enjoying a late season storm

Look at all that snow!

I played the Utah ski snob card and opted out of skiing on Saturday, sending H on up to Alta by himself.  The mountains had gotten 20 inches during the first part of the week and then it had started snowing in earnest again Friday night, bringing another five inches of heavy, wet snow by Saturday morning.  H texted me when he got up to the parking lot:  "29 F, zero visibility, blowing sideways."  While that didn't sound like too much fun, he ended up having a great day, skiing until the last chair to take advantage of all that wonderful snow.

Just so we're clear 

Although Collins and Sunnyside are the only two lifts running these last couple of weekends, the runs off Sugarloaf are still available as "backcountry access," meaning if you go through the gates and ski those trails, you're on your own because there's no patrol over there and they haven't done any avalanche work.  H said the snow on Razorback Ridge and below Cecret Lake was amazing and he did a number of runs there, garnering fresh tracks each time despite having to ski out the long way around (down through Sunnyside and returning to Collins via the rope tow).

Ski season almost over = no more beard

It snowed all day, adding another two inches to the storm's total.  H said that while the parking lot was fuller than we'd seen for the last couple of weekends, it still wasn't that crowded and he never had to wait in line to get back on the chair.  He arrived back home pretty tired from the nonstop, all-day skiing and pretty pleased about having gotten one more really good storm day in before Alta closes for the season.  The countdown has begun:  last day is April 28th.

Seriously, look at all that snow!