that was a good day

Things at Alta were slightly warmer Sunday morning, which was great.  It was forecasted to be sunny, but when the clouds rolled in around the time of first chair, I was bummed that it looked to be a repeat of flat-light Saturday.  To be sure, the snow is decent - and certainly covers the rocks, which hasn't been the case in recent years - but we had really been hoping for some sunshine so that we could see what we were skiing (and also because it would be warmer).  As the morning wore on, however, the clouds broke up and we did end up having blue skies for much of the day.  Yay!

Cecret Saddle, full of snow

After a couple of initial Collins runs, I wanted to find some soft bumps; when it is cold, the best thing to do is get off the groomed trails because you work harder off-piste.  While H stayed on Collins, I went to Sugarloaf, which I really hadn't skied at all on Saturday.  I went to Razorback, which is usually good for bumps.  But it had been groomed out so I ducked into the gate and skied out through the trees below Cecret Lake.  I next went to Chartreuse/Chartreuse Nose where H caught up with me.  I thought that area was great and did it four times: the rocks are all covered and the bumps were mostly manageable and I had it mostly to myself.

Devil's Castle, full of snow

H and I skied together after lunch, moving over to Supreme and trying to find fun, funky stuff.  We did the 3 Bears trees, several runs in the trees through the high gate after they opened East Castle, Challenger, Catherine's Area (via the traverse across Supreme Bowl) and even one run down a Supreme Bowl chute.  It has been years since I've skied Supreme Bowl.  It is very steep and quite narrow in places, although H picked a wider chute for us; with so much snow, it is doable even for me.  Near the bottom we cut to skier's right and came out through the bottom of Catherine's Area, where the last pitch was as good as it has been all year.  With the rope dropped on East Castle, nearly the whole mountain - everything but Baldy Chutes - ended up being open.  That right there tells you the snow (and coverage) is good.

Supreme Bowl

We even had a hero moment when rescued a tourist's lost Ikon pass.  We saw this older man searching under the lift at the top of Supreme; on next run I spotted his ski pass down on the ground on Challenger so we picked it up.  When we got to bottom of lift to give the pass to Martha from skier services, the guy was actually there with her.  Total heroes!  (I think he should have at least bought us beers.)

We skied until around 3 then took the 3:30 bus down.  The ride down was slow, due to all the traffic (it seems like there is always lots of traffic any more).  Despite that slight inconvenience, this was one of the most fun days I've had skiing this year.  I think a big reason was the sunshine: being able to see what you ski makes a big difference.  Storm skiing is great but I'm jonesing for some bluebird days now.

febrrrrrruary

February 2019 has been a very snowy month for much of the American West; this past week has been very cold here in Utah as well, with temperatures in the Salt Lake valley not even getting above freezing.  My ski days are way low these year, however, so despite the cold temperatures, I was determined to ski this weekend.  Saturday was very cold, with single digit morning base temperatures, a high of around 19 F and windchills way below zero.  To compound matters, although there was a little blue sky first thing, the clouds rolled in by the time the chairs started loading so we didn't even get the benefit of any sun for the rest of the day. 

Steep and deep

After only one run on Collins, I knew I needed to do some hiking to stay warm so H and I split up until lunch.  While he ran rampant over the front side, I skied Supreme all morning.  I did two hikes into Catherine's Area right away - which warmed me right up, except for my toes.  The snow was pretty well beaten down, especially in the first meadow, but you could still find some soft spots.  I also did a gully run (huge bumps), picked my way through the trees (one crash as I highsided over a soft bump), went into the low gate into the White Squaw are (huge bumps), and played around in the  low gates off Rock N' Roll.

I am actually smiling here

H and I met up at a crowded Alf's for lunch, then skied together a little bit.  We went into the gates off Rock N' Roll and found some deep stuff in the trees there - as well as very deep tree-wells - and also a porcupine who wanted nothing to do with us. The more open areas were pretty much completed tracked out but I really do enjoy that kind of snow: beaten down but still soft, with bumps everywhere.  If the light hadn't been so flat, it would have been great.

Well-hidden porcupine

By 2 p.m., my feet were very cold again and I was starting to get chilled as well.  I rode up Sugarloaf, around the EBT and skied out through Collins.  My plan was to catch the 2:30 bus while H did another couple of runs before taking the 3 p.m., but just about a minute before my bus came, H caught up with me at bus stop (having changed his mind) and we rode down together.  Despite a shower, hot tea and homemade soup, at 9:30 that night my toes were still hurting from having been so cold.

long winter weekend

We had never been in Moab in February so we thought the recent long holiday weekend might be a good opportunity to do so.  We checked (and rechecked) the weather for both Friday and Monday and it looked like we would be in the clear; driving the sixty mile stretch between Spanish Fork and Price is particularly sketchy in bad weather so we wanted to avoid that.  There was a storm moving in Friday night but we stayed ahead of it the whole way down. 

Mill Creek

The weather forecast for the weekend wasn't stellar, with the best weather on Friday and then getting colder and cloudier as the days wore on.  Our Saturday morning was taken up with errands and settling in.  We did attempt a drive up the LaSal loop road from the Ken's Lake side but had to turn around before long: the road wasn't plowed. 

Old power plant on Mill Creek

Back in town, we walked Milton to the Moab Barkery to check out collars, and then to the Kokopelli Lodge to see if any dogs were in residence.  We struck out in both cases but enjoyed the walk regardless.  Later we stopped by the Moab Brewery for a couple of beers and conversation.  There had been a trail run that day - the Red Hot 33k/55k - and we talked with some of the racers.  I would have been exhausted after an event like that but they were happy to chat with us.

Looking downstream

Sunday morning surprised us with pretty clear skies and we were determined to get out at least for a little while.  We three drove over to the Mill Creek trail head to see how far we could get up the canyon without getting our feet wet.  We didn't get that far, only to where the canyon splits into the north and south forks, where you have to cross the creek.  It was in the mid-30s and we decided wet boots would not be the way to go.

Coming down from the ridge

On one short stretch, we did have to cling to the rock walls above the creek for a few steps.  Milton was a little nervous in this section but calmly waited for H to help him across the slippery bits.  After that, we took another trail up to the ridge just to keep the walk going.  We found a number of inter-crossing trails and jeep roads, eventually picking our way down a steep hillside back to the trail head parking lot.  We next did it from across the creek: walking down the "dump road" to Potato Salad Hill, a notorious, short, rocky hill that OHVers like to try to drive up and over. 

M gets a drink

Our mileage wasn't high but we were glad to get out into the sunshine for a bit - especially since the clouds were starting to build.  We walked to Woody's for beers around 5 p.m., talked with the bartender and some locals for a while, and then when we headed back, a full-on snowstorm had settled in.

Ah yes, more snow

It snowed all evening and all night, and we ended up with over six inches of snow.  H and Milton saw a local when they took their morning walk - the guy was not happy with the snow at all.  Moab often gets snow but then the sun comes out and it warms up, melting everything quickly.  This year is apparently the coldest and wettest winter Moab has seen in years.

Monday's sunrise

Stymied by the weather (this weekend really hadn't turned out like we had hoped), we waited out several additional snow squalls before hitting the road Monday afternoon.  It continued to snow all the way to Green River, but once we turned north on Route 6, it cleared up, the roads dried out and we had an uneventful drive home.  And then H had to shovel at the house because it had snowed there too.

at least the beer stayed cold

Come to the desert, they said.  It'll be dry and sunny, they said.

Our beer cartons got soggy

I'm putting together a post about our long holiday weekend in Moab but as you can see, it snowed.  A lot, for the area.  This is the coldest, wettest winter Moab has had in years, apparently.  Because of course it is.

not complaining

Northern Utah has been getting pounded by snow lately and I am absolutely not complaining about that.  It covers the rocks on the ski trails and helps our water situation.  It would be nice, however - and I realize that this makes me sound very, very spoiled - to get to ski under some bluebird skies for a change: H has 20+ days of skiing so far and only five of them have had any sunshine.  What's good for the slopes is not good for the goggle-tan, I guess.

This past Sunday was no exception to the weather we've been having of late: blustery, overcast and cold.  I begged off and stayed home, walking Milton, making two kinds of soup (peanut-sweet potato-red bean stew and New Mexico green chile stew), baking (brownies and a coconut loaf) and catching up on laundry.  H grabbed up his telemark gear, however, and headed up to Alta, catching a 7:40 a.m. SRO bus.  From the chatter over the bus's radio, it sounded like they were all SRO, and leaving some people behind at the bus stops too.  When he got to Wildcat base at 8:35, the corral was already more than half-full and there were no available seats inside the Goldminer's Daughter - people were standing around, awkwardly holding trays and trying to eat breakfast standing up.

As the latest storm rolls in

H skied straight through - "Cloudy.  Windy.  Cold.  Snow is great" was the text I got - until catching a 2 p.m. bus, in order to get out of the canyon before the afternoon/evening wave of snow started up.  He got home just fine and we were ensconced inside, eating soup, when the storm kicked into gear.  At 8:30 p.m., when Milton and I went out for one last walk around the block, there was six inches of snow on the ground; at 10 p.m., before I went to bed, it was still coming down, despite my whispered, plea of "That's enough!"  You see, I am not - NOT! - complaining and it can snow all it wants to up in the mountains ... but I'm pretty much over it with the white stuff down at the house.

the snowpack increaseth

Incredibly, it had been three weeks since I had been on my skis, due to weather, visitor, work and travel situations.  This past week has brought a lot of snow to Utah's mountains, with the Wasatch getting 5+ feet in four days, plus active systems are continuing to roll in.  It is now officially the second snowiest winter since we moved out here - and the water is very, very welcome.  We anticipated crowds for Saturday, what with all the recent snow (plus it seems to always be crowded these days, no matter what) so we took an earlier bus; by the time we moseyed out to the lift line, the corral was chock-full of folks.  The singles line moved very quickly, however (shout out to lifties who call out full chairs of singles!), so that was just fine.  Although we had seen some patches of blue sky when we first got up to Alta, the clouds soon rolled in.  It was cold and windy all day and my feet got very cold, especially since I was just skiing groomers: I brought my wider Rossignols, thinking that they might open some new terrain.  These would turn out to be the wrong skis for the day and I really should have known better, what with it being two days post-storm, plus flat light, plus out-of-shape legs.  The old Rossignols with their funky graphics did get multiple comments for style throughout the day, though, which was a little weird but appreciated all the same.

 Supreme Bowl

After the second run through Racecourse I realized I needed to focus on getting my legs back into shape - my Rossignols shudder and fight when I try to make short, quick turns, which gets tiring for me - so I suggested that H and I split up until 11:30.  I did laps on Sugarloaf, which was very cold and windy, and Supreme, which was slightly more protected.  H later said his best runs of the morning were around Chartreuse and Extrovert.  A lot of terrain was still closed because the avalanche danger is very high - even in-bounds - with lots of heavy, wind-loaded snow.  Ski patrol wasn't even setting off charges for control work, and Ballroom, Backside, Devil's Castle, East Castle, EBT all stayed closed for the duration.

The ice beard makes an appearance

Lunch was a slight ordeal since Alf's was very busy and crowded, as people were lingering to avoid the cold.  Afterwards, we skied together on Supreme as it warmed up just a touch and started snowing.  I skied out at 2 to catch the 2:30 bus, wanting to get home in a timely fashion for Milton.  H stayed until closing and reported that the conditions got better as the day went on.  He did a couple runs in Supreme Bowl for the first time this year and also a couple Catherine's runs, which weren't fantastic as the snow was stiff and difficult to turn in.  Extra bonus: with all the new snow, most of the rocks are covered!

Catherine's Area

At this point, the little storm was kicking into gear and snow starting to accumulate on the canyon road.  H grabbed a seat on a 4:45 bus and then found it slow going once below Snowbird due to traffic volume and road conditions.  Plus, the bus got stuck behind a very nervous driver who held things up - until the cops pulled the guy over for going too slowly!  (There was some mockery from bus riders for that.)  He got home later than expected, but safe and sound, and just in time for homemade soup to take the chill off.

interlude

Apologies for the gap in posting: I had to go out of town and H has had to work rather a lot, both of which things curtail the participation in post-worthy activities.  On the plus side, northern Utah has had some good snowfall and Alta's forecast for this week is looking just delightful.  Skiing should be good this weekend and we're hoping to get up there - it's been far too long.

Also on the plus side, here's our good boy Milton: