marzNC
Angel Diva
Just finished 4 days of skiing at Alta. Missed the best powder from the snowstorm that dumped 2 feet of powder and closed the canyon for a day on April 6, but still enjoyed the fresh snow and spring skiing conditions that followed.
A little complicated to explain, but the short story is that Marz Jr. (9yo daughter) and I met up with an alumni group at Alta Lodge. The gathering was set up months ago so we were lucky about the late season snowstorms and avoiding the full day interlodge (no skiing, must stay in lodge building) last Tue. This annual event began two years ago and we had a ball attending. Both of us ski a lot better now so enjoyed more than the groomers this trip.
Our group included several families who took full advantage of ski school. Marz Jr. had the same instructor (full-day, PM only, full-day) and went from Level 6 to Level 7. Level 6 included ungroomed easy blacks when conditions were soft, such as Challenger (off Supreme, wide, steep, usually groomed but not right after big storms) and Nina's Curve (short gulley off Collins or Wildcat). The instructor decided the snow was too hard for them to do Lower Sunspot. On Sat there were only 1-2 boys with her (AM-2, PM-1) in Level 7. Needless to say, she learned a lot!
I hung with the adventurous types in the group for a few runs a couple of mornings. These were expert skiers (alpine and tele) who are quite willing to hike for powder runs. The group included locals/regulars who know Alta well. Most of the rest of the time I did a variety of lift-served blacks with a ski buddy who is an expert. Bottom line is that I had a chance to practiced a lot of the new skills I learned during Diva Week at Tahoe.
Supreme was the popular area until things softened up on Sugarloaf and Collins mid-morning or early afternoon. Mostly blue skies, but had a snow shower Fri and thick clouds for a couple hours midday Sat. Sun it was quite windy at the top and things didn't soften up until mid-afternoon. Few people skiing the trees or the bowls before 3pm because they were too hard. Even my friends who are local powder hounds, and over 50, stuck to the groomers Sun afternoon. I think they went skiing for a couple hours mainly to get a few last runs off Supreme before it closed for the season.
The pics are to spark the interest of intermediates who aspire to feel like advanced skiers soon. Alta is not just for advanced/expert powder hounds. Not having to watch out for beginner/intermediate snowboarders is a bonus.
Enjoy!
Flying into SLC on April 7
My brother-in-law skied with us on Friday. He and his friend are intermediates who liked the blue groomers off Supreme. They also liked Little Dipper and Devil's Elbow off Sugarloaf. It was soft enough for them to finish the day cruising the long blue runs off Collins.
Marz Jr. and new ski buddy, transfer rope two between Wildcat and Albion bases in the background
Extrovert (ungroomed black off Sugarloaf) was good when soft
***
Ballroom was already pretty tracked out by Thu morning, the powder dump on Mon-Tue didn't last long because it warmed up fast on Wed - pics taken late afternoon April 10
Entrance to Ballroom traverse on the far left, just below top of Collins lift (considered blue before the second gate near the trees and cliff near traverse, black afterwards)
View of Ballroom from Main Street
***
Wildcat lift, pic taken from Collins chair, the only one blue off Wildcat is on skier's far right
View from Collins lift towards Wildcat base, skiers are on Meadow (blue)
Done
A little complicated to explain, but the short story is that Marz Jr. (9yo daughter) and I met up with an alumni group at Alta Lodge. The gathering was set up months ago so we were lucky about the late season snowstorms and avoiding the full day interlodge (no skiing, must stay in lodge building) last Tue. This annual event began two years ago and we had a ball attending. Both of us ski a lot better now so enjoyed more than the groomers this trip.
Our group included several families who took full advantage of ski school. Marz Jr. had the same instructor (full-day, PM only, full-day) and went from Level 6 to Level 7. Level 6 included ungroomed easy blacks when conditions were soft, such as Challenger (off Supreme, wide, steep, usually groomed but not right after big storms) and Nina's Curve (short gulley off Collins or Wildcat). The instructor decided the snow was too hard for them to do Lower Sunspot. On Sat there were only 1-2 boys with her (AM-2, PM-1) in Level 7. Needless to say, she learned a lot!
I hung with the adventurous types in the group for a few runs a couple of mornings. These were expert skiers (alpine and tele) who are quite willing to hike for powder runs. The group included locals/regulars who know Alta well. Most of the rest of the time I did a variety of lift-served blacks with a ski buddy who is an expert. Bottom line is that I had a chance to practiced a lot of the new skills I learned during Diva Week at Tahoe.
Supreme was the popular area until things softened up on Sugarloaf and Collins mid-morning or early afternoon. Mostly blue skies, but had a snow shower Fri and thick clouds for a couple hours midday Sat. Sun it was quite windy at the top and things didn't soften up until mid-afternoon. Few people skiing the trees or the bowls before 3pm because they were too hard. Even my friends who are local powder hounds, and over 50, stuck to the groomers Sun afternoon. I think they went skiing for a couple hours mainly to get a few last runs off Supreme before it closed for the season.
The pics are to spark the interest of intermediates who aspire to feel like advanced skiers soon. Alta is not just for advanced/expert powder hounds. Not having to watch out for beginner/intermediate snowboarders is a bonus.
Enjoy!
Flying into SLC on April 7
My brother-in-law skied with us on Friday. He and his friend are intermediates who liked the blue groomers off Supreme. They also liked Little Dipper and Devil's Elbow off Sugarloaf. It was soft enough for them to finish the day cruising the long blue runs off Collins.
Marz Jr. and new ski buddy, transfer rope two between Wildcat and Albion bases in the background
Extrovert (ungroomed black off Sugarloaf) was good when soft
***
Ballroom was already pretty tracked out by Thu morning, the powder dump on Mon-Tue didn't last long because it warmed up fast on Wed - pics taken late afternoon April 10
Entrance to Ballroom traverse on the far left, just below top of Collins lift (considered blue before the second gate near the trees and cliff near traverse, black afterwards)
View of Ballroom from Main Street
***
Wildcat lift, pic taken from Collins chair, the only one blue off Wildcat is on skier's far right
View from Collins lift towards Wildcat base, skiers are on Meadow (blue)
Done
