Day 67: Summer skiing.
Ski Utah held its annual Local Media Day on Wednesday, this time at Snowbird. Temperatures were nearing records for this time of year, pushing 80ºF in the Salt Lake Valley and 50ºF at mid-mountain, making it feel more like early June than early April. Needless to say I dressed light.
Wednesday marked the first -- and quite probably the last -- time that I've been allowed inside the Seven Summits Club at Snowbird. I'm only kidding inasmuch as I believe that the restaurant itself is open to the public for dining only, but membership in the club itself costs something like $15K annually I believe. Those members are the folks with the "black passes" that get to bypass liftlines. Seeing as how I don't know when I'll ever see this again, I had to snap a few photos.
The view of Little Cottonwood Creek from the Seven Summits Club
The Seven Summits Club
The Seven Summits club bar
A crapper with a view. Here's hoping that no one's outside with binoculars.
The morning was occupied with the usual scavenger hunt, and I headed out with freelancers Jill Adler and Harriet, Rex from a local radio station and Joni Dykstra of Alta Lodge. Mineral was already softening nicely, but when we had to venture over to Gad 2 for one of our clues that was still absolute bulletproof concrete.
Inside the Peruvian Tunnel, which has been adorned with some historical artwork this season.
American Fork Twin Peaks from Hidden Peak
Fortunately Gad 2 was the last clue we had to complete, so we returned to Mineral, finding nicely softened snow on Hyena Ridge even if it was heavily cut up. We found far smoother pastures around Straw Pile. Just before lunch we found the only winter snow we'd find all day in Jaws, where it was smooth, chalky and winter-like, at least until you got down onto the Cirque Apron and it quickly turned to glue.
How often do you see a liftie using an umbrella as a sun shade?
Our table was joined by Dr. Jim Steenburgh, the blogger behind Wasatch Weather Weenies for lunch before he gave the keynote presentation to the group about his upcoming book, "Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth". His presentation was both informative and entertaining and I'm looking forward to giving the book a thorough read once it's available. A couple of myths were dispelled in the course of his presentation. For example, I was surprised to learn that Alta would still average 450" per year even if the Great Salt Lake weren't there. I always figured that the lake effect was more pronounced than that. And speaking of lake effect, Jim spent some time explaining the remarkable snowfall received by some areas of Japan. He also touched upon his experiences on the Tug Hill Plateau this winter which were the subject of some banter this season on these forums. He found snowfall rates at a remarkable 5-6" per hour there this season, and elevation differentials of only 800 feet literally doubled snowfall in the areas where they took measurements.
After lunch I headed out with three of the Ski Utah staff, Annie Cutler of Fox13 and the editor of Salt Lake Magazine. Jim was supposed to join us following an interview, and he called my phone three times but I unfortunately never received the calls. That was a pity, for we haven't made turns together all season. The rest of us returned to Jaws and skied down through the Green Zone before finding more good winter snow on Shot 12 on a subsequent run. The lower mountain, however, was becoming a sticky hell and by 3:30 I lapped Peruvian just to return to my truck on the Bypass Road.
Ski Utah held its annual Local Media Day on Wednesday, this time at Snowbird. Temperatures were nearing records for this time of year, pushing 80ºF in the Salt Lake Valley and 50ºF at mid-mountain, making it feel more like early June than early April. Needless to say I dressed light.
Wednesday marked the first -- and quite probably the last -- time that I've been allowed inside the Seven Summits Club at Snowbird. I'm only kidding inasmuch as I believe that the restaurant itself is open to the public for dining only, but membership in the club itself costs something like $15K annually I believe. Those members are the folks with the "black passes" that get to bypass liftlines. Seeing as how I don't know when I'll ever see this again, I had to snap a few photos.
The view of Little Cottonwood Creek from the Seven Summits Club
The Seven Summits Club
The Seven Summits club bar
A crapper with a view. Here's hoping that no one's outside with binoculars.
The morning was occupied with the usual scavenger hunt, and I headed out with freelancers Jill Adler and Harriet, Rex from a local radio station and Joni Dykstra of Alta Lodge. Mineral was already softening nicely, but when we had to venture over to Gad 2 for one of our clues that was still absolute bulletproof concrete.
Inside the Peruvian Tunnel, which has been adorned with some historical artwork this season.
American Fork Twin Peaks from Hidden Peak
Fortunately Gad 2 was the last clue we had to complete, so we returned to Mineral, finding nicely softened snow on Hyena Ridge even if it was heavily cut up. We found far smoother pastures around Straw Pile. Just before lunch we found the only winter snow we'd find all day in Jaws, where it was smooth, chalky and winter-like, at least until you got down onto the Cirque Apron and it quickly turned to glue.
How often do you see a liftie using an umbrella as a sun shade?
Our table was joined by Dr. Jim Steenburgh, the blogger behind Wasatch Weather Weenies for lunch before he gave the keynote presentation to the group about his upcoming book, "Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth". His presentation was both informative and entertaining and I'm looking forward to giving the book a thorough read once it's available. A couple of myths were dispelled in the course of his presentation. For example, I was surprised to learn that Alta would still average 450" per year even if the Great Salt Lake weren't there. I always figured that the lake effect was more pronounced than that. And speaking of lake effect, Jim spent some time explaining the remarkable snowfall received by some areas of Japan. He also touched upon his experiences on the Tug Hill Plateau this winter which were the subject of some banter this season on these forums. He found snowfall rates at a remarkable 5-6" per hour there this season, and elevation differentials of only 800 feet literally doubled snowfall in the areas where they took measurements.
After lunch I headed out with three of the Ski Utah staff, Annie Cutler of Fox13 and the editor of Salt Lake Magazine. Jim was supposed to join us following an interview, and he called my phone three times but I unfortunately never received the calls. That was a pity, for we haven't made turns together all season. The rest of us returned to Jaws and skied down through the Green Zone before finding more good winter snow on Shot 12 on a subsequent run. The lower mountain, however, was becoming a sticky hell and by 3:30 I lapped Peruvian just to return to my truck on the Bypass Road.