Snowbird Terrain Openings?

Tony Crocker

Tony Crocker

Administrator
Staff member
Snowbird is always more difficult to cover in early season than Alta. But the base is now 73 inches and it has been a few days now without storms. Yet Snowbird still sits at 74% open. The closed areas are the usual avy control suspects: Little Cloud, Bookends, Tigertail. I guess there are snow stability issues as I notice Ballroom and Backside at Alta are also closed.
 
If you go back and look at your statistics, you will notice that Snowbird is always slower to open terrain early in the season. That said, you need to remember that the storm that delivered 4 inches of water weight occurred only a week and a half ago.
 
admin":neuzic74 said:
If you go back and look at your statistics, you will notice that Snowbird is always slower to open terrain early in the season.
Click to expand...
Which I mentioned in the first sentence of my post. With a 3-4 foot base most of Alta skis well while much of Snowbird is a minefield. Historically I view a 50-inch base as when Snowbird is decent and a 70-inch base as when it should be 90+% open.

Ballroom and Backside have been open this season per admin's reports. Have they been continuously closed since the 4-inches-of-water storm ~10 days ago?
 
No, they have not. But that storm has also made Alta ski patrol much more cautious to open avalanche terrain over the past week and a half.

Also, your first sentence did not totally address the issue. It spoke only to the effect, and not to the cause. While Snowbird is more difficult to cover, without a doubt, it has also been my observation that Snowbird Ski Patrol is much more conservative about opening terrain than Alta ski patrol is. Alta Patrol has no reservations about letting you step over rocks, roots, etc. to get to certain terrain if that is your desire. It has been my experience that Snowbird Ski Patrol won't allow you access to terrain unless cover is as close to blemish free as possible. This magnifies the difference between the two resorts for the first one third of the season.

Anyone who saw Alta terrain like Liftline, Race Hill, the Saddle Traverse, etc. during the first half of December knows what I'm talking about.
 
No argument from here about the relative merits of Alta and Snowbird during the first third of the season. As you know my view is usually the opposite during the last third of the season. :lol:
 
The one spot that Alta was unusually conservative about this year was the High Traverse. To their credit, their wait was justified. This past weekend that traverse was just about as good as I've ever seen it. And that's largely because they waited, rather than pre-holiday skiers chew it up.
 
Skied AltaBird yesterday. The only closed terrain at Bird was Bookends, and it was controlled and well covered. Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder were closed at Alta, probably due to wind loading above it. Backside was open all day.
 
Snowbird's website has shown all terrain accessible from Road to Provo closed yesterday and today. That's why I asked the question. Coverage cannot possibly be the issue in Little Cloud Bowl, Mark Malu Fork, etc. Snowbird's IT department has been known not to be up to date on various subjects in recent years. :lol:
 
Road to Provo opened at 2:00 yesterday.

Don't know if it was open today - it was pretty windy up high.
 
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