Snowbasin 3/31/2014

[jojo_obrien]

The report stated 7" of fresh at Snowbasin and we decided to head up............total bluebird. No clouds. About 30 degrees at 8 am.

Was first in line in the Gondola (got to Basin at 8 am). Ready to rip first lines......word was that they were not opening at 9 am. I was pretty frustrated.....I seem to always have lift or weather issues or general "issues" at Basin that I don't get at Alta or Bird...........

I looked on the board and the sign said Strawberry Gondola was open. I made a decision to go for that via the slow triple chair and forgo Men's Downhill untracked via John Paul........got to the top of the ever so slow quad to triple to Strawberry and the signs stated that Strawberry was closed. I nearly had a stroke -- "problems white people have" as rfarren so brilliantly puts it.... By the time we got back to the base area it was 935. I figure that's 2 solid runs of glorious face shot city down the tubes..........and it goes fast at Basin..........like most all resorts in Utah except for Powder Mountain.........

Took Needles up and by then Strawberry was open. Took lines all over Strawberry, some good, some excellent, some getting a little on the heavier side, even at around 1030 am. The Sister Bowl area opened up and that was glorious for a couple of runs. Prob best runs of the day...full on full speed, rippin lines....good times. Did some hiking behind Strawberry to Middle Bowl Cirque. Great skiing over there......some real fun lines. Arrowhead kicks a** -- I could do those lines all day long and be content. Probably took 4 laps up there.

At the end of the day, stayed on Strawberry for most of the day doing various lines. Bottom half of the mountain was getting heavy snow (east facing was getting cooked big time). Top half skied beautifully, west facing and north facing stayed the best.

Basin has killer terrain, but something about lift openings and communication there is sorely lacking. Just enough to make me want to stick to Alta Bird. Although the food is really great and the lodges are top Notch. -1 star for the constant playing of 80's classics at the bottom lodge.........................horrible!!

 

[Philadendron]

How's the traverse behind Demoisy to Arrowhead area? On 12/27 it was pretty sketchy, I imagine it's better now.

Also, Men's Downhill freshies are fantastic.


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[jojo_obrien]

non issue whatsoever.........and i'm very careful about doing damage to my skis...i was very happy w the traverse.....yeah....i can imagine being south facing that traverse could get gnarly

in retrospect........well........whats done is done...but i bet men's downhill freshies are every bit as good as high boy/ alf's high rustler freshies (@alta)....

 

[Tony Crocker]

high boy/ alf's high rustler freshies (@alta)....

are theoretical for most people. To my knowledge admin has never tried to get them for his first run out the High T.

I will say that last January 13-14 Highboy yielded 4 of the greatest soft windsift runs of my life.

 

[Marc_C]

high boy/ alf's high rustler freshies (@alta)....

are theoretical for most people. To my knowledge admin has never tried to get them for his first run out the High T.

Many of the Alta locals have their particular favorites that they go for first on a powder day. Some make a bee-line for Highboy, others go for High Notch and others must hit Armpit from the ridgeline first before they go for any other runs (which explains the sidestepping above Tombstone far more than the sign that Jojo mentioned).

 

[socal]

high boy/ alf's high rustler freshies (@alta)....

are theoretical for most people. To my knowledge admin has never tried to get them for his first run out the High T.

Many of the Alta locals have their particular favorites that they go for first on a powder day. Some make a bee-line for Highboy, others go for High Notch and others must hit Armpit from the ridgeline first before they go for any other runs (which explains the sidestepping above Tombstone far more than the sign that Jojo mentioned).

I got an untracked run on High Boy once. Granted we left our condo in Cottonwood Heights at around 6am to beat a 630 closure then sat around for hours. I think we were third chair. I made good time on the High Traverse and managed to be one of the first 2-3 to the top of Highboy. Great run, not even close to worth the effort but I figured I needed to do it at least once in my life.

 

[Philadendron]

Great run, not even close to worth the effort but I figured I needed to do it at least once in my life.

I think a lot of freshies at popular resorts fall under this category. Of course it's subjective for each person, but I look at a lot of areas and think to myself, "I wonder what hijinks were necessary to get first tracks on that."

Your story answers my question for that particular run.

Then there are the freshies you seem to get out of sheer, dumb luck. Sometimes those are the sweetest \/

 

[jojo_obrien]

I'm w/ Philadendron

Then there are the freshies you seem to get out of sheer, dumb luck. Sometimes those are the sweetest \/

Some of the best lines I've gotten this year are the ones where I just happened to be there at the right time........at the end of the day, timing is huge as we all know.......

Personally, coming from California there really is only one simple concept: the early bird gets the worm. I have had a really hard time adjusting to resorts in northern latitudes with 9:15 and 10:30 opening times. I've always enjoyed getting up at the crack of dawn and jumping in the car half awake to get the goods.....(same goes for surfing). Here in Utah, you can sleep in to your heart's content (8 am) and get essentially the same lines as someone who wakes up at 5 am.........no reward. I know a lot goes into patrol work , but at the end of the day, an 11 am opening of certain gates at Alta means everyone and their grandmother from Texas will be on the mountain by that time to take advantage of freshies. My entire life skiing I've equated fresh tracks with getting up painfully early. I do not equate said philosophy with skiing in Utah whatsoever..........

 

[Philadendron]

..........and it goes fast at Basin..........like most all resorts in Utah except for Powder Mountain.........

If you live in SLC, then you are probably like most SLC skiers I know: super spoiled and not willing to travel for your powder. I mean that in the nicest way possible, BTW.

If untracked powder is high on your list, try and time a storm and hit Eagle Point in Beaver. It's like 3-ish hours away from SLC, and it obviously has nothing like the SLC resorts in terms of terrain. What it does have is almost uncontested powder on 25-30 degree slopes for about 1000 vertical feet. I know, because I've only ever ridden Eagle in powder.

You know that feeling you get, when you pull into the parking lot of an SLC resort, the butterflies and anxiousness of trying to concoct a viable powder strategy for that day? Trying to prioritize what you want to hit first "while it's good"? Frantically checking your phone to find out what's open and what's still closed? You don't have to do that at Eagle. My wife and I scored a full-on powder day there last Friday, and by the end of the day, it looked fresher than most of Little Cloud looks after an hour. I promise, I'm not even exaggerating.

There are only 2 lifts and only 1 of those has "steeps". No cliffs, no chutes, no gullies, nothing over 30 degrees. Their trees are really dense on the steep side, so long glade runs are pretty much out. As long as you know what you're getting, then it can be a great day.

They're closing this weekend, but one day, when Eagle has some fresh snow, check it out.

 

[Tony Crocker]

but at the end of the day, an 11 am opening of certain gates at Alta ...

This is true for any ski area with avalanche vulnerable terrain: Mammoth, Squaw, even Baldy. At a competitive ski area sequential openings are a virtue. If it all opens at once you're only going to get a small fraction of it.

If you live in SLC, then you are probably like most SLC skiers I know: super spoiled and not willing to travel for your powder.

Very true. :-({|=

While everything Philadendron says is true about Eagle Point (considering how quiet it was the Sunday after Christmas) I doubt I'd go down there if I lived in SLC either. You have Solitude and Snowbasin, which are low density enough for powder to last through one day, and Powder Mt., where the sun or wind will degrade the powder before skier traffic does. Eagle Point has failed twice already and I would not bet on its survival this time either.

 

[Philadendron]

While everything Philadendron says is true about Eagle Point (considering how quiet it was the Sunday after Christmas) I doubt I'd go down there if I lived in SLC either. You have Solitude and Snowbasin, which are low density enough for powder to last through one day, and Powder Mt., where the sun or wind will degrade the powder before skier traffic does.

I agree. Heck, when we drive to SLC, we don't even want to "slum it" at Sundance, and even their terrain is much better than Eagle's. It's not so much a knock against SLC skiers that they don't want to travel, it's just an observation. I can't blame them, they have world class resorts all within an hour's drive. But I know several that won't even go as far as Snowbasin or PowMow, because it's "too far". :-({|= Sorry, those complaints fall on deaf ears when I'm spending 12 hours in the car for a typical 2-3 day SLC trip.

 

[jojo_obrien]

I hear ya guys In an effort to keep my carbon footprint low, I like the access to Alta/Bird living in SLC. I can drive my car 10 minutes to the bus stop, hop on free bus, and be skiing relatively untracked most of the day in LCC. A South Salt Lake to PowMow is easy compared to say a Glendale - Big Bear trip.........it's all relative of course. Heck I used to frequently do Bay Area to Sugar Bowl in one day......now THAT'S a long drive/ski hour ratio!

My impression skiing all of the resorts here in SLC this year (sans Sundance) is that Pow Mow is the diamond in the rough.......I also think the low season pass prices @ Snowbasin has stolen some PowMow patrons and made PM emptier. The terrain @ Pow Mow just reminds me of a massive Mt. Baldy. Will be interesting to see if the planned developments up there come to fruition............

 

[Tony Crocker]

The terrain @ Pow Mow just reminds me of a massive Mt. Baldy.

????? Baldy is much steeper though about 1/4 of the acreage. Maybe the open tree skiing, but low angle aspens are certainly different than steep but widely spaced lodgepole pines.