, as Bobby put it, tried using the "north entrance" to the Tanners Flat campground. Four spun off into the snowbank right in front of him at D Gate.
Four of us -- Bobby, Dale, Pat and yours truly -- spent the morning at Alta. We noticed that Backside open, and there were only four tracks in Glory Hole proper when I dropped in, finding deep and fluffy untracked between the slide debris:
There's actually enough snow already to escape Glory Gulch via the left wall to Glitch and Glatch without hitting anything. Amazing, amazing for November. As I skied Glory Hole the others went to far Backside, and we reconvened out at Sunnyside, returning to Collins via the tow.
Supreme at Alta is scheduled to open Dec. 10, and Mineral Basin at Snowbird TBA. However, this morning it was clear that they're getting ready to open both. Each lift was spinning, and each had grooming finished. Patrol was working lines on Supreme, and they were even carrying signage and bamboo in Mineral. We had to make a decision on what to do, and decided to get into position for Mineral. We headed to Snowbird from the top of Sugarloaf via Blackjack, joining Paul Clementi from Jackson, his girlfriend and her daughter on Snowbird's Tram Plaza. Temperatures were continuing to rise and even at this time of year the sun was incredibly warm. I dropped my mid-layer, skiing in just a turtleneck and shell, and it was the right call.
It wasn't until we reached Hidden Peak, however, that we ran into a patroller we know well and learned that Mineral won't open until tomorrow. Furthermore, he indicated that the snow back there is largely wind affected.
So now we were at Snowbird in need of a Plan B. Bobby and I pushed off to Great Scott, while the others opted for the mid-Cirque, meeting up below Some Sunny Spot. The entrance to Great Scott looked far worse than it was, and after negotiating the few rock bands still exposed at the entrance, Great Scott yielded perfectly smooth chalk for big high speed arcs. From Some Sunny Spot we got a shot of the others dropping into the mid-Cirque.
We got separated as we headed for Peruvian, losing Paul and his companions. From the top of Peruvian we hit upper Primrose, which was soft, tracked up but still unconsolidated snow. Snowbird, however, was far busier than Alta today, and we headed back to the bucket to return, encountering Skrad along the way. He's now back in town from Seattle for the winter. Skrad, we have to make some turns together soon.
To get back, Snowbird has already opened the High Baldy Traverse, so we headed down the Peruvian ridgeline, I strapped my skis to my pack and started booting. By this point, however, I was getting tired and the going was slow. The High Baldy Traverse is in decent shape until you reach Memorial Buttress, where it's wind scoured right down to the shark's teeth like the Mid-Cirque Traverse at Snowbird and the High T at Alta. Control work took Colossus right down to bare ground, and it ran all the way from Memorial Buttress to the Amphitheater down on Chip's Flats.
The Armpit gate is closed, so we skied a few turns down Eddie's before banging a right to reach the Doorknob Gate back into Alta, finding fresh snow immediately below to head back to GMD to change and head home.
With 12-24" forecast for Sunday/Monday, I may just take tomorrow as a recuperation day in anticipation of Sunday's new snow.
The number of visitors I'm starting to encounter is surprising for November. I'm guessing that over 100 inches here and virtually nothing back East is starting to draw them out. Chicago, New York, New Jersey, etc., they're all here for Thanksgiving. As mentioned, Snowbird was quite busy today. This has got to be a revenue stream that the resorts hadn't counted on, which bodes well for a decent season ahead business-wise.