Snowbird, UT, Mar. 9, 2015

[Tony Crocker]

I got out about 11AM after my forgotten ski jacket (containing ski passes and new camera) arrived by FedEx at 10:45. I connected with tseeb, on his last day of a 3 week road trip before heading back to California. Tseeb was skiing with Dave from England, who is living in Colorado for the winter but was passing through on the way back from the Epic Gathering in Jackson. We took the tram up and skied some Little Cloud laps to stick to the north facing in weather just slightly warmer than Sunday. Tseeb and Dave in Rasta chutes.

Hoop’s

We returned to the plaza for lunch visa Great Scott. Dave’s sideslipping the entry as tseeb approaches.

Tseeb skiing Great Scott.

At lunch we met Peter, a coworker of Rainbow Jenny. Liz and I skied with Jenny at Mammoth and Tahoe last March. We met them both on the plaza Sunday and Peter had Monday afternoon off to join us. We all returned to Little Cloud, where I led them through the tighter line in Rasta trees with softer snow.

We then moved to Gad 2 and skied STH. Peter skiing through the one sketchy section there.

Eventually Dave and Peter called it a day, but tseeb and I finished with a Great Scott to Green Forest. Below Great Scott I took this pic up to the traverse over Jaws and the no-fall zone.

A close inspection shows a snowboarder butt-sliding through the rocky crux of Jaws.

Green Forest had its usual high quality snow but there are more rocks in this low tide year so I was doing quite a few hop turns to get through it.

I skied 19,300 vertical with my late start. Meanwhile tseeb the marathon man got out early, skied 32K, then drove 10 hours to his cabin in South Lake Tahoe.

 

[tseeb]

Meanwhile tseeb the marathon man got out early, skied 32K, then drove 10 hours to his cabin in South Lake Tahoe.

The driving time was not much over 8 hours as I stopped for gas before leaving SLC ($1.99 at CNG, the only time on trip I got under $2 gas although I saw it a few times), then I stopped for about 30 minutes in Elko for fast food, Starbucks and gas ($2.29 at Smith's). That got me almost to Winnemucca where I slept at very quiet rest stop for 60-70 minutes in driver's seat with pillow against window. My final gas stop was on my alternate route that exits I-80 at Fernley, avoids Reno and saves at few miles, at Dayton ($2.55). Once I started driving, the thought of getting into sleeping bag on a bed in the cabin vs. on a thin mat in mat in back of SUV and a good book on CD kept me going.

I started my day on 3/9 at Snowbird about 9:30 going up Wilbere, then Peruvian and going though tunnel to Mineral Basin. I skied Mineral seven times and found best snow dropping in just before fence where the step used to be. The worst snow in the morning in Mineral was going furthest out the traverse as it was mostly too firm. The line that developed on Mineral eventually drove me and Dave away.