Day 61:
I had a fruitful morning. I got up at 7:30, got the summer tires put on the Z3 (gee...June 10 seems like high time to get that done, huh? :shock: ), then I went home, put the top down, threw the skis in the passenger seat, and headed up canyon to Snowbird at a much quicker pace than I usually do in the truck. :wink:
Waiting for me in the parking lot at 10:45 was Marc_C. We opted to spot a vehicle at Goldminer's Daughter at Alta, so we didn't board the tram until the 11:30 run, and the snow loss visible from both the parking lot and the tram was remarkable. Some lines that Bob and I had skied just last weekend were now snowless piles of bushes. It's funny what valley temps in the 90s for an extended period, and heavy thunderstorms over the past couple of days will do to a snowpack.
We decided to repeat a variation of what Bob and I had done each day last weekend: ski one tram lap, then head for Baldy to ski into Alta. No longer is snow continuous from the top of the tram to reach where the Mid-Cirque gate is, and the Mid-Cirque Traverse -- skiable just 6 days ago -- is now snowless. It was at that point that we opted for a route that I can't share on a public forum, but let's just say that it skied mighty fine. We eventually ran out of snow, though, and had to downhike through about 300 vertical feet of tangled scrub oak to return to the tram.
We stuck to our plan. With the bare earthen Chip's road and a plan to hike in hiking boots, Marc_C started hiking right from the tram dock, while I opted to ski down a few feet before running out of snow and packing skis myself. It was a far more arduous hike today to reach the summit of Mount Baldy, as now it's over loose rock instead of over snow. Before long, however, we were taking a breather on top as Marc_C changed from hiking boots to ski boots.
Cover remains continuous top-to-bottom at Alta. Our route was a familiar one: Main Chute to Harold's to Schuss Gully. We had to briefly take off our skis at the angle station, where the snow has been removed, but aside from that it was a non-stop run right to Alta's admin building.
I'll let the pictures do the talking. Now, I'm afraid that the effort really isn't worth it anymore IMO. My Utah ski season is therefore over. Tomorrow I'll hit an air show at Hill AFB featuring the Thunderbirds instead of skiing, and I've got one more day on snow later this month on Mt. Hood.
I had a fruitful morning. I got up at 7:30, got the summer tires put on the Z3 (gee...June 10 seems like high time to get that done, huh? :shock: ), then I went home, put the top down, threw the skis in the passenger seat, and headed up canyon to Snowbird at a much quicker pace than I usually do in the truck. :wink:
Waiting for me in the parking lot at 10:45 was Marc_C. We opted to spot a vehicle at Goldminer's Daughter at Alta, so we didn't board the tram until the 11:30 run, and the snow loss visible from both the parking lot and the tram was remarkable. Some lines that Bob and I had skied just last weekend were now snowless piles of bushes. It's funny what valley temps in the 90s for an extended period, and heavy thunderstorms over the past couple of days will do to a snowpack.
We decided to repeat a variation of what Bob and I had done each day last weekend: ski one tram lap, then head for Baldy to ski into Alta. No longer is snow continuous from the top of the tram to reach where the Mid-Cirque gate is, and the Mid-Cirque Traverse -- skiable just 6 days ago -- is now snowless. It was at that point that we opted for a route that I can't share on a public forum, but let's just say that it skied mighty fine. We eventually ran out of snow, though, and had to downhike through about 300 vertical feet of tangled scrub oak to return to the tram.
We stuck to our plan. With the bare earthen Chip's road and a plan to hike in hiking boots, Marc_C started hiking right from the tram dock, while I opted to ski down a few feet before running out of snow and packing skis myself. It was a far more arduous hike today to reach the summit of Mount Baldy, as now it's over loose rock instead of over snow. Before long, however, we were taking a breather on top as Marc_C changed from hiking boots to ski boots.
Cover remains continuous top-to-bottom at Alta. Our route was a familiar one: Main Chute to Harold's to Schuss Gully. We had to briefly take off our skis at the angle station, where the snow has been removed, but aside from that it was a non-stop run right to Alta's admin building.
I'll let the pictures do the talking. Now, I'm afraid that the effort really isn't worth it anymore IMO. My Utah ski season is therefore over. Tomorrow I'll hit an air show at Hill AFB featuring the Thunderbirds instead of skiing, and I've got one more day on snow later this month on Mt. Hood.
Attachments
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15 alta marc_c skiing harolds 060610.jpg -
14 alta marc_c skiing main chute 060610.jpg -
13 alta marc_c skiing main chute 060610.jpg -
12 alta marc_c skiing main chute 060610.jpg -
11 alta marc_c skiing main chute 060610.jpg -
10 snowbird marc_c hiking baldy 060610.jpg -
09 snowbird chips road cut 060610.jpg -
08 snowbird cirque tracks 060610.jpg -
07 snowbird peruvian cirque 060610.jpg -
06 snowbird upper daltons 060610.jpg -
05 snowbird lower daltons 060610.jpg -
04 snowbird marc_c stepping out 060610.jpg -
03 snowbird mid-cirque trav 060610.jpg -
02 snowbird marc_c hidden pk 060610.jpg -
01 alta collins gulch 060610.jpg
You need drive a whole day before you get the equivalent in vertical of Bromont.