Day 44: Four hours, four ski resorts.
I met up this morning with Bob Dangerous, Skidog, Pat, Dale (back on skis =D> ) and Tele Jon. Skies were cloudless and although there was barely a breath of wind it was surprisingly chilly. We warmed up in the sun with a cruiser down Roller Coaster.
On the ride back up Sugarloaf it looked like there were still dry, untracked lines out in Devil's Castle, so Skidog, Tele Jon and I started hiking. Bob, nursing what he's convinced are broken ribs, opted out, as did Dale and Pat.
We found what we were looking for in places, but we wanted more. Riding Supreme, I got another brainstorm: a Cottonwoods Canyon tour.
We stood atop Supreme and figured out the logistics, then started hiking Catherine's, where we bumped into the Interconnect Tour right as we were heading out. We continued further south than where they dropped in, choosing instead the north-facing lines on Sunset Peak, which were divine all the way down to Lake Catherine.
We came in a bit lower than expected, making the schlep over to the Dog Lake Chutes a bit more arduous than normal. While the first few turns in the Chutes were wonderful, things quickly degenerated into a slight sun crust which kept us on our toes. We traversed across the frozen Dog Lake and into Brighton.
We rode the new Millicent chair, then cruised down SolBright to Solitude. Up Sunrise and Summit, we went out the gate and across the Highway to Heaven Traverse, crossing into Grizzly Gulch at Twin Lakes Pass.
In search of prime north-facing snow we traversed out and around Grizzly further than I've ever gone, and eventually popped out atop the Patsy Marley ridgeline high above Alta's Albion parking lot. We paused to admire the view before skiing the deep and dry. We eventually suffered through the refrozen snow in the gulch itself back to Alta.
OK, we'd skied 3 Cottonwood Canyons resorts, why not make it all 4? We rode Sunnyside and Sugarloaf, went through the Sugar Shack and made two quick runs in Mineral Basin before returning to Alta to head home.
Still photos are below, and here's the video:
<embed src="http://www.skimovies.com/videoplayer/mediaplayer.swf" width="640" height="500" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="&displayheight=480&file=http://www.skimovies.com/flv/Cottonwood_Canyons_2008-03-22.flv&height=500&width=640&image=http://www.skimovies.com/flv/Cottonwood_Canyons_2008-03-22_thumb.jpg">
I met up this morning with Bob Dangerous, Skidog, Pat, Dale (back on skis =D> ) and Tele Jon. Skies were cloudless and although there was barely a breath of wind it was surprisingly chilly. We warmed up in the sun with a cruiser down Roller Coaster.
On the ride back up Sugarloaf it looked like there were still dry, untracked lines out in Devil's Castle, so Skidog, Tele Jon and I started hiking. Bob, nursing what he's convinced are broken ribs, opted out, as did Dale and Pat.
We found what we were looking for in places, but we wanted more. Riding Supreme, I got another brainstorm: a Cottonwoods Canyon tour.
We stood atop Supreme and figured out the logistics, then started hiking Catherine's, where we bumped into the Interconnect Tour right as we were heading out. We continued further south than where they dropped in, choosing instead the north-facing lines on Sunset Peak, which were divine all the way down to Lake Catherine.
We came in a bit lower than expected, making the schlep over to the Dog Lake Chutes a bit more arduous than normal. While the first few turns in the Chutes were wonderful, things quickly degenerated into a slight sun crust which kept us on our toes. We traversed across the frozen Dog Lake and into Brighton.
We rode the new Millicent chair, then cruised down SolBright to Solitude. Up Sunrise and Summit, we went out the gate and across the Highway to Heaven Traverse, crossing into Grizzly Gulch at Twin Lakes Pass.
In search of prime north-facing snow we traversed out and around Grizzly further than I've ever gone, and eventually popped out atop the Patsy Marley ridgeline high above Alta's Albion parking lot. We paused to admire the view before skiing the deep and dry. We eventually suffered through the refrozen snow in the gulch itself back to Alta.
OK, we'd skied 3 Cottonwood Canyons resorts, why not make it all 4? We rode Sunnyside and Sugarloaf, went through the Sugar Shack and made two quick runs in Mineral Basin before returning to Alta to head home.
Still photos are below, and here's the video:
<embed src="http://www.skimovies.com/videoplayer/mediaplayer.swf" width="640" height="500" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="&displayheight=480&file=http://www.skimovies.com/flv/Cottonwood_Canyons_2008-03-22.flv&height=500&width=640&image=http://www.skimovies.com/flv/Cottonwood_Canyons_2008-03-22_thumb.jpg">
Attachments
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16 slc elk herd.jpg -
15 snowbird mineral basin 080322.jpg -
14 alta from patsy marley 080322.jpg -
13 alta albion basin from patsy marley 080322.jpg -
12 lcc from grizzly gulch 080322.jpg -
11 highway to heaven 080322.jpg -
10 wolverine cirque.jpg -
09 solitude village 080322.jpg -
08 brighton millicent exp 080322.jpg -
07 alta sunset pk 080322.jpg -
06 alta our tracks sunset pk 080322.jpg -
05 alta evergreen cornice 080322.jpg -
04 back of alta 080322.jpg -
03 alta sunset pk traverse 080322.jpg -
02 alta beacon check 080322.jpg -
01 alta skidog telejon castle 080322.jpg
