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.