Snowbird/Alta/Snowbasin Jan 8/9/10, 2009

[icelanticskier]

Watson Line
Annie's
Jake's
No Name
Santa Claus
Jitterbug
Christmas Tree

These are now all on the map, although they're not any easier to find from the High T since, fortunately, there are still no signs up there.

nope, none of those. no wonder i had it all to myself. i just looked at the alta trail map and the area i spent alot of time on those "right wind and snow" days were in the spruces/racecourse area, but not as far as sunspot.
rog

 

[Admin]

nope, none of those. no wonder i had it all to myself. i just looked at the alta trail map and the area i spent alot of time on those "right wind and snow" days were in the spruces/racecourse area, but not as far as sunspot.
rog

They're all named, too.

Watson Line
Annie's
Jake's
No Name
Santa Claus
Jitterbug
Christmas Tree

These are now all on the map, although they're not any easier to find from the High T since, fortunately, there are still no signs up there.

I have it on good authority that Onno hates signage.

 

[Marc_C]

Does it compare to the shoots?

Chutes. Shoots are what pop up out of the ground in the spring.

I've never made it there, I guess because I don't have the patience to get there with the traverses and all,...

At Alta it's best to consider the traverses as a run all on their own, particularly and especially, the High T.
Embrace the sense of adventure and exploration! Getting there is half the fun!

Although people denigrate Alta for it's traverses, it's extremely common in the western areas. Ski the Blackcomb Glacier, do a few laps on the Dictator Chutes at Big Sky, or go next door to Snowbird and ski Mach Schnell from it's very top, then tell us about the "patience" required for the High T!
:-({|=

 

[rfarren]

Embrace the sense of adventure and exploration! Getting there is half the fun!

Although people denigrate Alta for it's traverses, it's extremely common in the western areas. Ski the Blackcomb Glacier, do a few laps on the Dictator Chutes at Big Sky, or go next door to Snowbird and ski Mach Schnell from it's very top, then tell us about the "patience" required for the High T!

I've never made it to High Rustler because my attention gets taken away but some other tempting line on the way. That is what I meant by saying I'm too impatient.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these people who likes direct easy lines for the lift, and isn't willing to work a bit to get good snow. If I were, I wouldn't have done the hike and traverse to devil's castle and catherine's countless times. I have no aversions to hiking and traversing and in fact, rather enjoy it. It is that that has me inspired to get touring gear and take an AVY I course once I get a bit of money. I've always liked Alta because if you are willing to hike a bit or traverse a little extra you get a great reward. Getting to the line is indeed worth it for the "sense of adventure and exploration!"

I once took a traverse to greely bowl, although I'm not sure if that was the high-traverse. That was my first time at Alta, and frankly I had no idea where I was going. Pretty much today, although I have a better lay of the land, I still know none of the names of the trails etc... I've always just enjoyed skiing wide open terrain and such.

Chutes. Shoots are what pop up out of the ground in the spring.

I knew that. It was just a typo along the same line as writing its vs. it's. Just a mistake.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Although people denigrate Alta for it's traverses, it's extremely common in the western areas. Ski the Blackcomb Glacier, do a few laps on the Dictator Chutes at Big Sky, or go next door to Snowbird and ski Mach Schnell from it's very top, then tell us about the "patience" required for the High T!

The better the reward at the end, the more time worth spending on the traverse IMHO. I find the rewards at Alta to be very good. But they are better next door at Snowbird. :mrgreen:

 

[icelanticskier]

The better the reward at the end, the more time worth spending on the traverse IMHO. I find the rewards at Alta to be very good. But they are better next door at Snowbird. :mrgreen:

aren't you gonna be in utah for your annual "tonys high and dry utah ski adventure"? interested to see what goods you find at the end of them traverses. funny, but i have been thinking of how dry my trips to utah have been when there between the 10th and the 30th of jan. looks like if i'd gone when i usually do this year, i'd be high and dry again. so far in the last 2 trips it snowed zero days out of 10 and 3 out of 10 or 3 out of 20 days, that's like way worse than out here typically. if i'd gone this jan sometime around now it could be 3 out of 30. thank god for bc skiing. maybe early march will work or maybe not. why haven't there been any alta reports since the 11th anyway? :mrgreen:
rog

 

[Tony Crocker]

I have demonstrated that 25% of advanced planned weeks at Alta will have NO days with 6+ inches new snow. Since my trips are typically only 4 days, that percentage would be even larger. My actual Utah experience is of course worse than that, but thankfully it is offset by better than expected powder in other places, notably in Canada.

 

[Marc_C]

funny, but i have been thinking of how dry my trips to utah have been when there between the 10th and the 30th of jan. looks like if i'd gone when i usually do this year, i'd be high and dry again.

After 8 seasons here, my usual recommendation to visitors is don't come in January, especially not the middle 3 weeks. More often than not, we get into a high pressure ridge and inversions during that time. The worst was 2002 or '03, when we had 22 days of dry and inversion - 18 and fog in the valley, 45F and spring conditions at 8500'.

When I've mentioned this in the past, Tony is quick to counter with January snowfall data, which suggests that it should be much better than it usually is. Yes, we get a lot of snow during Jan, but in my experience, it seems that it tends to fall at the beginning and end of the month. Sure, some years are an exception, but if you're booking a flight 2 or 4 months prior.....

 

[Tony Crocker]

It makes no sense to me that daily snowfall probability would have peaks and valleys during specific weeks of the season vs. a smooth curve. I think Alta has ~5 years of daily info online that could be analyzed, but that's not enough data. I do have extensive ~24 years daily data from Mammoth and Steamboat which I could examine.