let's be frank

 Alta's 2023/2024 ski season has ended with 621 inches of snow.  Not as record-breaking as last year's 903 inches but still well above "normal" (500 inches).  And it ended with a gorgeous closing weekend that likely left quite a few skiers sunburned.

H captures the Castle

H went up solo on Saturday.  You didn't need parking reservations but it was still sparsely attended: he got front row parking.  It was partly/mostly cloudy in the morning, slowing the snow warming a bit, but since it hadn't gotten super-cold overnight, conditions still softened quickly.  Although a bunch of terrain was closed (patrol probably just doesn't want to bother this time of year and who can blame them?), Devil's Castle was open and H went in for the first time all season.  There was plenty of snow but it was heavy to turn in, not surprisingly for this late in in the year.  (Meanwhile, Milton and I did a two hour walk, yardwork, attended to laundry and vacuuming, and meal-prepped down in the valley.)

Closing Day selfie

Sunday was sunny right from the start.  Parking reservations were required for closing day (all parking would be full by 1 p.m. and they actually dropped the avalanche gates to close the road to keep people from coming up).  Staff were checking license plates as vehicles entered the lots, slowing traffic a bit; we got stopped just below the Hellgate condominiums and traffic moved slowly but steadily after that.  We scored a parking spot in the Wildcat base lot - "where the fun is," according to H.  As we walked through the parking lot to the Goldminer's Daughter lodge, the partying had already begun with blaring music, pancakes, eggs and bacon being griddled on camp stove and breakfast beers.

Frank crowd

Later, I saw an Instagram post of the initial Collins lift line, with the caption: "Alta closing goes hard!"  Indeed it does.  I would guess 80-90% of attendees were in costumes.  H and I aren't costume-people but we do appreciate folks' creativity.  We spent the day pointing out good outfits to each other.  There were lots of hotdogs (in honor of the annual Frank Classic free ski competition ensconced up under the Wildcat lift), Hawaiian shirts, bellbottoms, several disco ball helmets, leopard-print everything, tuxedos and wedding dresses, tutus and poodle skirts and lederhosen, chicks in bikinis, dudes in speedos, so many jeans shorts of all lengths, lots of '80s-inspired "fashion," pajamas, robes and wings.

Air Frank

Since folks were so busy pre-gaming, there really weren't many people skiing until 11 a.m.; after that, the lift lines got long, but there was such good people-watching, and it was so sunny and pleasant, that the long waits were fine.  We did our usual progression, following the warming conditions: Sugarloaf (where I fell for the first time in years, catching an edge right under the lift), then Supreme (where H fell for the first time in years, catching a metal soup spoon (?!!?) in his ski brake - it acted like a rudder and steered him towards a ditch until he laid it down to stop himself), then Collins.  We also did the obligatory one chairlift ride up Wildcat to check out Frank.  This lift had the longest lines of the whole resort, as well as a grouchy-looking police officer keeping an eye out for those who were partying too hard.

Photo compliments of our new

locker room friend Johnny

We skied until nearly 2 p.m., then went to the locker room to say goodbye to our locker sublet.  Hopefully we'll get to do that again next year: it was so convenient, plus we really enjoyed making friends with the other denizens.  The party was still bangin' in the parking lot: more music, more food, more beer.  The Oscar Meyer Weinermobile was even there - again, in honor of Frank.  We ate some lunch and grabbed our own beers to do a circuit of the lot, admiring the various set-ups and outfits.  Finally, we had to get home to let Milton out so we said farewell to the ski season and headed back down canyon.  In Frank we trust.

definitely spring skiing this time

The weekend rolled around and spring was definitely in the air.  H skied solo on Saturday, the last day for the ski bus (which is so stupid - I mean, why not run it Sunday too?).  When he came back, he was all, "You should have gone."  To which I pointed out, I'm going tomorrow [Sunday] ... and who's smart?  Me, because Sunday was even nicer - sunnier, warmer, less windy - than Saturday.

Words to live by, compliments of the

Goldminer's Daughter's door

Because we didn't have to catch an early bus, Sunday felt decadent: I slept in until after 6:30!  As we drove up to Alta, there wasn't much traffic on the road.  We pulled into Wildcat base and were directed to a very nice parking spot by the parking lot guys.  We changed our boots in the locker room (no word yet on whether we'll be able to sublet the locker again next year) and slathered on more sunscreen.

Yet another Supreme chair selfie

As I had done on Thursday, and H had done on Saturday, we started on the Sugarloaf chair, following the sun around as it warmed and softened the snow.  Extrovert got really good and the little Razorback pitch was fantastic, although you can only make about three turns before it's over.  A lot of terrain was closed (like Saturday, unlike Thursday): Devil's Castle, the Backside, Catherine's Area, Supreme Bowl, East Castle.

#nofilter on that sky

We moved to the Supreme chair next, doing laps, seeking the sun.  It never got busy enough that we had to wait in line and we almost always had the chairs to ourselves.  

Dang good parking spot

When we moved over to the front side, the wiggle in the Ballroom was deep and fast, and we could see people getting launched - sometimes intentionally, sometimes not - from the turns.  I was not at all happy with the top half of the first run down Collins: it was frozen hard and not much fun.  It was much better below the angle station.  We took a ride on Wildcat next; since it's such a slow chair, we figured that would just give more time for the sun to soften things up.  Back to the Collins chair for another but it hadn't softened up much in my opinion and I called it a day.  H did one more run and said that it really was softer that time.  I remained skeptical.

Those wires are tiny battery-powered lights

Since it was the next-to-last ski weekend, and since it was so gorgeous, we had brought a couple of beers for the tailgate.  The Wildcat base parking lot was about 75% full and people were still coming in.  This time of year, most people prefer to come later when it's warmer, softer and the party has started.  As always, it both seems like the ski season has taken forever and gone so fast.  On beautiful days like this one, you wish it could last longer. 

playing hooky 2

The last time I played hooky to go skiing, it was pretty cold and definitely snowing the whole time.  Not what I had had in mind.  This time, when I needed to get a day in for not skiing on the weekend when it was dumping snow, it was much more what I wanted.  Bright sun, bluebird skies, no wind and hardly any people.

Supreme chair selfie

Going up midweek is just so decadent-feeling, compared to having to get up at 5:30 a.m. to catch a 6:30 a.m. bus.  This time, I slept in until the sun was up, had breakfast, took Milton on a halfway decent walk, and then hopped in the car to go up to Alta.  The drive took me fifteen minutes and I still got up there fifteen minutes before the lifts opened.  And got a dang good parking spot too.

Supreme chair

The thing to do this time of year - when the snow freezes up overnight from being slushy the afternoon before - is start off on the Sugarloaf chair, which gets the most sun and thus softens up the fastest.   When conditions start getting sticky, move to Supreme and then, in the early afternoon, head to the front side.  That's exactly what I did.  Everything was open: there were a good number of folks schlepping up the East Castle traverse; and there was a line of skiers hiking up Baldy.

Partial view of Devil's Castle

Since it wasn't crowded (no little kids and most people seemed to be 60+), I skied right onto the lifts every run, meaning that I made a lot of runs even though I'm pretty slow.  I even ventured into Catherine's Area but should have waited just a little longer before doing so: it was softening but still stiff in spots, making it difficult for me to push through.

Catherine's Area selfie

By 1 p.m., when I got to the front side, the main groomers were nice and soft.  I did make the mistake of going into Sunspot.  It looked okay from the chair but once I got in there, it was still hard and scraped off and I got out and over to Strawberry as soon as I could.  Despite that one sketchy run, it was a fantastic day.  I skied until my legs were tired and didn't get sunburned - so much better than going to work!

more skiing and homebodying

 Despite my still having three days to ski before the season ends, I again opted out of skiing today (see previous post re being over winter conditions).  H went up to Alta, noting that the bus was not very crowded and the road much less dicey than Saturday.  It was still cold, but less windy, and snowed off and on all day, although never amounting to much.  There seemed to be more people than the day before but patrol did a great job opening more terrain and spreading those people out.  He had another terrific day, finding thigh-deep stashes on the Backside and down Chartreuse Nose.  

She deep

Milton and I did our Dimple Dell loop, stopping in to say hey to the new bison.  It took us a while because there were a LOT of things to sniff as it had been several weeks since we did the whole loop.  Back at home, while the dog pouted that it wasn't sunny and warm enough to lay out in the driveway (mostly cloudy, high 30s and occasional flurries), I meal-prepped black beans in the InstantPot, made a coffee cake and the best vegan chili, vacuumed and finished a library book.  The sun finally came out around 5 p.m. but by that time, Milton was content to snuggle up on the bed with H, watching videos while the chili simmered.  Not the most scintillating weekend (nor the most productive, as I was hoping it would have been warm enough to do some weeding (dang weeds)), but sometimes that's what you get.  We're all together, healthy and happy, and that's enough.

Also: Alta is at 611 inches on the season!

apparently winter ain't over yet

 Time is running out on the 2023/2024 ski season.  Not that you'd know it from the weather.  Although it hit 70 in SLC on Wednesday - and it was glorious - a cold front started pushing in onThursday (windy), arrived Friday (plummeting temperatures) and the system settled into the Cottonwood Canyons overnight into Saturday.  We got a dusting of snow by Saturday morning but by 3 p.m. Saturday, Alta had gotten 18" in the last 24 hours and, to look at the mountain webcams, it wasn't letting up anytime soon.  It was also cold: 20F at the base and 9F at the top.

I'm over it with winter conditions.  Call me a wimp, a fair weather skier, but I'm tired of being wet and cold and I want a goggle tan.  So I didn't go.  The valley weather was better than forecasted (the forecasts have not been that accurate all winter, IMHO), but in the 30s and mostly cloudy, with off and on flurries.  Milton and I did a good walk in the morning, including him getting a game of off-leash chase with a neighborhood dog.  And then I was productive: pumpkin-cranberry-walnut muffins, chocolate chip cookies, baked tofu, peach preserves and chickpea/walnut taco "meat" for dinner, plus dealing with a ridiculous amount of laundry.

H of course went skiing, up and at 'em and on the 6:30 bus.  It wasn't terribly crowded so he got a seat, reporting that it was snowing hard and the upper canyon road was sketchy after Snowbird.  After a slightly delayed opening, he had a great day (morning) of skiing, starting off Collins in Fred's Trees and then just skiing off the High Traverse for pretty much the whole time.  There wasn't much else open because patrol hadn't cleared slides yet, but the conditions were deep and soft and lots of fun.  He did try a run over at Sugarloaf but it was windier there and colder, so he went back to Collins, did a ten minute warm-up in the lodge for his hands and feet, and then kept skiing.  

By mid-morning they were posting that the canyon road would close for avalanche mitigation at 1:30.  He was sad to have to leave early but better that then potentially getting stuck up the canyon into the evening.  The snow was really stacking up on the upper road too, making the bus ride down rather more exciting than he would have liked.  The bus slid off the road a couple of times, but with its chains on managed to back up each time and get back on the road.  When they got to the left turn into Snowbird center, the bus driver didn't even attempt to go in and when they got down to the turn at Tanners Flat, the bus actually fishtailed.  Below that the snow tapered off, however, and the bottom bit was just wet.  H said that was the gnarliest bus ride in all our years of riding the ski bus - I think I'm glad I missed it.

The stormy weather did give H an impressive ice-mustache, occasioning several compliments, including  "You can grow a grizzly bear mustache and I can only grow a squirrel!"

an overcast weekend in the desert is better than no weekend in the desert

 We spent the last weekend of March down in Moab and while it wasn't the blue skies and balmy T I had hoped for, it was quite a lot better than what northern Utah got, which was rain and slush.  Down in the southeast corner of the state, it was mostly overcast but warm-ish (up to mid-60s occasionally) and with a few sprinkles of rain interspersed here and there.  It was also the final weekend of the 2024 Easter Jeep Safari and there was a definite uptick in tourists.

It's a little blurry (nighttime shot)

but this tree was spectacular

We did a little socializing, hanging out with our neighbor before she left for her Alaskan fishing season, and her roommate, before she relocated to Oregon for a new job.  We also went to Woody's with a friend - he went to high school in Moab and lives/works in town so going anywhere with him is like going out with a rockstar since everyone knows him; and we learned that our favorite bartender has left the Hoodoo for a different restaurant.  We'll track her down but we'll go back to the Hoodoo for its $2 PBRs.

These cacti turn purple in the winter,

to absorb more sunlight, so now that

they're green again, spring must be here

We also got out on the trails a couple of times.  Friday, H wanted to do a 10K trail run: we went to Moab Brand Trails so while he and Milton ran that loop, I hiked a shorter loop and finished up at the end with them.  The temperatures were perfect and the trails fairly empty.  On Saturday, H's knees were a little sore so we opted for just 3.5 miles.  I'm not sure the trail we picked - Moab Rim - was the best choice for knees since it's so steep, up and down, but it got us moving.  There was a Jeep Safari run there that morning so it was closed to other motorized traffic.  We saw a number of hikers, trail runners and dogs though.

First wildflower of the season

Sunday we just did a town walk before packing up and heading north.  It was one of our better spring drives, to be honest: the snow that was supposed to hit Soldier's Summit never materialized, so the road was clear and dry, and since it was Easter Sunday, there was hardly any traffic.