Day 65: Return of the sun cups.
But they were soft and easily shaved by each turn, but they were there. A lot of snow disappeared this week. How much? Enough to wash out the road at Hellgate:
(Sorry for the crappy photos -- I forgot my camera today so I was relegated to use the cell phone.)
Apparently sometime in the early morning hours a snowdam up in Toledo broke, and the resulting torrent of water was more than the drainage system at the Alta Gate could handle. It rushed across the road, leaving a thick blanket of dirt, rock and raging water that continued across the road, undermined the entrance to the Wildcat parking lot and continued down into the homes between the Peruvian Lodge and the Bypass Road bridge, most assuredly flooding a few basements. The LCC Creek was absolutely raging as well.
Still, Snowbird and Alta are both skiable from top to bottom. Some bare spots are appearing low down at Snowbird, most notably on Lower Silver Fox, but Alta is seamless top to bottom.
Bobby Danger and I spotted his truck at Alta, then headed down to park on the Bypass Road and ski along with Dale and Tele Jon. Bobby wanted to start in the Cirque on Shot 8, which was a little mushy beyond corn but still quite fun. Surprise Gully was skied more and even more fun.
Boarding the tram again, we met Gary, who was an employee of Glacier National Park. He had a few days off so he drove down from Whitefish to ski. He was skiing alone, and figured that he'd be spending another day lapping Little Cloud until he met us. A real cast of characters, he was in for a fun ride.
We headed out Road to Provo to the Rasta Chutes, which were an absolute blast. Back up Little Cloud, we introduced Gary to Great Scott before heading back up the tram, and booting up Mount Baldy.
We debated where to go while atop the summit. There was some discussion of Livin' The Dream and then hiking back out to Sugarloaf Pass, and some other discussion of Perla's, but when we eased over to Main Chute we were delighted by what we saw, and we dropped in.
Gary, a talented tele skier, proudly proclaimed Main Chute to be steepest line he's ever skied. We exited Main Chute and skied the apron via Harold's.
Heading down Aggie's Alley, I expected mushy snow but it was firmer and faster than I'd anticipated. I therefore let my guard down for a moment and bam! I caught some manky stuff and got the instant body slam as punishment for my inattention. Even with a helmet it really rang my bell, and tweaked my right shoulder a bit, but other than whining for a while I pretty much just dusted myself off and finished the run down Collins Face, which Jon rated the best snow of the day.
We bused back down to Snowbird in the back of Bobby's truck. Dale and I joined them for lunch on the Plaza before heading down canyon ourselves as the others planned a few more laps on Little Cloud. I'm now camped in the kitchen, nursing a headache.
But it's June, baby...June! \
/
But they were soft and easily shaved by each turn, but they were there. A lot of snow disappeared this week. How much? Enough to wash out the road at Hellgate:
(Sorry for the crappy photos -- I forgot my camera today so I was relegated to use the cell phone.)
Apparently sometime in the early morning hours a snowdam up in Toledo broke, and the resulting torrent of water was more than the drainage system at the Alta Gate could handle. It rushed across the road, leaving a thick blanket of dirt, rock and raging water that continued across the road, undermined the entrance to the Wildcat parking lot and continued down into the homes between the Peruvian Lodge and the Bypass Road bridge, most assuredly flooding a few basements. The LCC Creek was absolutely raging as well.
Still, Snowbird and Alta are both skiable from top to bottom. Some bare spots are appearing low down at Snowbird, most notably on Lower Silver Fox, but Alta is seamless top to bottom.
Bobby Danger and I spotted his truck at Alta, then headed down to park on the Bypass Road and ski along with Dale and Tele Jon. Bobby wanted to start in the Cirque on Shot 8, which was a little mushy beyond corn but still quite fun. Surprise Gully was skied more and even more fun.
Boarding the tram again, we met Gary, who was an employee of Glacier National Park. He had a few days off so he drove down from Whitefish to ski. He was skiing alone, and figured that he'd be spending another day lapping Little Cloud until he met us. A real cast of characters, he was in for a fun ride.
We headed out Road to Provo to the Rasta Chutes, which were an absolute blast. Back up Little Cloud, we introduced Gary to Great Scott before heading back up the tram, and booting up Mount Baldy.
We debated where to go while atop the summit. There was some discussion of Livin' The Dream and then hiking back out to Sugarloaf Pass, and some other discussion of Perla's, but when we eased over to Main Chute we were delighted by what we saw, and we dropped in.
Gary, a talented tele skier, proudly proclaimed Main Chute to be steepest line he's ever skied. We exited Main Chute and skied the apron via Harold's.
Heading down Aggie's Alley, I expected mushy snow but it was firmer and faster than I'd anticipated. I therefore let my guard down for a moment and bam! I caught some manky stuff and got the instant body slam as punishment for my inattention. Even with a helmet it really rang my bell, and tweaked my right shoulder a bit, but other than whining for a while I pretty much just dusted myself off and finished the run down Collins Face, which Jon rated the best snow of the day.
We bused back down to Snowbird in the back of Bobby's truck. Dale and I joined them for lunch on the Plaza before heading down canyon ourselves as the others planned a few more laps on Little Cloud. I'm now camped in the kitchen, nursing a headache.
But it's June, baby...June! \
/
