getting patchy

Another ski day, another ski day without snow.  We got up at a reasonable time (there being no need to race on up to the mountain) and made bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast.  We experienced hardly any traffic on our way up to Alta and even after 10 a.m., the parking lot only about a third full.  There was rock-hard frozen corduroy on Collins to start so we did a couple of runs at Sugarloaf first until the crowds drove us away.  When we returned to Collins, there was no one there, for good reason: still hard and frozen and fast.

We got to Supreme a little after 11 a.m.  Sunday was turning out cooler than Saturday and although we had clear skies to start, high and thin clouds started to move in midday, meaning the snow wouldn't soften as much as it had the day before.  We stuck to the groomers - taking the cat track to Rock N Roll or Lower Big Dipper - until late lunch.  This time we didn't bother with Devil's Castle when we headed back out but went directly back to Supreme for the afternoon.

No. 9 Express, Challenger and Sleepy Hollow stayed frozen (scraped off and frozen bumps) although Upper Big Dipper did finally soften up as did Rock N Roll and Lower Big Dipper.  In the end, it was the flat light, the limited trail availability (any attempts off-piste were futile) and frustration with our fellow skiers (rampant obliviousness in both the lift lines and on the trails) chased us off the mountain over an hour earlier than we've recently been skiing.  We paused for a parking lot beer, then headed home.  They're talking about a storm coming in Monday: I'm hopeful but am not getting my hopes up too high.  But the thing is, if we don't get some snow, as I mentioned before, it will be questionable whether Alta can finish its season when it has planned to.  On the plus side, two separate ski instructors recommended the Twin Peaks ski shop as somewhere who can actually put a decent edge on a ski - and boy don't we need edges with the morning conditions these days.