last day of the 2012 season

It was with heavy hearts and plenty of sunscreen that we headed up to Alta for the final day of the 2011-2012 season.  There were a few big, puffy clouds in the morning but they cleared off by noon, so that it got warmer than Saturday ever was.  It was still cool in the morning, however, and the snow held up much better than we expected it would.

Party on the Watson's beach

Since it's Alta, all the costumed weirdos came out to bid farewell to the ski season: grass skirts, tutus of all shapes, sizes and colors, the Three Amigos riding hobby horses, a kayaker (with kayak), Spiderman with a cape ... our favorites were the guy in the Big Bad Wolf costume and the guy with the purple shag skis.  It actually got pretty busy as the day wore on, with lift lines to wait in since Collins was the only lift running, and the parking lot filling up with revelers staking out prime tail-gating territory.  There was a live band playing outside the Watson Shelter lodge and folks were just chilling, soaking up the sun (and the beer) and enjoying the last day.

My eyes are open - just squinting

Because of the limited terrain, we pretty much skied the same trails all day: slipping over the back to Devil's Elbow, hitting the Ballroom, speeding down the blue cruisers.  The snow stayed cold through lunchtime and only started to get really slushy and sticky after 2 p.m.  I was skiing better than I was the day before and managed to keep making runs until nearly 3:30 p.m.

Saying goodbye to another season

After that we sat on the tailgate of the truck, watching the folks take their final runs, and toasted with PBRs to the end of the season.  The snow wasn't nearly as good as it had been last season, but we got a ton more bluebird days and still got 48 (H) and 39 (me) days on the hill.  It's sad to stop skiing - it's been so easy knowing exactly what we were going to do each weekend, with no decision-making required - but now we can shift into summer mode.  Bring on the hiking/cycling/MTBing/camping!