first day legs

Per our usual tradition, my first day of the ski season was the day after H's - and Alta's - first day.  We didn't feel a whole lot of urgency on Saturday morning: opening day had been busy and all that gorgeous snow was tracked out by midday on Friday, so it wasn't like we needed to hurry up there for fresh tracks.  The forecast was chilly, with cloudy skies, light winds and temperatures ranging from 10 F - 22 F at the base.  We got up there and in the singles line at the Collins lift a little after 9 a.m.  The corral filled in behind us but H said that it wasn't anywhere near as busy as it had been for opening day.

The conditions were really quite good - certainly better than other opening weekend conditions we've experienced.  Coverage was good (we both were on our rock skis - our old Volkls - in case of any errant rocks working their way up through the snow) and there was a lot more terrain open than on opening days past.  They even got the Backside open after lunch and we could hear the hooting and hollering as skiers bombed down the untracked slopes.

We stuck to the groomers, however.  H had skied pretty hard on his own on Friday and neither of us had done much preseason training, so we both had early-season legs going on.  At one point, I inadvertently found myself in an ungroomed section; after three quick turns I got out of there and back on the groomers, legs singing.  It was a good way to warm up - despite our light down jackets, we were both cool/cold from skiing groomers all day in 11 F - but I just couldn't sustain the effort.

By 2 p.m., I was done.  The snow held up surprisingly well, with only the highest traffic areas getting skied off at that point, but my legs were shot.  Good thing is, we'd be able to get after it again on Sunday.  Hooray for ski season!