the snow just won't quit this ski season

I had only bought a ten-pack of Alta passes this season (as opposed to a full season pass).  Even so, by the time closing weekend - April 22 and 23, 2023 - rolled around, I still had two days to use, given my own late start to skiing (should have ordered those heated socks sooner) and then also all the avalanche-related canyon closures.  If the canyon hadn't been completely closed on the 14th and 15th, I would only have had one day.  To complicate matters more, the ski bus stopped running mid-April, despite the fact that all four Cottonwoods resorts were still fully open, so we had to drive up.  Which meant we had to get parking reservations because all Alta parking is reserved now (ahem *cashgrab*).  We managed to get a reservation for Saturday but Sunday, Alta's last day of the 2022/2023 season, was completely sold out.  We were annoyed but what could we do?

I'm standing on at least fifteen feet of snow

Of course, Saturday's weather was far from spring-like.  It wasn't too bad down in the SLC valley but up at the ski resorts it was cold (high 20s/low 30s), cloudy and snowing, with forecasted windchills well below zero.  It wasn't snowing much but it did snow all day.  Despite the calendar, I bundled up in my warmest gear and although it didn't end up being as cold as I thought, I wasn't overdressed at all.

Sign says: "Lake Shed Building Marker"

because there's a house under there

To say that it wasn't crowded would be an understatement.  We skied onto the lifts from start to finish and I don't think we ever had to ride up with anyone else.  The snow was fantastic, far better than late April snow has a right to be.  It had been snowy on Friday and then they got another three inches overnight, so by Saturday morning it was soft and creamy.  And, with a fifteen+ foot base, there weren't any rocks poking through.  The only problem was the visibility.  The light was very flat and, even worse, half the time we were skiing through the very low clouds.  I find skiing in fog very disconcerting and it made me tense, but I was determined to enjoy myself since this was likely our last day of the season.  With no parking reservation and no bus, our options were: park for free at Snowbird and walk up over a mile carrying ski gear; or hire an Uber.  Neither seemed likely so we made the best of it, including a couple of chilly beers with mittens on, so we could get some closing weekend tailgating in.

They dug out the snow gun, but it's not like we need MORE snow

Back down at home, it was nice enough to continue the tailgating in the garage.  H brought out his laptop and brought up Alta's parking reservations page, hitting refresh and refresh, just in case.  Suddenly, his phone chimed: someone had canceled their reservation and by a sheer stroke of luck we had snapped it up.  Woohoo - we're going to closing day!  (And even more woohoo, I would be using all my ski days!)