beautiful boxing day

I was back to work on the day after Christmas.  H had planned to take the week off and, after getting some errands out of the way, was up at Alta by 8:15 a.m., having taken the early bus.  He was surprised at the relative lack of crowds, despite the fact that it was a gorgeous day - I guess a lot of people really did look at Utah's snow totals and cancel their Christmas trips.  While I feel badly for the hotels' and restaurants' lost revenue, I'm pleased that this might mean less crowded trails.

First meadow in Catherine's Area: So Long

H did laps on Sugarloaf, keeping an eye on the electronic sign for when ski patrol opened Catherine's Area for the first time after the Christmas Eve storm.  When the rope dropped, he was there and so were a lot of other people.  He got out in front of enough of them to score fresh tracks in the So Long meadow and, as you can see in the photo above, the snow was lovely.  He texted me: "Great snow, but you need to be on the lookout for rocks."  The snow in the upper section of Catherine's Area was so good, rocks notwithstanding, that he went back twice more, getting first tracks in Sunset and then in Snowshoe Hill/Last Chance.  Trying to get out of Catherine's was another story: the last pitch was full of rocks and willows and emptied out onto a narrow, bumpy track.  Three times was enough, especially since he went over rocks at least once each time.

Second meadow: Snowshoe Hill (?)

He skied off-piste nearly all day: five times through Sunspot (including once following a couple of really good chick skiers through the swooping gully below Lone Pine), twice through Ballroom (where the traverse in continues to be gnarly, in a bad way) and once down lower Extrovert.

All the way out in Catherine's Area and no-one there yet

When he texted me to let me know he was catching the bus, I asked him how the bases of his skis had fared.  At first he didn't want to look, but then he did: "Nothing too deep or too close to the edges.  So, yay."  Yay indeed - and yay for an excellent off-piste day (finally!).

christmas 2017

In the past, skiing Christmas morning has been a way to escape the crowds.  Last year was cold with lots of snow and sparse crowds; 2015 was also cold, snowy and uncrowded; the non-hordes have been similar in prior years.  2017 was a little different:  relatively warm (low/mid-20s), a bit of new snow (9" overnight) and SO MANY PEOPLE.  As we stood in the throngs waiting for them to start loading the lifts - and we stood for 45 minutes because ski patrol was doing avalanche control nearby - we couldn't believe how many people were there.  That has never been the case since we've been out here.  But we've been so starved for snow that the people came out this year.

So many skiers meant that the nice new snow got tracked out and bumped up quickly.  I had optimistically brought my Rossignols but almost immediately wished I had my shorter, turn-ier Salomons instead.  Although the Rossignols are very light, they are wider and a lot longer than the Salomons and it is more work for me to turn them, especially in the bumps that sprung up all over the trails.  We did one run on Collins, which was a mix of nice, soft snow and awful scraped-off sections, and then moved to Sugarloaf to do laps there.  The snow was pretty good and the soft bumps were really fun, but my legs got tired fast.  Even H, who was back on his alpine skis after two days of telemark, admitted to some quad fatigue.

Now-obligatory chair selfie

By noon I just couldn't do it anymore (note to self: do more squats).  I grabbed my bag from Goldminer's Daughter, pounded a Christmas beer and caught the bus down to the valley.  I wasn't the only one leaving either - it seems as though a lot of people had just planned to ski for the morning and then rejoin their family holiday festivities for the afternoon.  H said that there were no lift lines at all for the afternoon, which was in itself a Christmas gift.

christmas eve 2017

That lovely little storm moved out, leaving a total of thirteen inches of new snow behind (which sounds like a lot but when you're Alta, you need way more than that to cover the rocks).  It also left cold temperatures for Christmas Eve, starting out at 5 F and warming up just barely into the 20s.  We think that those temperatures (and the flat light from overcast skies) kept a lot of skiers away as after the initial crush when the lifts opened, we were skiing right onto the lifts for the rest of the day.

Brrrrrrrr!

We both had stiff legs - H from getting back onto his telemark skis and me from being generally out of ski-shape - but the snow was pretty good, at least until it got skied off in the afternoon.  We were on Sugarloaf for most of the morning, where they had gotten another couple of trails open, helping to spread the traffic out a bit.  We could hear ski patrol setting off charges all over the place and that would hopefully open things up as well.

I had to go in for lunch early because my toes were so cold; H annoyingly claimed that his feet warmed up as the day went on.  After lunch we did a couple of runs off Supreme.  They had opened Rock N' Roll and the snow was good in there, soft and bumpy.  H's tele day #2 legs started to protest at that point so we went back up Sugarloaf and then did laps on Collins into the afternoon.

snow day

It was snowing on Christmas Eve Eve and for the first time all season, the snow was good!  Temperatures were reasonable (18-28 F) and the snow went on all day, with increasing winds and decreasing visibility as the day went on.  We weren't the only ones jonesing for some new snow, a brand new five inches to start the day with; the ski bus was crowded and people seemed stoked.  With only five inches at that point, there wasn't much new terrain open but this was the grand opening of the new Supreme lift, so the crowds seemed to migrate there.

It was great to ski in some soft snow again without hearing everyone's skis scratching across the hard stuff.  Some people - kids and non-skiers - struggled a bit because there hadn't been any grooming, but the snow wasn't heavy and even where it clumped up it was skiable.  We stayed at Collins at first, and were very pleased with the snow.  H was back on his telemark skis for the first time this season and I thought he looked good.

We finally went to check out New Supreme around 10:30 a.m. and found ourselves unimpressed with the new lift.  I will only say this once, because H says I need to stop complaining about it, but I think it's too bad they replaced the old triple.   The new lift is a quad, which means it is less favorable to single skiers, and is much faster, which means more people crowding the trails.  The base of the lift is right outside Alf's lodge, which means that you get a lot of beginners, and the run-out back to the lift is very long and flat.  I am comparing New Supreme to New Coke: we didn't need the change and it wasn't changed for the better.  Rant over.

Lunch was a little before noon at Alf's and we were happy to see our favorite cashier Carrie back again for her college break.  After lunch, the wind started to pick up and the cloud ceiling dropped; visibility got really difficult and it was as much from the clouds as it was from the still-falling snow.  Sugarloaf, which was skiing really well, was quite busy so we went back to Collins and did laps there until about 2 p.m.  Our legs were shot at this point, unused to skiing in actual snow (and H on his first day on teles to boot).

We found the saloon!

To mix things up a bit, we decided to check out the saloon on the second floor of the Goldminer's Daughter lodge - we had ridden a chair with one of the bartenders earlier.  The saloon was big, with huge windows looking out at Collins face, and casual, with people still in their ski boots tromping around.  We split a pitcher of Cutthroat and then went to catch our bus, which was 45 minutes late, because snowstorms always mess up the bus schedules.  Still, when it finally showed up we scored seats and simply appreciated the fact that we didn't have to drive down the canyon in the snow.  It had been such a fun day of skiing that we weren't about to get grumpy about a late bus.

non-stop

H took Friday off to go skiing.  Usually he gets plenty of skiing in when he takes the week off between Christmas and New Year's but this year there may be mitigating circumstances - like house guests, unexpected work schedule and the general dearth of snow - so he thought he should get a day in when he could. 

Snow guns and sunshine

It was sunny to start, eventually clouding up as a new little snowstorm moved in.  The few open trails were crowded but there were no lift lines and he was able to ski right onto the lift each time.  He was on his preferred alpine skis - Blizzard Cochise - and just flew top to bottom, nonstop, all day from first to last chair, racking up twenty-eight (!) runs and 46,000 feet of elevation (!!).  When I finally texted him at 4:30, a little surprised that I hadn't heard from him, he said that he'd just finished and that although the skiing was only so-so, he "just couldn't ski [himself] tired," despite his best efforts.  With an overnight storm moving in, however, perhaps he'd get the chance on Saturday.

dude, where's my snow?

The storm that moved into the Wasatch Saturday afternoon - getting all our hopes up - left about two inches up at Alta ... about the same amount that it left in our yard down in the valley.  What's more, it ushered in some much colder air, so much so that it was a brisk 7 F when we got up Sunday morning.  It took me approximately three minutes to do this math: very little new snow + cold + no new terrain + loading every other chair = not skiing today.  It seems that I have become very picky about my ski conditions this season.

Certainly gorgeous up there

H decided to go, however, which was fine by me.  So while I vacuumed, baked a batch of gingerbread biscotti, called my folks, did laundry and decorated the Christmas tree, he skied the few open groomers over and over again and got chilled standing in line to load the chairlift.

That's a cool cloud

Although the skiing was nothing to write home about, it was simply beautiful up at Alta.  While it remained cloudy in the valley until nearly 1 p.m., it was bluebird skies all day there, except for when this bizarre cloud wound its way up the canyon, covering the valley floor.  That photo just above is of the Collins lift so when they were in line to load the chair, it was completely socked in, and they rode the chair out of the clouds just before the angle station.

under the guns

When you ski the east, you get used to skiing under the snow guns: eastern resorts make a lot of snow in the early season, putting down a solid base for the natural snow to come.  It helps that they have more water out there from which to draw too.  Our old ski mountain, Sunday River, has over 2,000 snow guns and pumps 8,100 gallons a minutes from the nearby river (and then, when the snow melts, it all goes back down into that river).  They can cover 90% of the skiable terrain with manmade snow.  That's in sharp contrast to the western resorts.  Historically, western resorts have gotten so much natural snow - even in the early season - that they've barely needed any snow-making.  Alta has just a handful of snow guns (probably around twenty but certainly no more than thirty, and not much coverage for 2,200 skiable acres), mostly located on the high traffic trails like Corkscrew, Mambo, Devil's Elbow and Sugar Bowl.  And on Saturday, they were all running, bombarding skiers and chairlift riders with the stinging pellets.

The bus ride up was actually pretty crowded - more Snowbird employees than skiers, though.  It was partly sunny, high teens to the low 20s, with increasing clouds throughout the day and snow starting just after noon.  Although it wasn't terribly crowded, it seemed like it was because until we get more snow, Alta has instituted a new load-every-other-chair rule, trying to keep the few skiable trails from getting too congested.  After the first-chair crush, the crowd thinned out at Collins so H and I were able to ride together.  Over at Sugarloaf, however, where the snow was better, the crowd stayed constant and we rode singles.

Before the little storm rolled in

Ski Patrol got the backside opened for a little while although we only saw one or two brave souls venturing in there; then, in the afternoon as the puny little storm moved in, Patrol closed it so as not to lose any tourists in the fog.  The highlight of our day actually involved Ski Patrol: we saw two patrollers working with Banjo the avalanche dog, trying to get him comfortable riding on his handler's shoulders while skiing.  Banjo clearly preferred to be on the snow on his own four feet, however.  The level of those dogs' training is impressive: even as he exuberantly bounced ahead, Banjo was constantly checking back with his handler, making sure he was doing what he was supposed to.

The snow picked up around 1 and that was when we called it quits.  I was getting a little chilled and my toes were very cold at that point.  We had a half hour until our bus so we were able to have a couple of beers in the Goldminer's Daughter lodge while we swapped out our boots; once on board the bus, it wasn't crowded at all - too early for the Snowbird employees to be heading home, I guess.

pretty much eastern skiing

With H already three days ahead of me in the ski-day count, I knew I had to get out there for Sunday.  After much waffling about my layering options (bright sun and 30s but groomer skiing and low sun angle), worry about my stiff new boot liners (I got new liners put in my old boots in an attempt to put off buying new boots for at least a year) and triple-checking that I had my mittens AND my ski pass, we boarded the ski bus and went up to Alta.

It was another gorgeous day up in Little Cottonwood Canyon, even as the inversion built up in the valley below.  It was pretty warm, however, keeping mountain operations from making any snow.  And boy do they need snow!  For those of us who grew up skiing in New England, the conditions seemed decent: firm, fast hardpack.  The problem is, even though there weren't that many people skiing, we were all confined to just a couple of trails, so it got skied off fast.

Collins pass with Supreme behind me

The snow was better off of the Sugarloaf lift but they were only loading every other chair, trying to keep the one skiable trail from overcrowding.  It was less frustrating on the Collins side, where you had three(-ish) trails to choose from - and didn't have to wait in line since they filled every chair. 

I called it for us at 1 p.m.  I was skidding out a lot on the skied-off bits (my edges were not sharpened quite as much as I had hoped when I took my skis in for pre-season tuning) and my shins were a little sore from the stiff new boot liners.  It hadn't been the best day of skiing but it was a day of skiing and there's never anything wrong with that.

gorgeous day / no new snow

After a nice storm early in the week which dropped about 18" up at Alta, northern Utah has become mired in a truly terrible weather pattern: a massive high pressure ridge keeping the storms out of the area and growing inversions in the valleys.  Knowing that it didn't take any time for that new snow to get skied off, I again opted out of skiing on Saturday, wanting to take care of some things around the house.

Love that color blue (although would prefer to see it dark and stormy)

So while I did laundry, baked two batches of cookies, worked on boxes to mail back east for Christmas, dusted and put out some Christmas decorations, H took the ski bus up to Alta to get his runs in.  He ended up skiing until 2 p.m., at which point it was Miller time (or more correctly, PBR time).  He reported that the conditions were definitely better than last time - but also it was such a nice day up there that he didn't want to quit.

Nice day indeed

Notable mentions on the day:  (1) H got carded (!!!), buying his PBR at Goldminer's Daughter; and (2) he made a new friend on the bus ride down: a ten year old Snowbird race team member who had had a great day on the hill and who was totally bummed that he had to go to a birthday party in Idaho Falls on Sunday instead of more skiing.  At this point, all my chores in good order, I was willing to hit the slopes on his behalf.

in which i can't be convinced to go skiing

When we woke up Sunday morning, there was quite a lot of waffling.  I didn't really think I wanted to ski - H certainly hadn't sold me on it based on his description of opening day.  H was unsure too: conditions hadn't changed overnight and based on the cloud cover, it looked to be flat light.  He fretted about it for a while and then, in a burst of activity, threw his gear on, snarfed down some breakfast and headed for the bus stop, rightly figuring that if he didn't go, he would drive himself nuts with the second-guessing.  This way, he could get it out of his system.

So while I changed batteries in smoke detectors, took a walk and made both brownies and gingerbread cookies, I got these texts:

On the bus (8:13 a.m.)

And when I asked if he got a seat: Only two of us, so yes

Goldminer's Daughter (8:40 a.m.)

And when I asked if he got a seat: Lots to choose from

Done.  Crazy-windy (12:18 p.m.)

Made the 12:34 bus [with a seat]

There were fewer people on Sunday than there had been for opening day but it was still precarious: when H was on the narrow, single-file ribbon of snow comprising the EBT, returning to Collins from Sugarloaf, the guy in front of him fell hard, losing a ski and sprawling across the ski way.  With dirt and rocks on either side, H had to bunnyhop the guy's skis to keep from hitting him.  Sorry I missed it.

Have I mentioned 

opening day, 2017

Last year, Alta's opening day was delayed until Friday, December 2, because there was no snow at Thanksgiving (historically, they open the day before Thanksgiving).  Then there was an amazing snowstorm that just dropped a ton of snow and, in H's words, "[f]or an opening day, I'd say it was excellent.  This year, Alta's opening day was delayed until Saturday, December 2, because there was no snow.  The difference for 2017, however, is that there STILL isn't any snow: no natural and it's been so warm that the resorts can barely produce any man-made.  Not good.

Sparsely populated corral (note no snow 

on south-facing slopes)

Waiting and second in the singles line

I was on the fence as to whether I'd ski.  Typically, opening day is very busy, even when it's on a weekday.  This year, with it being on a Saturday, I thought it might be especially crowded with first-day folks, especially with the limited terrain.  Plus, I was pretty sure that it wasn't going to be any good [see above re no snow].  H was determined to go, however, because he has been waiting - impatiently - to be able to get on skis again.  I sent him off with the promise that he would take photos and text me anything I needed to know.

It doesn't look that bad - if you're an eastern skier

So while I did laundry, took a walk, changed the guest bed, cleaned bathrooms, made cookies and started up a batch of homemade limoncello, H drove up to Alta to get his opening day on.  At 8:30 a.m. he texted me: "Not crowded.  No snow."  It's a good thing that there weren't as many people there as on a more normal opening day because of the severely limited conditions: Alta is running two lifts - Collins and Sugarloaf - and there is one trail available for each.  There is so little natural snow that you can't even get to Alf's (which isn't open anyway) from the bottom of the Sugarloaf lift; and when you're done skiing the one trail on that side and want to get back to your car, you have to take the EBT around, doing your best to dodge all the rocks working their way through the frozen man-made snow.

Hardpack underfoot (and no snow on the south-facing slopes)

H was only able to do a marginal job of rock-dodging, bringing his skis home with quite a few dings and scrapes although luckily no core shots.  He lasted until 1:15 p.m., which was longer than I expected him to put up with the conditions, but which was long enough for him to note that lots of spring, summer and fall bicycling does not really put one's legs in skiing condition.  More skiing will put one's legs in skiing condition ... but we're going to need some snow for that.

But at least he's back on a chairlift