Day 73: To quote Marc_C, "Well, that's a wrap."
Earlier this week Snowbird announced that today would be it. It's not surprising, given how extraordinarily fast things have gone. It's been pushing 90 here in the Salt Lake Valley for days on end, and rumor has it that yesterday's 67-degree high at 11,000 feet atop Hidden Peak set a record. With our below-average snowfall this winter today looked just like July 4th 2005, Snowbird's closing day that year. It's hard to believe that two weeks ago we were skiing this:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=3193
and this:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=3195
I was supposed to hook up with Marc_C, but our schedules weren't complementary this morning and cell service was strangely spotty on the mountain today. Instead, I found myself sharing a bone-jarring run down a firmly frozen and decidedly patchy Regulator Johnson with a local named Richard, and together we navigated our way back to the Little Cloud Chair after dead-ending when several different lines ran out of snow. I skied four runs and tagged along with Richard through all.
With each successive run we found better snow. Mark Malou Fork was a distinct improvement, but we found the best corn of the day by heading out to the Rasta Chutes which were at prime time. So good that we did it again after finding Marc_C atop the chair, himself heading for his fourth run as well.
But for Marc and yours truly, that was enough. Today was more of a novelty for us than anything else. We've been doing other stuff: biking, kayaking, etc., and plans were hatched to go climbing soon. Summer stuff. We hiked up to Hidden Peak and downloaded on the Tram. As I took my boots off at the truck, unlike prior years I wasn't disappointed to carefully and lightly buckle my boots and stash them into my pack until next November.
Earlier this week Snowbird announced that today would be it. It's not surprising, given how extraordinarily fast things have gone. It's been pushing 90 here in the Salt Lake Valley for days on end, and rumor has it that yesterday's 67-degree high at 11,000 feet atop Hidden Peak set a record. With our below-average snowfall this winter today looked just like July 4th 2005, Snowbird's closing day that year. It's hard to believe that two weeks ago we were skiing this:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=3193
and this:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=3195
I was supposed to hook up with Marc_C, but our schedules weren't complementary this morning and cell service was strangely spotty on the mountain today. Instead, I found myself sharing a bone-jarring run down a firmly frozen and decidedly patchy Regulator Johnson with a local named Richard, and together we navigated our way back to the Little Cloud Chair after dead-ending when several different lines ran out of snow. I skied four runs and tagged along with Richard through all.
With each successive run we found better snow. Mark Malou Fork was a distinct improvement, but we found the best corn of the day by heading out to the Rasta Chutes which were at prime time. So good that we did it again after finding Marc_C atop the chair, himself heading for his fourth run as well.
But for Marc and yours truly, that was enough. Today was more of a novelty for us than anything else. We've been doing other stuff: biking, kayaking, etc., and plans were hatched to go climbing soon. Summer stuff. We hiked up to Hidden Peak and downloaded on the Tram. As I took my boots off at the truck, unlike prior years I wasn't disappointed to carefully and lightly buckle my boots and stash them into my pack until next November.
Attachments
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11 snowbird base area 070520.jpg -
10 snowbird great scott 070520.jpg -
09 snowbird peruvian gulch 070520.jpg -
08 snowbird peruvian gulch 070520.jpg -
07 snowbird riding little cloud 070520.jpg -
06 snowbird mark malou pipeline bowl 070520.jpg -
05 snowbird regulator johnson 070520.jpg -
04 snowbird little cloud bowl 070520.jpg -
03 snowbird meltout 070520.jpg -
02 snowbird life flight 070520.jpg -
01 snowbird parking lot 070520.jpg
