Days 20-22: Just a quick report from the weekend and beyond.
I spent both days this weekend with our crew and Tony Crocker. Saturday was covered by a high, thin overcast that thickened in early afternoon and left the light flat before brightening again by mid-afternoon. Sunday was positively gorgeous, with bright blue skies and temps approaching 40 at the base. Clouds from the storm system's leading edge were held at bay on the western horizon as our high pressure ridge that's been dominant for the past month wheezed its last gasp.
The snow was the same both days: stiff first thing in the morning, but softening nicely into chalky stuff as the sun did some slight softening. Pick of the weekend, for me at least, was Greeley Slot which was smooth, soft sift. Hit it twice yesterday. Bobby Danger, Bob D (another one...keep that straight between now and April for he's here for an "extended visit" from Saratoga Springs, NY), Tele Jon, and on Sunday Skidog were also present. Perry also made the occasional cameo appearance, as did Salida who was chasing four women ski patrollers from Vail all weekend. The others in our crew played back and forth across the border, skiing both Alta and Mineral Basin at Snowbird both days. As Tony had an Alta-only ticket I stuck with him at Alta the whole time.
On Saturday I headed out Devil's Castle for the first time all year.
We only skied the near shoulder, but it was still somewhat remarkable that we were the only...and I mean the only...people out there at the time -- in the midst of a holiday weekend.
Tony's phone rang off the hook. And he was silly enough to actually answer it most of the time.
When the above photo was taken I actually managed to get Crocker to stop at the Albion beach while I had a latté. Getting Tony to stop for a break at any time is no small coup.
While there I spotted another guest with a lift ticket near and dear to some of our members:
Sometime during the night on Saturday night the Alta fairy visited Tony and left a present on his skis:
Tony didn't notice until he boarded Collins on Sunday, and his immediate reaction was that he somehow grabbed someone else's skis.
ASP has been working hard at keeping the High Traverse passable. Getting into some of the far West Rustler lines like Jitterbug is sporting, at best, but once in the snow is rather fine. The far side of Piss Pass is getting ugly, but again it's passable. Catherine's was skiing rather well, especially on Saturday, and Sunday was a gorgeous day to lunch outside on the patio at Gold Miner's Daugher (notice to the west the leading edge of the clouds that the waning high pressure held at bay literally all day):
I never got around to reporting on day #20, either, which was spent last Saturday at Park City Mountain for a few runs. Natural cover is noticeably thinner over there, but still quite pleasant.
I took a full tour around the resort to see what was happening, including Jupiter...
...and McConkey's. Bumps atop Middle Bowl at Jupe were the ugly box variety heading down the ridge, but once I dropped off the ridge itself things became far more pleasant.
Park City's slopeside sightseeing is quite unique and includes numerous mine ruins.
The first wave of this week's weather systems has moved in, with a quick half inch or so in the Valley this morning, just enough to fubar the morning commute. Things are going to change in a hurry this week with the Utah Avalanche Center reporting this morning that finally we'll be measuring new snow this week in feet, not inches.
I spent both days this weekend with our crew and Tony Crocker. Saturday was covered by a high, thin overcast that thickened in early afternoon and left the light flat before brightening again by mid-afternoon. Sunday was positively gorgeous, with bright blue skies and temps approaching 40 at the base. Clouds from the storm system's leading edge were held at bay on the western horizon as our high pressure ridge that's been dominant for the past month wheezed its last gasp.
The snow was the same both days: stiff first thing in the morning, but softening nicely into chalky stuff as the sun did some slight softening. Pick of the weekend, for me at least, was Greeley Slot which was smooth, soft sift. Hit it twice yesterday. Bobby Danger, Bob D (another one...keep that straight between now and April for he's here for an "extended visit" from Saratoga Springs, NY), Tele Jon, and on Sunday Skidog were also present. Perry also made the occasional cameo appearance, as did Salida who was chasing four women ski patrollers from Vail all weekend. The others in our crew played back and forth across the border, skiing both Alta and Mineral Basin at Snowbird both days. As Tony had an Alta-only ticket I stuck with him at Alta the whole time.
On Saturday I headed out Devil's Castle for the first time all year.
We only skied the near shoulder, but it was still somewhat remarkable that we were the only...and I mean the only...people out there at the time -- in the midst of a holiday weekend.
Tony's phone rang off the hook. And he was silly enough to actually answer it most of the time.
When the above photo was taken I actually managed to get Crocker to stop at the Albion beach while I had a latté. Getting Tony to stop for a break at any time is no small coup.
While there I spotted another guest with a lift ticket near and dear to some of our members:
Sometime during the night on Saturday night the Alta fairy visited Tony and left a present on his skis:
Tony didn't notice until he boarded Collins on Sunday, and his immediate reaction was that he somehow grabbed someone else's skis.
ASP has been working hard at keeping the High Traverse passable. Getting into some of the far West Rustler lines like Jitterbug is sporting, at best, but once in the snow is rather fine. The far side of Piss Pass is getting ugly, but again it's passable. Catherine's was skiing rather well, especially on Saturday, and Sunday was a gorgeous day to lunch outside on the patio at Gold Miner's Daugher (notice to the west the leading edge of the clouds that the waning high pressure held at bay literally all day):
I never got around to reporting on day #20, either, which was spent last Saturday at Park City Mountain for a few runs. Natural cover is noticeably thinner over there, but still quite pleasant.
I took a full tour around the resort to see what was happening, including Jupiter...
...and McConkey's. Bumps atop Middle Bowl at Jupe were the ugly box variety heading down the ridge, but once I dropped off the ridge itself things became far more pleasant.
Park City's slopeside sightseeing is quite unique and includes numerous mine ruins.
The first wave of this week's weather systems has moved in, with a quick half inch or so in the Valley this morning, just enough to fubar the morning commute. Things are going to change in a hurry this week with the Utah Avalanche Center reporting this morning that finally we'll be measuring new snow this week in feet, not inches.
