Days 22-24: Merry Christmas.
The past three days have been hectic, so you're getting a triple play TR here. Hope everyone else's holidays were as joyous as ours.
Christmas Eve Day marked the return of a strange orange orb rising in the eastern sky. After a week of non-stop storms that left ~80" of fresh snowfall it looked vaguely familiar, yet strangely foreign. Someone who's been around for many years said that it used to be called "the sun." Whatever it was, it shone warmly on your face and felt really, really good.
Yet those stuck in the valleys never got to see that orange ball. Instead, they were stuck below the undercast that filled every valley around.
We felt privileged to be enjoying such beautiful sunshine as others rushed around a cloudy Salt Lake Valley doing their last-minute Christmas shopping. Yet the Christmas spirit was alive and well in the mountains as well.
We went into Mineral Basin at Snowbird, and I was shocked at the difference in crowds. While Alta felt deserted, Snowbird was downright crowded.
It was worth enduring the Mineral Basin liftline, however, for we scored a rope drop across Hilary Step into Bookends and Sunday Cliffs at Snowbird.
The trick, though, was finding a clean line amongst the avalanche debris from the Sunday Cliffs. It's amazing how much of this heavy new snow slid. 13 Turns uprooted trees, chewed them up and spit them up all the way down on the flats of Powder Paradise. Large swaths of the Sunday Cliffs were unskiable rubble -- big, thick chunks of frozen concrete.
After the Misfit Christmas Eve (or Orphan's Christmas Eve, take your pick) at Chez Admin, we all gathered again Christmas morning at Goldminer's Daughter. The weather was slowly changing...a stiff southwesterly breeze was sifting snow...but the sun still shone brightly and the runs remained deserted.
Once again we ventured into Mineral Basin at Snowbird, this time after lunch, and once again we scored a rope drop, this time in the Sugar Cliffs.
Then it was off to the Misfit Christmas Evening at Amy's place.
Several of us gathered on the hill again today. Dale and I left after a few quick runs for 10,000 or so verts, however. After days of powder skiing, today's crunchy snow and flat light left us far less than inspired. I hear that Marc_C lasted barely more than an hour, too. We picked up a few inches today that should freshen surfaces a bit for tomorrow, but the big news is another powerful winter storm moving in midweek. This time, though, it should be cold and dry leaving something more akin to the Utah fluff that we're used to.
I'll close with one minor request for all of the Easterners visiting our mountains this week, and I ask this as a former East Coaster myself: please leave the East Coast attitude behind. It's not necessary here. People are friendly, it's not an eat-or-be-eaten world. I've encountered a couple of jackasses this week who don't seem to understand this. Mellow out, slow down and enjoy your vacation.
The past three days have been hectic, so you're getting a triple play TR here. Hope everyone else's holidays were as joyous as ours.
Christmas Eve Day marked the return of a strange orange orb rising in the eastern sky. After a week of non-stop storms that left ~80" of fresh snowfall it looked vaguely familiar, yet strangely foreign. Someone who's been around for many years said that it used to be called "the sun." Whatever it was, it shone warmly on your face and felt really, really good.
Yet those stuck in the valleys never got to see that orange ball. Instead, they were stuck below the undercast that filled every valley around.
We felt privileged to be enjoying such beautiful sunshine as others rushed around a cloudy Salt Lake Valley doing their last-minute Christmas shopping. Yet the Christmas spirit was alive and well in the mountains as well.
We went into Mineral Basin at Snowbird, and I was shocked at the difference in crowds. While Alta felt deserted, Snowbird was downright crowded.
It was worth enduring the Mineral Basin liftline, however, for we scored a rope drop across Hilary Step into Bookends and Sunday Cliffs at Snowbird.
The trick, though, was finding a clean line amongst the avalanche debris from the Sunday Cliffs. It's amazing how much of this heavy new snow slid. 13 Turns uprooted trees, chewed them up and spit them up all the way down on the flats of Powder Paradise. Large swaths of the Sunday Cliffs were unskiable rubble -- big, thick chunks of frozen concrete.
After the Misfit Christmas Eve (or Orphan's Christmas Eve, take your pick) at Chez Admin, we all gathered again Christmas morning at Goldminer's Daughter. The weather was slowly changing...a stiff southwesterly breeze was sifting snow...but the sun still shone brightly and the runs remained deserted.
Once again we ventured into Mineral Basin at Snowbird, this time after lunch, and once again we scored a rope drop, this time in the Sugar Cliffs.
Then it was off to the Misfit Christmas Evening at Amy's place.
Several of us gathered on the hill again today. Dale and I left after a few quick runs for 10,000 or so verts, however. After days of powder skiing, today's crunchy snow and flat light left us far less than inspired. I hear that Marc_C lasted barely more than an hour, too. We picked up a few inches today that should freshen surfaces a bit for tomorrow, but the big news is another powerful winter storm moving in midweek. This time, though, it should be cold and dry leaving something more akin to the Utah fluff that we're used to.
I'll close with one minor request for all of the Easterners visiting our mountains this week, and I ask this as a former East Coaster myself: please leave the East Coast attitude behind. It's not necessary here. People are friendly, it's not an eat-or-be-eaten world. I've encountered a couple of jackasses this week who don't seem to understand this. Mellow out, slow down and enjoy your vacation.
