Snowbird, UT 5/29/06 - Closing Day

[Admin]

Day 58:

It sure seems a shame to close for the season with an 88-inch mid-mountain base.

But Snowbird is closed after today. I'm sure that the construction of the new Peruvian lift has something to do with it, and certainly the waning snow at the base does, too, but then again last June the base snow went quickly, too. If they had the desire, they could've stayed open well into June this season, maybe even make July 4th again.

No matter, today was a good day. So good that they made a last-minute decision to leave the Mineral Basin Express running right up to the 2 pm closing bell rather than close it at noon. Thank you for that, Snowbird, even though The Kid and I didn't make it much past noon ourselves. There was a crowd today -- they were parking 'em all the way down to Gad Valley Entrance 1 -- and Little Cloud would've had a heluva line had they closed the MBE at noon as scheduled.

And the snow in the Basin held up, too. Nice snow. An inch or two of consolidated heavy snow from the 7 inches that fell yesterday, over a soft yet supportable base. Fun, fun, fun. The Kid and I got two Mineral Basin runs in before hooking up with the gang: Marc_C, Bob Dangerous, Dale and Pat, and Marc's visitor Tom from Vermont.

We then spread out all over the hill, hitting Mineral Launcher, Chamonix I, Powder Paradise, Hilary Step (well, the near side of it, anyway), and other stuff in between. Good friends, good weather, good snow, and good times. Too bad it had to end.

But end it did. The others kept skiing (Bob was talking about hiking Baldy to ski Main Chute like he did yesterday) while The Kid and I went out Knucklehead, out the gate at the bottom of Little Cloud, and all the way back to the Tram plaza via Bassackwards, Big Emma and Bass Highway.

Another wonderful Utah ski season has come to an end. Thank you, Snowbird, and thank you Utah. I managed to hit 58 days this list-served season, which I'm pleased with. My streak will now end at 19 consecutive calendar months, unless Mammoth or Chile call too loudly.

 

[Marc_C]

It sure seems a shame to close for the season with an 88-inch mid-mountain base.

It always does - even more so when closing day has a 150" base, like next door at Alta in April.

But Snowbird is closed after today. I'm sure that the construction of the new Peruvian lift has something to do with it, and certainly the waning snow at the base does, too, but then again last June the base snow went quickly, too. If they had the desire, they could've stayed open well into June this season, maybe even make July 4th again.

I'm certain that the overall economics play a big role as well, like at every other ski area. The other thing to remember is that our current snowpack and conditions right now (how many rocks did you hit on the way from the Tram down to the top of Litttle Cloud? Or on that real sporty stretch along the Dick Bass Highway? :shock: ) are about what they were last year at the end of June. Last May 29 we still had well over a 100" base.

No matter, today was a good day. So good that they made a last-minute decision to leave the Mineral Basin Express running right up to the 2 pm closing bell rather than close it at noon.

I was surprised to see that since it's the threat of wet avalanches both in-bounds and from terrain above that usually closes the Basin early, not snow conditions. Unfortunately it wasn't a good day for the poor person who was air-evac'd by Life Flight.

The others kept skiing (Bob was talking about hiking Baldy to ski Main Chute like he did yesterday)...

A highly questionable and risky decision, imho. Due to Tom's flight schedule, we only did one more Basin run - a line a little before the Hillary Step - then an exit through Little Cloud similar to yours. As it was, we got back to the car at about 1:15.

Another wonderful Utah ski season has come to an end. Thank you, Snowbird, and thank you Utah. I managed to hit 58 days this list-served season, which I'm pleased with. My streak will now end at 19 consecutive calendar months, unless Mammoth or Chile call too loudly.

Um.....I noticed on the Bird's site that, like last year, if you buy a $10 Tram ticket and sign a waiver, they will allow you to take ski gear on the Tram and treat it as B/C ski terrain.

 

[Admin]

I'm certain that the overall economics play a big role as well, like at every other ski area. The other thing to remember is that our current snowpack and conditions right now (how many rocks did you hit on the way from the Tram down to the top of Litttle Cloud? Or on that real sporty stretch along the Dick Bass Highway? :shock: ) are about what they were last year at the end of June. Last May 29 we still had well over a 100" base.

Neither of those spots are truly a concern. The Tram this late is primarily a vehicle for getting to and from the snow. Hike 100 yards down to Little Cloud and you're good to go. Likewise, that last sporting stretch along the Bass Highway was technically closed, and better than 1,000 feet below the remaining "open" skiing.

Unfortunately it wasn't a good day for the poor person who was air-evac'd by Life Flight.

Where? When? What happened?

The others kept skiing (Bob was talking about hiking Baldy to ski Main Chute like he did yesterday)...

A highly questionable and risky decision, imho.

I understand your thought process here, but I'm not sure that I agree. North-facing stuff was still quite firm and rock-stable, IMO, if my trip down Knucklehead was any indicator. His plan was to stay on the ridgeline rather than traverse Chamonix and head up Livin' The Dream, and if he was able to get away with that he really wasn't in/on/across/below anything that would've been unstable.

Um.....I noticed on the Bird's site that, like last year, if you buy a $10 Tram ticket and sign a waiver, they will allow you to take ski gear on the Tram and treat it as B/C ski terrain.

\/ Maybe I will get my 60 days after all! I didn't expect them to do that with all of the work underway in Peruvian Gulch. I wonder if they'll continue to restrict access along the Peruvian Ridge to Baldy? I still haven't gotten up there this year.

 

[Sharon]

What, no helmets?

And is that John Mc...aka Tired Old Skier?

 

[Admin]

What, no helmets?

I had mine, but neither Marc_C nor Bob own one. The Kid, Dale and Pat were all sans brain bucket. I've said it before, but I believe that it's a matter of personal choice, and a bucket can get awfully steamy at this time of year unless you've got the right one.

And is that John Mc...aka Tired Old Skier?

Nope. My bad, his name is Tom, not John. Dunno why I wrote John. I'm editing the original post now to fix that.

 

[Marc_C]

Neither of those spots are truly a concern. The Tram this late is primarily a vehicle for getting to and from the snow. Hike 100 yards down to Little Cloud and you're good to go. Likewise, that last sporting stretch along the Bass Highway was technically closed, and better than 1,000 feet below the remaining "open" skiing.

Oh, I agree. I was just using those as illustrations of how much more coverage there was last year at this time.

Unfortunately it wasn't a good day for the poor person who was air-evac'd by Life Flight.

Where? When? What happened?

On one ride up the MBX, there was a gaggle of people and patrol at work on a slope between two of the upper switchbacks on Lupine Loop, just a little east of the MBX. Next ride up, the red and white UofU ship touched down in an LZ in the flats just below the initial steep headwall of the basin for the pickup. Don't know any details at all.

The others kept skiing (Bob was talking about hiking Baldy to ski Main Chute like he did yesterday)...

A highly questionable and risky decision, imho.

I understand your thought process here, but I'm not sure that I agree. North-facing stuff was still quite firm and rock-stable, IMO, if my trip down Knucklehead was any indicator. His plan was to stay on the ridgeline rather than traverse Chamonix and head up Livin' The Dream, and if he was able to get away with that he really wasn't in/on/across/below anything that would've been unstable.

I was specifically referring to his decision to ski Main the day before (Sunday) as having high potential risk: after two weeks of only marginal freeze/thaw cycles, in 24 hrs. the temps went from 42F to 18F then had 6" of new, fairly wet and dense snow. True, I wasn't there to assess first-hand, but just those facts raise two red and one yellow flag. I agree that by Monday mid-day it was likely pretty stable.

 

[Patrick]

Um.....I noticed on the Bird's site that, like last year, if you buy a $10 Tram ticket and sign a waiver, they will allow you to take ski gear on the Tram and treat it as B/C ski terrain.

\/ Maybe I will get my 60 days after all! I didn't expect them to do that with all of the work underway in Peruvian Gulch. I wonder if they'll continue to restrict access along the Peruvian Ridge to Baldy? I still haven't gotten up there this year.

Remember what I said in last Fall? Where was this streak going to stop? You said that you weren't interested in continuing after the lift closed. Guess what? The lift are closed and thinking about continuing. You should re-read your cartoon. "Lift closed - go home" :lol:

I know, I'm in the same boat. It's an addiction. Can't be simply satisfied with a record year (51 days) and my last day at Tuckerman less than one month ago. I NEED to continue. :roll:

Going for the 9 months in a row on snow. 11th if you count the sand skiing in August and Grass skiing in September.

 

[Admin]

Remember what I said in last Fall? Where was this streak going to stop? You said that you weren't interested in continuing after the lift closed. Guess what? The lift are closed and thinking about continuing.

Au contraire. The Tram is still available to lift me 2,800 verts. The hike to Baldy from there is no different than it is during the winter. And you can still ski all the way to the base of Alta. So, in essence, the "lift served" season is continuing even though the ski areas are officially closed. It just costs $10 per run now.

Will I hike mid-summer for deeply-suncupped crap like I did last August in Gunsight, or September like I did in Pipeline Bowl? No way. I'm over that. :roll:

 

[Patrick]

Will I hike mid-summer for deeply-suncupped crap like I did last August in Gunsight, or September like I did in Pipeline Bowl? No way. I'm over that. :roll:

That's what I thought after my last day at Tuckerman and now I'm planning on another trip. :roll: and another. :roll:

I noticed you also mentioned Chile. :lol:

 

[Tony Crocker]

I'm with admin on this one. I let my streak stop at 12. It was not worth it to fly to Denver last October to ski a White Ribbon of Death. November would have been a worse WROD at Mountain High.

It's tempting to do one day of obnoxious grunt work to link 2 seasons, but if you have to do it for 3 or 4 months I'll pass. And Mammoth last August was not nearly as marginal as what admin had in August and September last year.

As for admin, I'm sure he'll do the tram/hike-Baldy/ski-to-Alta in June, and maybe July. So his streak will get to 20 or 21, 22 if he goes south in August. After this August I'll be content with 21 out of 23, missing last October/November.

 

[Admin]

I managed to hit 58 days this list-served season, which I'm pleased with. My streak will now end at 19 consecutive calendar months, unless Mammoth or Chile call too loudly.

It looks like I spoke too soon. An opportunity to get a day in at Timberline on Mt. Hood later this month has just surfaced.