Saturday was mostly overcast and so I played the ski snob card (no new snow and no blue skies = no skiing) and remained down in the valley, doing laundry and running errands while H went up to Alta. He skied for about half a day, returning to report better conditions than my first time out and no lift lines.
Saturday's Supreme lift - not yet open
Sunday was a beautiful day, however. I looked out the window and saw no clouds; I took a quick look at Alta's website and saw that the forecast was for 30s and not windy. So that's what I dressed for ... instead to looking at the actual temperature which was low 20s. Low 20s means a heavier base layer and my boot covers - not what I wore. I was a little chilly (and my feet got cold) and ended up having to go into Watson Shelter lodge to warm up for a bit. Lesson learned: look at ALL the weather information when planning one's ski outfit.
Looks good but not quite warm enough
Even with my outfit deficiencies, it was a pretty nice early-season ski day. Sugarloaf lift was running and we split the (half-)day between that lift and Collins. Ski patrol was still doing avalanche control and setting rope lines in East Greeley and the available runs were limited, but the snow was pretty good, albeit firm. We even did an off-piste cruise over to Supreme lift, which was turning but closed to skiers. Soon!
In addition to the snow having improved slightly, I took advantage of having to ski mostly on groomers to try to improve my technique: H suggested that I try bending my knees more for a less static posture. So I practiced that, and keeping my hands forward, and pole-planting, and there's really a lot to remember after a whole spring/summer/fall off the slopes. If I keep it up, and we get lots more snow, my skiing - and the skiing in general - will just get better.
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