beautiful start to the long weekend

When the long three-day weekend finally rolled around, we were eager to get up to Alta to get our skis on the remains of the 26" storm.  The forecast was nice but not really January-ish: sunny, no wind and low 30s.  Perfect March weather!  After readjusting our layers to spring levels, we headed on up.  Traffic was steady but not overwhelming; we parked in the front row, waited for the corral to clear and got on the Collins lift.

H on Chartreuse Nose

Trying something new, we did a couple of warm-up runs on the Collins side, then switched it up and went into East Greeley along the main traverse.  We were pleasantly surprised to find the snow soft and skiable.  It wasn't fluffy and untracked but it was fun.  After skiing down to Sugarloaf, we did a run through Chartreuse Nose for the first time this season.  We had to pick our way around a couple of rocks but the snow was, again, soft and pretty deep and fun to ski in.  It was starting to get a little busier (although not terribly so: we would end up riding the singles line a lot but never actually stood in line) and we moved to Supreme.

In the trees at Catherine's Area

Once at Supreme, we mainly hiked into and skied Catherine's Area.  Amazingly it was quite good, given that it had been several days since it last snowed.  We did four or five runs in there throughout the day, including two down the first rope line and through the gate, in the trees between Back Forty and So Long.  No one had been in there (!!!) and the snow was terrific, deep and light.  When we hiked all the way to Last Chance, we again found deep, untracked snow. So fun!

Back in Devil's Castle again

After lunch, we did a cabin run and then hiked into Devil's Castle for the first time this season.  To continue the day's theme:  it was really good in there, still soft even though it had been skied out.  H did a second hike/run in there - I did a flyer since my legs were fading - and then we returned to Supreme where we stayed until Catherine's Area closed at 3 p.m.  We headed out then, pleased with the snow, pleased with the crowds, pleased with having our expectations on the day surpassed.  A great start to the long weekend.