I should've gone yesterday.
I was going to go with The Kid today, but he got up and immediately started whining, so I left him home. I headed up and first got a look at Alta's slopes, which were nearly as tracked up as they are in winter!
I should've gone yesterday.
I parked at the Blackjack Condos, booted up and hit the trail. I only got a few hundred yards up the road before I was able to put the skis on and start skinning, although they've drug a lot of heavy equipment across that road, melting out the snow where the tires travel.
I should've gone yesterday.
Higher and higher, the snow started to get deeper above the top terminal of the old Peruvian lift, just as I'd expected. I paused often to enjoy the views and catch my breath. Green leaves still clung to the aspen trees with white snow cover all around -- gorgeous. But the snow was wet, true mashed potatoes, and while I expected the snow to dry out as I ascended higher it just wasn't happening.
I should've gone yesterday.
My destination was Great Scott, which Bob Dangerous raved about from yesterday, reporting deep and dry snow. When I finally rounded a turn near the bottom of the chute and I caught my first view, my heart sank when I saw that the whole chute had slid. Both Bob's skin track and his turns had been partially obliterated. Discretion dictated that I not ascend the Cirque today.
I should've gone yesterday.
But I enjoyed low-angle turns nearly all the way back to the truck. I only had to hike the last few hundred yards, although the bottom third was spent snowplowing next to the tire tracks in the road.
Did I hit any rocks? Hell, yeah.
Did I do any damage? Not really.
Was it worth it?
\
/
I was going to go with The Kid today, but he got up and immediately started whining, so I left him home. I headed up and first got a look at Alta's slopes, which were nearly as tracked up as they are in winter!
I should've gone yesterday.
I parked at the Blackjack Condos, booted up and hit the trail. I only got a few hundred yards up the road before I was able to put the skis on and start skinning, although they've drug a lot of heavy equipment across that road, melting out the snow where the tires travel.
I should've gone yesterday.
Higher and higher, the snow started to get deeper above the top terminal of the old Peruvian lift, just as I'd expected. I paused often to enjoy the views and catch my breath. Green leaves still clung to the aspen trees with white snow cover all around -- gorgeous. But the snow was wet, true mashed potatoes, and while I expected the snow to dry out as I ascended higher it just wasn't happening.
I should've gone yesterday.
My destination was Great Scott, which Bob Dangerous raved about from yesterday, reporting deep and dry snow. When I finally rounded a turn near the bottom of the chute and I caught my first view, my heart sank when I saw that the whole chute had slid. Both Bob's skin track and his turns had been partially obliterated. Discretion dictated that I not ascend the Cirque today.
I should've gone yesterday.
But I enjoyed low-angle turns nearly all the way back to the truck. I only had to hike the last few hundred yards, although the bottom third was spent snowplowing next to the tire tracks in the road.
Did I hit any rocks? Hell, yeah.
Did I do any damage? Not really.
Was it worth it?
\
/Attachments
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13 snowbird blackjack road 060924.jpg -
12 snowbird first tracks 060924.jpg -
11 snowbird great scott 060924.jpg -
10 snowbird spider 060924.jpg -
09 snowbird upper peruvian gulch 060924.jpg -
08 snowbird tram 060924.jpg -
07 snowbird peruvian towers 060924.jpg -
06 snowbird aspens with snow 060924.jpg -
05 snowbird lower mt 060924.jpg -
04 admin self-portrait 060924.jpg -
03 mt superior 060924.jpg -
02 snowbird 060924.jpg -
01 alta 060924.jpg
