alta, christmas eve 2009

Today, while I went into work to get a couple of projects done for my bosses, H took the day off and went skiing at Alta.  He'd been waiting a long, long time for this - and apparently it was worth it.  He left our apartment at 8:45 a.m. this morning and, having cleverly bought his ticket in advance, was on the fourth chair when the lifts opened at 9:15 a.m.  (Have I mentioned that we live SO close to the ski resorts?)  It was cold today, enough so that he wore his face mask in the morning -- +4 at the summit and 0 at the base, and warming up to 13 at the summit and 14 at the base by afternoon -- but clear blue skies and sunshine, which was welcome after the last couple of stormy days we've had. 

Almost everything is open, although more snow is definitely needed (H took a HUGE gouge out of the bottom of one of his skis - right down to the core - on a bump run off the Supreme lift and also managed to find some ice - horrors!) and he skied across most of the resort.  The terrain is much more dramatic than that at Brighton, some of it crazy-steep, but H promises that I'll have no trouble skiing there. 

Notes for the day: at Alta, none of the chairlifts have safety bars (!!!); unlike Brighton, snowboarders are absolutely, positively not allowed; there were a lot more folks wearing helmets; and three dogs were spotted up there in Little Cottonwood Canyon, where dogs are not even allowed in cars: two Labs scrounging for scraps in the lodge and one German Shepherd pooping by the chairlift.  Becky is quite offended.

Merry Christmas Eve, y'all!  We'll report back after skiing Solitude tomorrow!