Day 41: One day, two canyons, two resorts
Magazine responsibilities required that I ski Solitude in the morning to do a story, yet I was committed to skiing Snowbird with Tony Crocker's group that day as well. What choice did I have? I had to do both.
I'd planned to perhaps tour over to Solitude from Snowbird via Alta in the morning, take care of what I had to at Solitude and tour back for the afternoon with Tony's group at Snowbird. Air France, however, had other plans. Tony called me at 10 pm Saturday night -- he'd made it to Utah but his luggage hadn't. At last check it was somewhere in Paris. No worries, I assured him, I could bring a second set of everything -- jacket, pants, hat, gloves, socks, etc. -- but that I couldn't get there until after lunch. He'd have to cool his jets until then, and I at that point made the committment that I wouldn't be touring.
The truck thermo read 13 degrees in the Solitude parking lot at 9 am, but with the strong sun it sure didn't feel that chilly. The sky was a deep blue and there was not a cloud in it or a breath of wind. Due to my responsibilities there I never got off the frontside groomers, so I have no idea what remains off the summit or in Honeycomb, but those groomers were exquisite corduroy and, as is usually the case, there was hardly anyone there to ski it up.
After lunch I descended BCC and ascended LCC, pausing momentarily between Storm Mountain and Stairs Gulch to get a few photos of some BCC locals -- the white furry kind.
I arrived at the Iron Blosam at Snowbird by 1 pm and handed Tony his goodie bag. Shortly thereafter we were riding Wilbere together. Tony was stylin' -- his own kid barely recognized him without the faded red coat.
We headed up Little Cloud and lapped a couple of quick trips through Mineral Basin as the rest of his crew finished up lunch on the Tram Plaza. The first was out the Bookends Traverse to just shy of Hillary Step, and on the northeast-facing aspect below we found ample lightly-tracked dry snow. For the second run we skied the rarely-open Hidden Peak Chutes (firm but edgeable) down to Lone Star, which was damp from its south-facing aspect but hardly heavy or wet.
By this point we met up with a bunch of Tony's crew atop Hidden Peak as several paragliders launched from the summit. They'd already skied Tiger Tail, so the best idea I could come up with was to hike to the Baldy Traverse to ski North Baldy.
Along the way I noticed that several of the oft-closed Chamonix Chutes were open, but facing south they weren't going to be my cup of tea on Sunday. I also noticed that the Baldy hike was closed above the traverse, which meant that Alta Ski Patrol left the Baldy Chutes closed until Monday. Our group of 12 clicked in and slid on out to Memorial Buttress as wispy clouds began to filter into the canyon, and we regrouped before reaching a joint decision to go right to ski Eddie's Snowfield.
That was the choice! Deep, loose dry snow made turns an absolute joy. It was a real treat to stop, turn around and look up the hill to see a group of 12 descending Eddie's en masse, all of them smiling. Down low some opted to thread Eye of the Needle while I brought some others further right for lower angle runs through the trees. We all regrouped on Chip's, and headed out the Blackjack Traverse for a bit more vertical before reaching the base.
It was so good that we had to do it again, but this time only the lower half via the gravity traverse from the Peruvian chair. I decided to explore an area to skier's left of where I normally go out there, knowing that there are cliff bands of an unknown height in the area, and we were rewarded with both untracked snow and one nasty yet negotiable little checkpoint.
It was 4 pm and what to do? Lather, rinse and repeat! We headed out again, this time venturing even further left with much the same result, albeit with a bit more untracked than the previous line. This time a Serbian visitor skiing alone noticed our entrance and followed, and after some small-talk stuck with us. Finding the lifts already closed by the time we reached the base we opted for beers on the Tram Plaza instead.
Beers on the Tram Plaza graduated to wings and more beer at the Wildflower, which graduated to shots of vodka in Stefan's condo, followed by the usual grand Sunday dinner in Al's condo with wonderful wines that I can't afford flowing like water. Light snowflakes began to fall from the clouds clinging to the peaks lining the canyon.
I got home around midnight. Big day, long day, great day. Work is for R&R, right?
And I just got a call from Crocker -- his gear has now made it as far as Cincinnati.
Magazine responsibilities required that I ski Solitude in the morning to do a story, yet I was committed to skiing Snowbird with Tony Crocker's group that day as well. What choice did I have? I had to do both.
I'd planned to perhaps tour over to Solitude from Snowbird via Alta in the morning, take care of what I had to at Solitude and tour back for the afternoon with Tony's group at Snowbird. Air France, however, had other plans. Tony called me at 10 pm Saturday night -- he'd made it to Utah but his luggage hadn't. At last check it was somewhere in Paris. No worries, I assured him, I could bring a second set of everything -- jacket, pants, hat, gloves, socks, etc. -- but that I couldn't get there until after lunch. He'd have to cool his jets until then, and I at that point made the committment that I wouldn't be touring.
The truck thermo read 13 degrees in the Solitude parking lot at 9 am, but with the strong sun it sure didn't feel that chilly. The sky was a deep blue and there was not a cloud in it or a breath of wind. Due to my responsibilities there I never got off the frontside groomers, so I have no idea what remains off the summit or in Honeycomb, but those groomers were exquisite corduroy and, as is usually the case, there was hardly anyone there to ski it up.
After lunch I descended BCC and ascended LCC, pausing momentarily between Storm Mountain and Stairs Gulch to get a few photos of some BCC locals -- the white furry kind.
I arrived at the Iron Blosam at Snowbird by 1 pm and handed Tony his goodie bag. Shortly thereafter we were riding Wilbere together. Tony was stylin' -- his own kid barely recognized him without the faded red coat.
We headed up Little Cloud and lapped a couple of quick trips through Mineral Basin as the rest of his crew finished up lunch on the Tram Plaza. The first was out the Bookends Traverse to just shy of Hillary Step, and on the northeast-facing aspect below we found ample lightly-tracked dry snow. For the second run we skied the rarely-open Hidden Peak Chutes (firm but edgeable) down to Lone Star, which was damp from its south-facing aspect but hardly heavy or wet.
By this point we met up with a bunch of Tony's crew atop Hidden Peak as several paragliders launched from the summit. They'd already skied Tiger Tail, so the best idea I could come up with was to hike to the Baldy Traverse to ski North Baldy.
Along the way I noticed that several of the oft-closed Chamonix Chutes were open, but facing south they weren't going to be my cup of tea on Sunday. I also noticed that the Baldy hike was closed above the traverse, which meant that Alta Ski Patrol left the Baldy Chutes closed until Monday. Our group of 12 clicked in and slid on out to Memorial Buttress as wispy clouds began to filter into the canyon, and we regrouped before reaching a joint decision to go right to ski Eddie's Snowfield.
That was the choice! Deep, loose dry snow made turns an absolute joy. It was a real treat to stop, turn around and look up the hill to see a group of 12 descending Eddie's en masse, all of them smiling. Down low some opted to thread Eye of the Needle while I brought some others further right for lower angle runs through the trees. We all regrouped on Chip's, and headed out the Blackjack Traverse for a bit more vertical before reaching the base.
It was so good that we had to do it again, but this time only the lower half via the gravity traverse from the Peruvian chair. I decided to explore an area to skier's left of where I normally go out there, knowing that there are cliff bands of an unknown height in the area, and we were rewarded with both untracked snow and one nasty yet negotiable little checkpoint.
It was 4 pm and what to do? Lather, rinse and repeat! We headed out again, this time venturing even further left with much the same result, albeit with a bit more untracked than the previous line. This time a Serbian visitor skiing alone noticed our entrance and followed, and after some small-talk stuck with us. Finding the lifts already closed by the time we reached the base we opted for beers on the Tram Plaza instead.
Beers on the Tram Plaza graduated to wings and more beer at the Wildflower, which graduated to shots of vodka in Stefan's condo, followed by the usual grand Sunday dinner in Al's condo with wonderful wines that I can't afford flowing like water. Light snowflakes began to fall from the clouds clinging to the peaks lining the canyon.
I got home around midnight. Big day, long day, great day. Work is for R&R, right?
And I just got a call from Crocker -- his gear has now made it as far as Cincinnati.
