Sharon
New member
After 3 days of snowfall in the Wasatch the sun finally shined and the skies were bluebird blue. Many folks were worn out from the weekend powder frenzy and had to go back to work on this cold and sunny monday morning. The Pocket Rocket sisters were putting on their red jackets and blue skis and were off to sample The Canyons under the guidance of ski patroller Tank aka Frank aka Acid Christ. Being that Frank is the most ski-crazed of all, we were in good hands. He's got The Canyons dialed in and he obliged us with the goods.
In the morning he met us at the Gondola and escorted us up to the Lookout where he was posted. He was given some tasks he could perform while showing us some of the good stuff on the side he was patrolling. He took us to a really nice bowl that was lightly tracked and had some fresh snow for us leave our mark.
After sampling the north facing terrain on the Lookout side and riding the Sun Peaks lift, skiing Massacre and the woods in that area, Frank had to depart to accomplish a few ski patrol tasks like putting pads on lift towers. He gave us a route to take to get to Peak 5 and 9990 via the Saddle and Tombstone lifts. We took a run in the woods off each lift and found some really nice powder. Took some mental notes to get back and ski some fresh stashes we found there later. After a quick lunch break of Salmon chowder and Red Bull at the Red Pine Lodge mid-mountain, we took a long lift ride on Tombstone punctuated by a long stop of the lift before we got to the top, we disembarked to learn that they were going to close that lift for an hour or more. They said there would be a shuttle if we went to Peak 5. Shari didn't like the sound of it and didn't want to spend her precious powder time waiting for a shuttle to get us back to the mountain, so we opted to go back to those perfect powder patches in the woods off the saddle lift.
Those north facing woods off Elk Ridge were super. There was so much snow in there and it was all light and fluffy and there was plenty of untracked snow to get that super floaty feeling, run after run. We stayed there until 3:30, then went back to Lookout to see what Frank was up to. He told us to hit Badlands on our way down. This was an excellent choice. While there was a lot of brush poking through the snow, there was so much snow in there you could ski right over the brush. We skied from 10-4...a long day, no crowds, run after run through the powder. Temps were 20(shade)-30 (sun). I was energized by the sun and the endless snow. I went home with a huge grin on my face.
I picked a fantastic time to hit some super powder early in the season. The 3 days spent with good friends skiing the greatest snow on earth could not have been planned any better. Here are pix from the whole weekend.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sheller19 ... EBxxNAseaJ
or
http://tinyurl.com/8zpt5
I didn't take many pix on sunday because it was snowing and blowing so hard it was not good photo-weather so I didn't take my camera on the mountain. Even saturday I didn't take too many but enough to show what it was like up there. We were skiing knee to crotch-deep snow at Alta that weekend. If you fell, it was like swimming in the snow. I put my pole in to rest and it went all the way down, and my arm went all the way down to my armpit. The snow was as deep as the length of my pole and my arm together!! While Park City/The Canyons didn't get the huge depth that Alta got, our day at The Canyons on Monday was still a powder feast. If its 30" or 20"deep it really doesn't make that big a difference, especially when you have good company and there is so much terrain that there's plenty left even the next day.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sheller19 ... EBxxNAseaJ
It was snowing when I left and I'm sure conditions will be epic for quite some time with this snow cycle they are getting out there. If you can...get out there!!!
In the morning he met us at the Gondola and escorted us up to the Lookout where he was posted. He was given some tasks he could perform while showing us some of the good stuff on the side he was patrolling. He took us to a really nice bowl that was lightly tracked and had some fresh snow for us leave our mark.
After sampling the north facing terrain on the Lookout side and riding the Sun Peaks lift, skiing Massacre and the woods in that area, Frank had to depart to accomplish a few ski patrol tasks like putting pads on lift towers. He gave us a route to take to get to Peak 5 and 9990 via the Saddle and Tombstone lifts. We took a run in the woods off each lift and found some really nice powder. Took some mental notes to get back and ski some fresh stashes we found there later. After a quick lunch break of Salmon chowder and Red Bull at the Red Pine Lodge mid-mountain, we took a long lift ride on Tombstone punctuated by a long stop of the lift before we got to the top, we disembarked to learn that they were going to close that lift for an hour or more. They said there would be a shuttle if we went to Peak 5. Shari didn't like the sound of it and didn't want to spend her precious powder time waiting for a shuttle to get us back to the mountain, so we opted to go back to those perfect powder patches in the woods off the saddle lift.
Those north facing woods off Elk Ridge were super. There was so much snow in there and it was all light and fluffy and there was plenty of untracked snow to get that super floaty feeling, run after run. We stayed there until 3:30, then went back to Lookout to see what Frank was up to. He told us to hit Badlands on our way down. This was an excellent choice. While there was a lot of brush poking through the snow, there was so much snow in there you could ski right over the brush. We skied from 10-4...a long day, no crowds, run after run through the powder. Temps were 20(shade)-30 (sun). I was energized by the sun and the endless snow. I went home with a huge grin on my face.
I picked a fantastic time to hit some super powder early in the season. The 3 days spent with good friends skiing the greatest snow on earth could not have been planned any better. Here are pix from the whole weekend.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sheller19 ... EBxxNAseaJ
or
http://tinyurl.com/8zpt5
I didn't take many pix on sunday because it was snowing and blowing so hard it was not good photo-weather so I didn't take my camera on the mountain. Even saturday I didn't take too many but enough to show what it was like up there. We were skiing knee to crotch-deep snow at Alta that weekend. If you fell, it was like swimming in the snow. I put my pole in to rest and it went all the way down, and my arm went all the way down to my armpit. The snow was as deep as the length of my pole and my arm together!! While Park City/The Canyons didn't get the huge depth that Alta got, our day at The Canyons on Monday was still a powder feast. If its 30" or 20"deep it really doesn't make that big a difference, especially when you have good company and there is so much terrain that there's plenty left even the next day.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sheller19 ... EBxxNAseaJ
It was snowing when I left and I'm sure conditions will be epic for quite some time with this snow cycle they are getting out there. If you can...get out there!!!
