jojo_obrien
Member
Happy March from SLC.
Today was a mix of heaven and hell. But I guess what they say is true -- no pain, no gain.
Brought my skis in for a tune up last night. Left Cottonwood Heights at 755. Finally got to Snowbird Entrance 1 at 850. Longest time its ever taken me to get up the canyon. No chain checks even though the lights were flashing. Roads were a piece of cake .......not really sure why it was so ridiculously slow going.
Got in line at the Gadzoom chairlift at 8:50. The lift did not start until 9:20 AM, 20 minutes behind schedule.
The line looked monstrous by the time I got on at around 9:30, so I headed over to Gad 2, with hopes of scoring first tracks over there. The lit was closed.......I waited 10 minutes before I lost patience with the hopes that Gadzoom would have thinned out. No such luck.
No desire to wait 15 minutes in line, I tried to get a bus to Alta. The bus driver advised me that he was packed to the gills (Ski Bus packed....nooooooooo ....never seen that before....). I took Mid Gad over to Peruvian with the hopes that it would be open. No such luck........
So I basically scratched my head and another body part for about 20-25 minutes trying to decide if I should call it a day and go home or ....just cross my fingers hoping for Peruvian to open. Well...it finally did. I do NOT do the tram...........I really don't waiting 20 minutes in a line to be a sardine.
Took Peruvian up. 5 minute wait in line. Everything over to the east and bottom parts of the various Cirque chutes were nearly untracked, even though the tram had been opened earlier. The lines were absolutely beautiful -- classic big mountain Snowbird. Solid 12 to 18 inches of snow in many places. Lots of fun. I basically lapped Peruvian over and over for 2 hrs....I love the vertical on Peruvian -- it beats the vertical at Alta. You really feel like you need a rest after a long powder run on Peruvian. I was finding some sick lines off of the BlackJack Traverse...so so so good........lots of fun. Face shot city.
Mineral Basin opened up at around 1pm. I was on it immediately. Visibility ranged from meh...so so...to some seconds of partial clearing. I will not go full throttle if I can't see. So suffice it to say, visibility was an issue. I lapped Mineral over and over and over........lots of face shots and some really nice snow. Medium density IMO. THe thing about Mineral is you can stack up some serious vert and really wear yourself out quickly. I seemed to have done that. At 2:30 and no stop for lunch, I was spent. I took Mineral and then traversed as high a line as I could possibly (kinda under West Baldy). A lot of the area is roped off for the big upcoming competition. I was getting some beautiful untracked turns over there, even at 245 pm!! It was really awesome.
Got to the car at 3 pm. Spent...........puked nearly all day long w/ some gusts of up to 40 mph. 32 degrees at the base most of the day. Partial clearing and some moments of marginal visibility. All in all, classic big mountain day of skiing at the Bird.
Today was a mix of heaven and hell. But I guess what they say is true -- no pain, no gain.
Brought my skis in for a tune up last night. Left Cottonwood Heights at 755. Finally got to Snowbird Entrance 1 at 850. Longest time its ever taken me to get up the canyon. No chain checks even though the lights were flashing. Roads were a piece of cake .......not really sure why it was so ridiculously slow going.
Got in line at the Gadzoom chairlift at 8:50. The lift did not start until 9:20 AM, 20 minutes behind schedule.
The line looked monstrous by the time I got on at around 9:30, so I headed over to Gad 2, with hopes of scoring first tracks over there. The lit was closed.......I waited 10 minutes before I lost patience with the hopes that Gadzoom would have thinned out. No such luck.
No desire to wait 15 minutes in line, I tried to get a bus to Alta. The bus driver advised me that he was packed to the gills (Ski Bus packed....nooooooooo ....never seen that before....). I took Mid Gad over to Peruvian with the hopes that it would be open. No such luck........
So I basically scratched my head and another body part for about 20-25 minutes trying to decide if I should call it a day and go home or ....just cross my fingers hoping for Peruvian to open. Well...it finally did. I do NOT do the tram...........I really don't waiting 20 minutes in a line to be a sardine.
Took Peruvian up. 5 minute wait in line. Everything over to the east and bottom parts of the various Cirque chutes were nearly untracked, even though the tram had been opened earlier. The lines were absolutely beautiful -- classic big mountain Snowbird. Solid 12 to 18 inches of snow in many places. Lots of fun. I basically lapped Peruvian over and over for 2 hrs....I love the vertical on Peruvian -- it beats the vertical at Alta. You really feel like you need a rest after a long powder run on Peruvian. I was finding some sick lines off of the BlackJack Traverse...so so so good........lots of fun. Face shot city.
Mineral Basin opened up at around 1pm. I was on it immediately. Visibility ranged from meh...so so...to some seconds of partial clearing. I will not go full throttle if I can't see. So suffice it to say, visibility was an issue. I lapped Mineral over and over and over........lots of face shots and some really nice snow. Medium density IMO. THe thing about Mineral is you can stack up some serious vert and really wear yourself out quickly. I seemed to have done that. At 2:30 and no stop for lunch, I was spent. I took Mineral and then traversed as high a line as I could possibly (kinda under West Baldy). A lot of the area is roped off for the big upcoming competition. I was getting some beautiful untracked turns over there, even at 245 pm!! It was really awesome.
Got to the car at 3 pm. Spent...........puked nearly all day long w/ some gusts of up to 40 mph. 32 degrees at the base most of the day. Partial clearing and some moments of marginal visibility. All in all, classic big mountain day of skiing at the Bird.
