Days 12-14: Good times, good friends, empty slopes.
A three-day weekend calls for three days of skiing. The Kid's been back in Utah for the holidays and I bought him a lift ticket for Christmas Day as one of his gifts this year.
We were joined by Skidog:
and Mira:
and Sima, both of whom are in town visiting.
The Kid had the right idea, but none of us were really dressed for the sharp cold and overcast, breezy conditions. It spit snow during the morning but nothing that really amounted to anything.
We found some fun cut-up snow in Wildcat trees:
and took a few runs on Supreme. Largely, though, we stuck to the groomers. Quite frankly, Mambo had some of the best grooming I've ever seen at Alta. The place was positively deserted, and all lifts were ski on. By early afternoon, however, the cold became a bit much to enjoy and The Kid and I headed home to get ready for our misfit ski posse's Christmas Dinner at Amy's. Mira and Sima's friends Larissa and David flew in from the U.K. in time to join us, and we hatched plans for Snowbird for Saturday.
Saturday, thankfully, dawned sunny and therefore much more comfortable than Friday, although any time spent in the shade (i.e., Skidog's and my first ride up Peruvian) was quite nippy. Mira and company were running a little late, as was Amy, so Skidog and I headed up Peruvian and through the tunnel for a cruiser in the sun in Mineral, then back up Mineral Basin Express for another cruiser in the vicinity of Chip's back to meet the others at the Tram Plaza. I had decided to demo some Rossignol S6 Caballeros that I'm contemplating purchasing, and I stuck to the groomers because the S6s just didn't feel right -- I found turn initiation a challenge. Back in the Tram Plaza I noticed that the bindings were mounted 3cm forward of center, and getting them centered turned them into a different ski with much better manners.
We had a walk-on Tram even at 10 a.m. on a holiday Saturday, and again headed straight to Mineral Basin where we found perfectly smooth chalky windbuff below Path to Paradise just before the gun turret. It was so good, in fact, that we went back for a second helping before striking off to other areas to show David a bit more of the mountain on his first ski day ever in Utah. We tried Chamonix II, which was stiff untracked wind crud, and made one lap up Baldy Express before leaving Mineral Basin to head back to Peruvian Gulch, where we took a quick ride down Macaroni Chute (smooth edgeable buff) and Anderson's Hill (small chalky bumps). Skidog had already headed home.
After lunch at the buffet at The Atrium in the Cliff Lodge we went back up Peruvian, through the tunnel and up MBE to reach Gad Valley via Regulator Johnson, which was nicely edgeable and decidedly uncrowded. Amy headed over to Alta to connect with Marc_C.
We were on our way to Gad 2.
David and Larissa backed out of STH, which was for the best as it was rather rocky and root-choked at the crux. Snow below there, however, was stiff but adequate.
We skied below Gad 2 to Creekside via Bassackwards, and by the time we boarded Gadzoom it was already 3 pm and my legs were shot. Problem was, I was parked on the Bypass Road and I was in the worst possible location for getting back to my truck. The easiest route was via Little Cloud to MBE, and that worked well because Sima wanted to return to the gun turret for a few more laps. I, however, opted to traverse Lone Star to reach Lupine Road for, as Marc_C has been heard to say, the helm wasn't responding to bridge commands anymore. I rode up MBE with the group and took the long road of shame back down Chip's to Blackjack Road when I got a phone call from an old Vermont friend, Ben Bloom. He and wife Tawny had arrived at Snowbird the night before, and upon learning where they were staying on Blackjack Road I skied down for a reunion beer at their borrowed digs.
Sunday dawned sunny again with deep blue skies over the mountains and an inversion haze in the Valley. It was back to Alta, where I again connected with Mira, Sima, David and Larissa along with Marc_C, Amy and Pat as well as Ben. It seems that Tawny was suffering a bit with the altitude, and she opted to snowboard Snowbird's lower lifts, which gave Ben the opportunity to ski with us.
Like David and Larissa, this is Ben's and Tawny's first visit to Utah, and I felt obligated to show Ben some of the goods at Alta. We opted for a warm-up cruiser down Devil's Elbow to Supreme, and another on Supreme before we struck out for Catherine's Area, which was well-covered with windblown snow and some pockets of lightly tracked snow out in Last Chance. It was then time to expand the tour, so we headed up Sugarloaf and across the EBT to start the High Notch hike.
Only Ben, Mira and I opted to hoof it. We chatted briefly with a patroller at the gate, who cautioned that there were rocks in the notch but said that it was negotiable. We made the notch in about 10 minutes, and stared down into the gut.
The usual U-shaped entrance was V-shaped in the low snow, with a crux formed by an ice-covered bulge of granite. I thought about turning back momentarily, but eventually decided that it was negotiable, and sidestepped my way down to and across the bulge. Below that traffic had cut a very narrow path down through the remaining nasties until I felt comfortable pointing downhill and across the slope, where I waited for the others.
Ben surprised both Mira and myself by sidestepping down to the bulge, then hopping over it and straightlining it on his teles. =D> Once in, we were treated to some wind-affected snow down to the usual Instructor's Traverse in from Yellow Trail.
We traversed all the way to the very top of North Rustler. Marc_C said it couldn't be done, but we did it and it was gravity the whole way. The upper part was some of the best loose powdery snow we'd find all day, apparently because many weren't convinced that the crux at the cliff band was negotiable. In reality, it was no worse than it is typically in mind-season, and we boppped our way through small bumps on the lower part and across the snow bridge onto the Transfer Tow.
We rejoined our compatriots for lunch on the Goldminer's patio. Really, those mid-day holiday liftlines were tough to take.
The only lines we had all day were about 5 minutes long when Collins was taken down for 30 minutes to replace a sheave. Every other lift was ski on all day.
While Collins was down we took a lap on Wildcat, finding good snow in the trees near Westward Ho. Once Collins returned to action we headed for Eagle's Nest. The High T was in remarkably good shape given the snow conditions -- hats off to ASP for a wonderful job with what they had to work with. By taking the lowest line out across Sunspot Ridge and into West Rustler it was rather painless to reach Piss Pass and head out to the top of High Boy.
The uppermost trees of Eagle's Nest had some deadfall and other items poking through, but once 50 yards in the snow turned superb. We took the safe route of traversing left to Rustler 4, which had small bumps in such a perfect rhythm that I didn't feel compelled to stop before reaching Collins Road.
At the Collins entrance we bumped into friend Rick, whom I haven't seen since last winter, and he joined us for a trip down Harold's (chalk with small bumps) before we had to return Ben to Snowbird. Mira and Ben followed as I led them out the Keyhole gate and into the Bird. Now, I should have taken as a hint the fact that 90% or more of the tracks headed right after exiting the gate, but the line I know best requires heading left. I paused to think about the narrow chute that marks the only negotiable route through the lower cliff band over there, but figured that we'd deal with it when we got to it. Predictably, the snow was only lightly tracked down to the chute, and I yelled to the others to wait while I skied down to check the chute out from skier's left.
It was ugly. Fugly, in fact. Barely 150 cm wide in these times of low snow, the granite was only slightly covered in snow. Definitely not skiable. Possibly not sidesteppable. I yelled up to the others to enter the chute from the right side to miss the worst of it, but from where I was standing I was already committed and proceeded to work my way down. It was like clinging to a granite kitchen wall.
That's the last time I hire that guide! Oh, wait a minute... :-"
We all fortunately got through unscathed, and skied back to Ben's house where he gave us a ride back to Alta, where I called it a day at 4 p.m.
I can't think of a better way to have spent the holiday weekend.
A three-day weekend calls for three days of skiing. The Kid's been back in Utah for the holidays and I bought him a lift ticket for Christmas Day as one of his gifts this year.
We were joined by Skidog:
and Mira:
and Sima, both of whom are in town visiting.
The Kid had the right idea, but none of us were really dressed for the sharp cold and overcast, breezy conditions. It spit snow during the morning but nothing that really amounted to anything.
We found some fun cut-up snow in Wildcat trees:
and took a few runs on Supreme. Largely, though, we stuck to the groomers. Quite frankly, Mambo had some of the best grooming I've ever seen at Alta. The place was positively deserted, and all lifts were ski on. By early afternoon, however, the cold became a bit much to enjoy and The Kid and I headed home to get ready for our misfit ski posse's Christmas Dinner at Amy's. Mira and Sima's friends Larissa and David flew in from the U.K. in time to join us, and we hatched plans for Snowbird for Saturday.
Saturday, thankfully, dawned sunny and therefore much more comfortable than Friday, although any time spent in the shade (i.e., Skidog's and my first ride up Peruvian) was quite nippy. Mira and company were running a little late, as was Amy, so Skidog and I headed up Peruvian and through the tunnel for a cruiser in the sun in Mineral, then back up Mineral Basin Express for another cruiser in the vicinity of Chip's back to meet the others at the Tram Plaza. I had decided to demo some Rossignol S6 Caballeros that I'm contemplating purchasing, and I stuck to the groomers because the S6s just didn't feel right -- I found turn initiation a challenge. Back in the Tram Plaza I noticed that the bindings were mounted 3cm forward of center, and getting them centered turned them into a different ski with much better manners.
We had a walk-on Tram even at 10 a.m. on a holiday Saturday, and again headed straight to Mineral Basin where we found perfectly smooth chalky windbuff below Path to Paradise just before the gun turret. It was so good, in fact, that we went back for a second helping before striking off to other areas to show David a bit more of the mountain on his first ski day ever in Utah. We tried Chamonix II, which was stiff untracked wind crud, and made one lap up Baldy Express before leaving Mineral Basin to head back to Peruvian Gulch, where we took a quick ride down Macaroni Chute (smooth edgeable buff) and Anderson's Hill (small chalky bumps). Skidog had already headed home.
After lunch at the buffet at The Atrium in the Cliff Lodge we went back up Peruvian, through the tunnel and up MBE to reach Gad Valley via Regulator Johnson, which was nicely edgeable and decidedly uncrowded. Amy headed over to Alta to connect with Marc_C.
We were on our way to Gad 2.
David and Larissa backed out of STH, which was for the best as it was rather rocky and root-choked at the crux. Snow below there, however, was stiff but adequate.
We skied below Gad 2 to Creekside via Bassackwards, and by the time we boarded Gadzoom it was already 3 pm and my legs were shot. Problem was, I was parked on the Bypass Road and I was in the worst possible location for getting back to my truck. The easiest route was via Little Cloud to MBE, and that worked well because Sima wanted to return to the gun turret for a few more laps. I, however, opted to traverse Lone Star to reach Lupine Road for, as Marc_C has been heard to say, the helm wasn't responding to bridge commands anymore. I rode up MBE with the group and took the long road of shame back down Chip's to Blackjack Road when I got a phone call from an old Vermont friend, Ben Bloom. He and wife Tawny had arrived at Snowbird the night before, and upon learning where they were staying on Blackjack Road I skied down for a reunion beer at their borrowed digs.
Sunday dawned sunny again with deep blue skies over the mountains and an inversion haze in the Valley. It was back to Alta, where I again connected with Mira, Sima, David and Larissa along with Marc_C, Amy and Pat as well as Ben. It seems that Tawny was suffering a bit with the altitude, and she opted to snowboard Snowbird's lower lifts, which gave Ben the opportunity to ski with us.
Like David and Larissa, this is Ben's and Tawny's first visit to Utah, and I felt obligated to show Ben some of the goods at Alta. We opted for a warm-up cruiser down Devil's Elbow to Supreme, and another on Supreme before we struck out for Catherine's Area, which was well-covered with windblown snow and some pockets of lightly tracked snow out in Last Chance. It was then time to expand the tour, so we headed up Sugarloaf and across the EBT to start the High Notch hike.
Only Ben, Mira and I opted to hoof it. We chatted briefly with a patroller at the gate, who cautioned that there were rocks in the notch but said that it was negotiable. We made the notch in about 10 minutes, and stared down into the gut.
The usual U-shaped entrance was V-shaped in the low snow, with a crux formed by an ice-covered bulge of granite. I thought about turning back momentarily, but eventually decided that it was negotiable, and sidestepped my way down to and across the bulge. Below that traffic had cut a very narrow path down through the remaining nasties until I felt comfortable pointing downhill and across the slope, where I waited for the others.
Ben surprised both Mira and myself by sidestepping down to the bulge, then hopping over it and straightlining it on his teles. =D> Once in, we were treated to some wind-affected snow down to the usual Instructor's Traverse in from Yellow Trail.
We traversed all the way to the very top of North Rustler. Marc_C said it couldn't be done, but we did it and it was gravity the whole way. The upper part was some of the best loose powdery snow we'd find all day, apparently because many weren't convinced that the crux at the cliff band was negotiable. In reality, it was no worse than it is typically in mind-season, and we boppped our way through small bumps on the lower part and across the snow bridge onto the Transfer Tow.
We rejoined our compatriots for lunch on the Goldminer's patio. Really, those mid-day holiday liftlines were tough to take.
The only lines we had all day were about 5 minutes long when Collins was taken down for 30 minutes to replace a sheave. Every other lift was ski on all day.
While Collins was down we took a lap on Wildcat, finding good snow in the trees near Westward Ho. Once Collins returned to action we headed for Eagle's Nest. The High T was in remarkably good shape given the snow conditions -- hats off to ASP for a wonderful job with what they had to work with. By taking the lowest line out across Sunspot Ridge and into West Rustler it was rather painless to reach Piss Pass and head out to the top of High Boy.
The uppermost trees of Eagle's Nest had some deadfall and other items poking through, but once 50 yards in the snow turned superb. We took the safe route of traversing left to Rustler 4, which had small bumps in such a perfect rhythm that I didn't feel compelled to stop before reaching Collins Road.
At the Collins entrance we bumped into friend Rick, whom I haven't seen since last winter, and he joined us for a trip down Harold's (chalk with small bumps) before we had to return Ben to Snowbird. Mira and Ben followed as I led them out the Keyhole gate and into the Bird. Now, I should have taken as a hint the fact that 90% or more of the tracks headed right after exiting the gate, but the line I know best requires heading left. I paused to think about the narrow chute that marks the only negotiable route through the lower cliff band over there, but figured that we'd deal with it when we got to it. Predictably, the snow was only lightly tracked down to the chute, and I yelled to the others to wait while I skied down to check the chute out from skier's left.
It was ugly. Fugly, in fact. Barely 150 cm wide in these times of low snow, the granite was only slightly covered in snow. Definitely not skiable. Possibly not sidesteppable. I yelled up to the others to enter the chute from the right side to miss the worst of it, but from where I was standing I was already committed and proceeded to work my way down. It was like clinging to a granite kitchen wall.
That's the last time I hire that guide! Oh, wait a minute... :-"
We all fortunately got through unscathed, and skied back to Ben's house where he gave us a ride back to Alta, where I called it a day at 4 p.m.
I can't think of a better way to have spent the holiday weekend.
