Day 37: The Russian mob.
I wanted a change of scenery for today and I couldn't let mbaydala have all the fun. We therefore decided on Snowbasin.
Weather has changed dramatically since mbaydala was up there on Tuesday, however. Today defined the term "bluebird." Changes since Tuesday included both a wind and a rime event, as well as a warm sun on Friday, so the snow was of a dramatically different consistency than that lucky dog enjoyed earlier this week. That's not to say that it was in any way bad, just different.
Different in that some spots were remarkably inconsistent -- supportable on one turn, punch-through the next. If you found an aspect and elevation that remained consistently supportable it was actually a hoot.
Snowbasin was also busier today than I've ever seen it before. They were parked along the access road for a full half mile. I've got to imagine that it has a lot to do with the pass price reduction this year, which at least on weekends was confirmed by a longtime passholder we spoke with. He said that with the price drop they sold 8,000 more season passes this year. We got there by 8:15 a.m., however, and scored a front row spot to have one of the Earl's Lodge kitchen's killer omelets before boarding the John Paul chair at 9:00. And for the most part liftlines were inconsequential. This mountain's uphill capacity is ridiculous. John Paul, in particular, had as many chairs going up empty or with one or two people as it did full chairs, and was pretty much ski-on. It amazes me how underutilized that lift is, especially because ounce for ounce it delivers more bang for your buck than just about any other lift in the Wasatch. The Allen Peak Tram was usually a two or three bucket wait, but at around 5 minutes per trip including loading time that was no big deal, either.
After one run we hooked up with the Russians. We've gotten to know Baron and Misha over the years, and they were joined by 7 of their friends fom the Old Country today. All followed us up to Snowbasin. Along with AmyZ and yours truly, the crew followed Bobby Danger around like the Pied Piper. As busy as the resort's primary groomers were today, on most of our runs we were completely alone. It didn't hurt that three of those runs were completely out of bounds, but by and large the resort's clientele today weren't venturing off the groomers at all.
Our last run was intended to be Mt. Ogden Chute. However, there's still a rock band exposed above the choke and due to the chute's double fall line, a stumble on the upper part of the chute would send the poor victim screaming right over the cliff and into the abyss, turning what's normally merely a steep, tight chute into a true DFU zone. It's not recommended for the faint of heart right now, and all but Bobby and I backed out at the top of the Allen Peak Tram.
That gave me plenty of time to think about it on the steep bootpack up Mt. Allen, and by the time we reached the fork in the road above the Fingers I begged off, too. I hated to ruin things for Bobby, but I just wasn't feeling dialed in and I was getting tired, and a guy's got to know when to back down from a line like that. To his credit, Bobby insisted that we stick together and we traversed around the back of Mt. Ogden, across Malan's Basin (the site of a once-proposed second ski area on the mountain) to the top of Middle Bowl. As the sun blazed down upon that traverse I would've sworn it was summer if I didn't know better.
Smooth, creamy and consistently supportable, skiing Middle Bowl was the perfect way to end a wonderful day at Snowbasin. We hung a hard left to the apron below the Salt and Pepper Chutes, enjoying even more untracked down to the traverse leading from the top of the Middle Bowl chair, the top of the highest lift-served point in this drainage. I'm now home with that wonderful sunburned feeling on my face after soaking up Vitamin D all day.
There's now a solid surface hoar layer on any untracked snow. The backcountry is going to be truly sketchy once the next storm arrives Thursday into Friday.
My only disappointment from today is that they've really scaled back on the Cioppino in John Paul Lodge. The price is about the same but it has nowhere near the seafood it used to have. Snowbasin, it's time to restore this wonderful dish to its former glory! (And it was funny as hell to hear most folks ordering the "see-o-peen-o".)
I wanted a change of scenery for today and I couldn't let mbaydala have all the fun. We therefore decided on Snowbasin.
Weather has changed dramatically since mbaydala was up there on Tuesday, however. Today defined the term "bluebird." Changes since Tuesday included both a wind and a rime event, as well as a warm sun on Friday, so the snow was of a dramatically different consistency than that lucky dog enjoyed earlier this week. That's not to say that it was in any way bad, just different.
Different in that some spots were remarkably inconsistent -- supportable on one turn, punch-through the next. If you found an aspect and elevation that remained consistently supportable it was actually a hoot.
Snowbasin was also busier today than I've ever seen it before. They were parked along the access road for a full half mile. I've got to imagine that it has a lot to do with the pass price reduction this year, which at least on weekends was confirmed by a longtime passholder we spoke with. He said that with the price drop they sold 8,000 more season passes this year. We got there by 8:15 a.m., however, and scored a front row spot to have one of the Earl's Lodge kitchen's killer omelets before boarding the John Paul chair at 9:00. And for the most part liftlines were inconsequential. This mountain's uphill capacity is ridiculous. John Paul, in particular, had as many chairs going up empty or with one or two people as it did full chairs, and was pretty much ski-on. It amazes me how underutilized that lift is, especially because ounce for ounce it delivers more bang for your buck than just about any other lift in the Wasatch. The Allen Peak Tram was usually a two or three bucket wait, but at around 5 minutes per trip including loading time that was no big deal, either.
After one run we hooked up with the Russians. We've gotten to know Baron and Misha over the years, and they were joined by 7 of their friends fom the Old Country today. All followed us up to Snowbasin. Along with AmyZ and yours truly, the crew followed Bobby Danger around like the Pied Piper. As busy as the resort's primary groomers were today, on most of our runs we were completely alone. It didn't hurt that three of those runs were completely out of bounds, but by and large the resort's clientele today weren't venturing off the groomers at all.
Our last run was intended to be Mt. Ogden Chute. However, there's still a rock band exposed above the choke and due to the chute's double fall line, a stumble on the upper part of the chute would send the poor victim screaming right over the cliff and into the abyss, turning what's normally merely a steep, tight chute into a true DFU zone. It's not recommended for the faint of heart right now, and all but Bobby and I backed out at the top of the Allen Peak Tram.
That gave me plenty of time to think about it on the steep bootpack up Mt. Allen, and by the time we reached the fork in the road above the Fingers I begged off, too. I hated to ruin things for Bobby, but I just wasn't feeling dialed in and I was getting tired, and a guy's got to know when to back down from a line like that. To his credit, Bobby insisted that we stick together and we traversed around the back of Mt. Ogden, across Malan's Basin (the site of a once-proposed second ski area on the mountain) to the top of Middle Bowl. As the sun blazed down upon that traverse I would've sworn it was summer if I didn't know better.
Smooth, creamy and consistently supportable, skiing Middle Bowl was the perfect way to end a wonderful day at Snowbasin. We hung a hard left to the apron below the Salt and Pepper Chutes, enjoying even more untracked down to the traverse leading from the top of the Middle Bowl chair, the top of the highest lift-served point in this drainage. I'm now home with that wonderful sunburned feeling on my face after soaking up Vitamin D all day.
There's now a solid surface hoar layer on any untracked snow. The backcountry is going to be truly sketchy once the next storm arrives Thursday into Friday.
My only disappointment from today is that they've really scaled back on the Cioppino in John Paul Lodge. The price is about the same but it has nowhere near the seafood it used to have. Snowbasin, it's time to restore this wonderful dish to its former glory! (And it was funny as hell to hear most folks ordering the "see-o-peen-o".)
