even better than we hoped

Here's the thing: look at the calendar.  It's mid-April. The mountains of northern Utah are still getting pounded by snow (the valleys are getting days and days of rain) - to the tune of FIFTY INCHES of snow between Tuesday and Saturday of last week.  There is so much snow.  And because it has been cloudy for so much of this winter, we haven't lost much of it to melting so our snowpack is quite healthy.

Deep!

Speaking of it being cloudy, it was forecasted to be partly cloudy on Saturday.  That forecast was totally wrong as it was completely cloudy for most of the day and also included some snow and graupel flurries.  The clouds broke a little bit around 3 p.m. but for most of the day we were skiing in very flat light (and sometimes clouds).

Just a little bit of that shed still visible

That really didn't matter, however, because the skiing was so good.  The consistent cloud cover keeping the sun at bay preserved the snow quality and although it is mid-April, the snow felt like mid-winter conditions.  Not sticky, not crusty; soft and pretty light and way deep.  H found untouched pockets that were ski pole-deep in Fred's Trees and when we went into Racecourse, it was too deep for my short Salomons to handle.  (They did great in the choppy stuff, though.)

The same sign as in the previous post.  

The recent snowfall puts it at shoulder-level

Another reason the day was so good?  The absolute dearth of crowds.  It was a little busy in the corral for the first couple of runs but after that, people either left early or just spread out and there were no lift lines.  We skied until 3 p.m., unwilling to leave that nice snow, and then stopped in at the Goldminer's Daughter Saloon for a couple of beers to celebrate.  I always like spring skiing but that was an extra special treat on Saturday.