Marc_C and I met up at da 'Bird yesterday for a few hours of skiing.
Snowbird picked up a 21-inch dump midweek, which as Tony predicted actually worked against us. Marc_C described the conditions on much of the upper mountain as "not-quite-corn wallpaper paste." Things were slushing up down low, and some surprising turns were gained in a few key locations, but by and large Marc_C's descriptor was accurate.
A 165-inch or so base doesn't go away anywhere, so there's still a ton of cover everywhere. Snowbird is slowly moving towards spring mode, however and the Baldy Express, Gad II and Peruvian chairs have already stopped spinning for the season. We headed straight up GadZoom and Little Cloud to drop over into Mineral Basin, where we had a steep opening groomer shot in semi-corn down Lone Star. I spied some lightly tracked snow on Toad Hill, so while Marc_C stayed on Path to Paradise I sidestepped up to the (seemingly higher than normal) Bookends Traverse and dropped down toad, finding a dozen or so turns of surprisingly dry-ish, barely-crusted new snow on the northeast-facing aspect. Emboldened by this experience, we headed down Road to Provo and traversed way, way out to the Knucklehead Chutes. We hit the mandatory entrance exam right as a cloud moved overhead, rendering it impossible to actually make out the surface in the chute itself. The sun came back out just in time to reveal steep, smooth dry snow, glorious for a dozen or so turns before we found ourselves in horrid refrozen mank on the gentler pitch below, forcing linked literal survival traverses to get back to the groomed Last Choice.
One run down a softening Regulator Johnson, pizza in the Snowbird Center, and a tram ride to reach Chip's (shortcutting the switchbacks on top) wrapped up the day after 10,340 verts. I'd given thought to going back up today, but the present storm had only dropped 3 inches by 9 am -- not enough to cover the older stuff below which has surely set up. I'd also given thought to going off-roading down near Price, but heavy rain put the ix-nay on those plans, too. Bummer. For those who might get out tomorrow, though, significantly more snowfall is anticipated as this storm keeps winding up today, tonight and tomorrow.
Snowbird picked up a 21-inch dump midweek, which as Tony predicted actually worked against us. Marc_C described the conditions on much of the upper mountain as "not-quite-corn wallpaper paste." Things were slushing up down low, and some surprising turns were gained in a few key locations, but by and large Marc_C's descriptor was accurate.
A 165-inch or so base doesn't go away anywhere, so there's still a ton of cover everywhere. Snowbird is slowly moving towards spring mode, however and the Baldy Express, Gad II and Peruvian chairs have already stopped spinning for the season. We headed straight up GadZoom and Little Cloud to drop over into Mineral Basin, where we had a steep opening groomer shot in semi-corn down Lone Star. I spied some lightly tracked snow on Toad Hill, so while Marc_C stayed on Path to Paradise I sidestepped up to the (seemingly higher than normal) Bookends Traverse and dropped down toad, finding a dozen or so turns of surprisingly dry-ish, barely-crusted new snow on the northeast-facing aspect. Emboldened by this experience, we headed down Road to Provo and traversed way, way out to the Knucklehead Chutes. We hit the mandatory entrance exam right as a cloud moved overhead, rendering it impossible to actually make out the surface in the chute itself. The sun came back out just in time to reveal steep, smooth dry snow, glorious for a dozen or so turns before we found ourselves in horrid refrozen mank on the gentler pitch below, forcing linked literal survival traverses to get back to the groomed Last Choice.
One run down a softening Regulator Johnson, pizza in the Snowbird Center, and a tram ride to reach Chip's (shortcutting the switchbacks on top) wrapped up the day after 10,340 verts. I'd given thought to going back up today, but the present storm had only dropped 3 inches by 9 am -- not enough to cover the older stuff below which has surely set up. I'd also given thought to going off-roading down near Price, but heavy rain put the ix-nay on those plans, too. Bummer. For those who might get out tomorrow, though, significantly more snowfall is anticipated as this storm keeps winding up today, tonight and tomorrow.
