Day 19: A full day.
I needed a change of scenery, so today I ventured north to Snowbasin with Mira and Bobby Danger,
Sima,
and The Kid. My 80-year-old mother tagged along, too, at the conclusion of her holiday visit.
It was a bit hazy down in the Valley,
but positively gorgeous up on the hill.
Nice warm sunshine forced us to shed our mid-layers after only a couple of runs, although temperatures dipped when the sun did too behind the ridgeline late in the afternoon.
First run was a thigh-burning high speed cruise down Main Street in Strawberry. Really, Snowbasin's snowmaking system -- one of the mountain's fringe benefits dating back to the 2002 Winter Games -- is quite impressive. Base depths aren't quite there yet off-piste, as we would discover occasionally throughout the day -- but the snowmaking runs are blemish-free. Natural gullies skied well but you had to watch your step carefully along the ridges in between.
Our second run was, for me at least, the run of the day into the Cathedral sidecountry -- perfectly smooth dense untracked powder.
It's pointless to try to compose a run-by-run account of the day, for we were everywhere and anywhere, crossing the resort from the eastern boundary to the western ropeline several times throughout the day.
Notable, however, was the lack of crowds. Snowbasin did 2,600 visitors yesterday, and I imagine that there were fewer today.
Everyone there seemed to be on Bear Hollow and Needles Run. The rest of the mountain was relatively deserted. City Hill was scraped clean of soft snow down to the manmade base, but every other groomer was carving heaven.
We picked up Mom at Earl's Lodge and brought her up the Needles gondi for lunch. Snowbasin's food takes a back seat to no one. Veal schnitzel was my choice of the day.
It took another long Strawberry cruiser to get the legs back in motion, although Mira, Sima and Bobby found more untracked off Elk Ridge. Next-to-last run of the day was an exploratory venture into No Name. Bobby and The Kid hiked to the summit from the top of John Paul, while the rest of us took the gravity gate. The snow was divine. The base depths weren't. I managed to clean off 15 feet or so of jagged granite on my first turn, and even lower down you had to remain vigilant as I managed to spear a boulder lurking beneath the smooth surface that offered no hint of its existence. Willow thwackage made the exit as challenging as anything else over there.
Sima exhausted himself after snaring a tip on one of the willows and winding up tangled with his head beneath his feet (to the point that we had to double back to extricate him). He called it a day, as did The Kid and Bobby once they emerged. Mira and I took one more cruiser down Sweet Revenge to Bear Hollow to end our day at 3:45.
I needed a change of scenery, so today I ventured north to Snowbasin with Mira and Bobby Danger,
Sima,
and The Kid. My 80-year-old mother tagged along, too, at the conclusion of her holiday visit.
It was a bit hazy down in the Valley,
but positively gorgeous up on the hill.
Nice warm sunshine forced us to shed our mid-layers after only a couple of runs, although temperatures dipped when the sun did too behind the ridgeline late in the afternoon.
First run was a thigh-burning high speed cruise down Main Street in Strawberry. Really, Snowbasin's snowmaking system -- one of the mountain's fringe benefits dating back to the 2002 Winter Games -- is quite impressive. Base depths aren't quite there yet off-piste, as we would discover occasionally throughout the day -- but the snowmaking runs are blemish-free. Natural gullies skied well but you had to watch your step carefully along the ridges in between.
Our second run was, for me at least, the run of the day into the Cathedral sidecountry -- perfectly smooth dense untracked powder.
It's pointless to try to compose a run-by-run account of the day, for we were everywhere and anywhere, crossing the resort from the eastern boundary to the western ropeline several times throughout the day.
Notable, however, was the lack of crowds. Snowbasin did 2,600 visitors yesterday, and I imagine that there were fewer today.
Everyone there seemed to be on Bear Hollow and Needles Run. The rest of the mountain was relatively deserted. City Hill was scraped clean of soft snow down to the manmade base, but every other groomer was carving heaven.
We picked up Mom at Earl's Lodge and brought her up the Needles gondi for lunch. Snowbasin's food takes a back seat to no one. Veal schnitzel was my choice of the day.
It took another long Strawberry cruiser to get the legs back in motion, although Mira, Sima and Bobby found more untracked off Elk Ridge. Next-to-last run of the day was an exploratory venture into No Name. Bobby and The Kid hiked to the summit from the top of John Paul, while the rest of us took the gravity gate. The snow was divine. The base depths weren't. I managed to clean off 15 feet or so of jagged granite on my first turn, and even lower down you had to remain vigilant as I managed to spear a boulder lurking beneath the smooth surface that offered no hint of its existence. Willow thwackage made the exit as challenging as anything else over there.
Sima exhausted himself after snaring a tip on one of the willows and winding up tangled with his head beneath his feet (to the point that we had to double back to extricate him). He called it a day, as did The Kid and Bobby once they emerged. Mira and I took one more cruiser down Sweet Revenge to Bear Hollow to end our day at 3:45.
/ Hope to get back and spend more time there again soon.
