free refills

 I went ahead and ordered battery-heated socks from Snow Deer: not cheap, but not nearly the most expensive on the market.  Years ago I had battery-heated insoles for my ski boots, expensive and didn't work well; since then I've been limping along with neoprene boot covers, which help keep some of the cold out but which certainly don't add any heat.  It's been a battle.

On Saturday we caught the 7 a.m. bus up to Alta.  The canyon was closed for avalanche control until 8:30, so we were on the bus a while.  But we got seats and a police escort to the front of the line - like, we were literally the first ones up the canyon - and we got dropped by the shuttle (which was waiting at Goldminer's Daughter lodge) at Albion lodge at 8:45 a.m.  H's forecast had said 6-10 inches of new snow overnight but it was clear that it was on the upper edge of that range.  It was snowing when we got there and it snowed all day until we left: light, fluffy and not too wet.  Just delightful snow.

Supreme Bowl: you can't tell how steep

but you can tell how deep

We got on the new Sunnyside six-pack (six seater chairlift) around 9:20 to ride up (lifts open at 9:15 and we waited until the line cleared out).  Because the canyon had been closed, and we had been at the front of all that traffic, there were scarcely any people there.  We skied right onto that lift, then onto Supreme four or five times, and then onto Sugarloaf multiple times as well.  It wasn't until nearly 11:30 that any sort of "crowd" showed up, and even then it wasn't enough people for the lifties to have to run the line.

The new snow was too deep for me, my out-of-shape legs and my short little skis so I skied the same runs over and over; each time, however, the snow filled in the ski tracks for continuous refreshes.  Meanwhile H ventured further afield, i.e. off piste.  Each time he would report back that it was fantastic: Challenger, Rock N Roll, the 3 Bears trees, Supreme Bowl, Extrovert, Razorback, Chartreuse ... all of it.  The snow was mid-thigh in Supreme Bowl and blew up over his head as he skied - a day for snorkels!

It was deep in the gullies near Elephant's Butt

And my heated socks were a game-changer: I skied from 9:20 - 2 without having to go in to warm my feet.  In fact, when we did take a midday break, it was because H's toes were cold!  So great.  Our enthusiasm was muted somewhat for the bus ride down as the bus was over twenty minutes late and we got chilled and wet in the incessant snowfall as we waited for it.  But we got seats, and we got home, and my socks got charged and ready for the next day.