further improvement

An additional storm, late in the week, brought us a much-needed two feet of snow, just in time for the long weekend.  Anticipating crowds, H and I took the 7:30 a.m. bus up to Alta, arriving at the base an hour before opening.  Since we were there so early, we had no difficulty nabbing a seat in the Goldminer's Daughter lodge to put on our boots.  But the combination of new snow and a long holiday weekend meant that Saturday was far busier than it had been Christmas week.

On the ski bus

The new snow meant that Alta was able to get some additional, off-piste terrain open.  This was really good news, especially for me since I had gotten a terrible tune on my skis: they wouldn't hold an edge, wobbling back and forth, and one of them had a noticeable drag to the right.  I didn't trust them at all on groomed runs but they were definitely better off-piste.  The Ballroom was good; the Backside/East Greeley was good; and we did multiple runs in Catherine's Area, where it was really good way far in (Last Chance area or so).  This was my first time this season going into Catherine's Area and I quickly remembered that hiking in and skiing off-piste was much hotter and harder work than cruising groomers.  Much more fun too.

Back in Catherine's Area - finally

The increased crowds meant an awful lot of doofuses in the lift lines: people unable to count to four to load the quad chairs; people unable to get through the gates because their ski passes were in the same pocket as their phones (despite being told not to do that at the ticket window); people trying to jump the line via singles ... these are the times that try season passholders' souls.  But even with the doofuses, it was one of the better days of the season thus far - blue sky and new snow go a long way towards making a good day.

It was a busy bus ride back down to the valley and when we got there, it felt like springtime, not January 13th.  Some of our neighbors were sitting out in their front lawns, enjoying cocktails and the unseasonable sunshine.  We grabbed a couple of beers and joined them.  It felt like the right thing to do.