TR Alta April 5-17, 2014

[marzNC]

I'm out in Alta for my annual trip in April. Timing is a bit unusual because Easter is April 20, 2014 which is also the last day for 7-day-a-week operations at Alta. The Supreme lift closes on April 13, Alta Demo Day is April 12. But April 14-20 is a spring break week for some families so the last week of the full operations season may be busier than usual.

I ended up changing my schedule in order to arrive a few days earlier than planned. It's been snowing a lot in April around SLC. Cold weather and lake effects storms are a good combination.

Met up with litterbug on April 5 when I arrived. Will be meeting up with friends at Alta Lodge. Also having a chance to meet a few EpicSki folks.

There has been something like 3 feet of new snow in the last week or so. Snowed on Saturday, April 5 as expected. What was unexpected was how much and how long it snowed on Sunday. It was a powder day! This late in the season, not many people around regardless of conditions.

On Supreme lift as the snow flies

 

[marzNC]

Pics from April 5. I got a lift ticket for $32 for 2:30-4:30. Pretty good deal for day of arrival.

Sun went in and out on the Supreme side. Black Pearls ready for fun.


New snow near the entrance to the Devil's Apron traverse. Off Rock'N'Roll. That's my glove with the figures buried to give an idea of the depth.


New Skier Services building at the Wildcat base. There is a sign for the Mountain Collective. Quick and easy. Alta provided a special MCP RFID card for free. At Jackson Hole, had to pay $5 and got a regular JH RFID card, which was good for some discounts.


View of Alta Lodge common areas from the top of the rope tow.

 

[marzNC]

Pics from April 6.

New snow during lunch, about an hour.


My friend's hand is on his pole that went down easily into the relatively new snow from the last week. My trekking poll standing in front is in today's snow, at least 3 inches. There was windblown all over filling things in as well.


Wildcat parking lot never filled up. This is from about 4pm. Lots of people were coming down High Rustler because of the soft snow once visibility clear a bit in the late afternoon.

 

[gardenmary]

Looks gorgeous!! So glad this trip is turning out so well for you.

 

[Jenny]

Wow, you're really having some good weather.

 

[marzNC]

On April 7 it's clear that spring has arrived. Ballroom, Backside, Devil's Castle were opened by ski patrol during the morning. Very few in line for Collins at opening time. Met up with a couple EpicSki guys. Together with my classmate, we had fun on Supreme, including a run over on Catherines. Windblown where the others went. Soft powder farther on where I went with my classmate. The group age range was 57-59, from Hawaii, Houston, Boston, southern Oregon, and North Carolina.

Got a bit warm in the afternoon. About 45 at Alta Lodge at tea time.

Making tracks on the Alta tow rope, 9:10am, temperature about 30


View from Catherine's, 10:30am. Hike takes 5-10 minutes, then an easier traverse


Two Epicski members plus a couple friends. Always fun to meet new ski nuts.


Had lunch at Rustler with my friend and his wife. Pretty nice and not really that expensive. Usually eat at Alta Lodge so we wanted to try something new. Get to ride a chairlift to get to Rustler. Wife had a group lesson in the morning that turned out to be a private. $60 for 2 hours with a very experienced instructor. She just started skiing last season. Looked pretty good when we skied a few runs with run after lunch off the Sunnyside lift.

 

[marzNC]

Have finally gotten straight that there are three ski shop companies at Alta. Each has 3-4 brands of women's demo skis to rent on powder days. So can there is a variety to choose from but it helps to know what brand is of interest beforehand.

 

[marzNC]

April 8 was another spring skiing day. Cold enough overnight that things didn't soften up off the groomers until after 10:30. I took a private lesson with a Level III instructor together with my classmate. Arthur Haskell is from NC. He's a good friend of my boot fitter. Has been spending the winters teaching at Alta since 2002. Arthur added to what I've learned from my Mnut coach and snoWYmonkey. End result was pretty obvious in the afternoon. I skied High Rustler from the middle traverse. Was nice and soft by then, but following Bill tends to lead to adventure skiing. I thought it would take another season before I'd get there. Bill arrived at Alta Lodge in time for lunch today.

Pics of me and my classmate are from a bit lower than we entered High Rustler (from the trees on right).

Looking up at the section of High Rustler that we skied. Taken from the cat track that is above Lower Rustler. If you look really closely, there is a skier just to the left of the tree shadows to get a sense of scale.

 

[marzNC]

Some of you may remember that there is a woman named Naomi who has been staying at Alta Lodge and skiing Alta for a long, long time. Today she was celebrating her 92nd birthday. How? Well, for starters she got a early ride up Collins with ski patrol about 15 minutes before it opened. Hard to see but that's her on the left of the chair just past the loading point. Before she went thru the gate, the lifties and anyone else around sang Happy Birthday.

 

[marzNC]

One reason I stay at Alta Lodge in April is because of the connection between members of the family who own Alta Lodge and North Country School. NCS is in Lake Placid and is a boarding middle school that's been around 75+ years. It's a very special place. I went to NCS and my daughter is there now. Bill is also an NCS graduate. This week is the annual reunion at Alta Lodge.

This afternoon the early arrivers has a chance to take a couple runs with Mimi Levitt, who went to NCS long ago. She is the widow of Bill Levitt, a New Yorker who bought Alta Lodge in 1959. Bill and Mimi made it a great place for a truly relaxing ski vacation that is all about the skiing and being with people who love to ski. Other members of the Levitt family are actively involved in running the place.

Mimi Levit with NCS alumni (Diva Dude Bill in green helmet), the other two are my classmates. We graduated in 1970 (8th grade)


The guys didn't quite get "ears"

 

[marzNC]

Pretty warm in LCC on April 9. By 11am it was over 40 at the top of Collins and around 58 at Alta Base. With full sun and little wind all day, felt warmer. Bill and I headed over to Snowbird to meet up with a few Bears in the afternoon. On the one hand, needed to wait until things softened up, on the other Mineral Basin was already pretty soft by 10am.

We took a tram ride up that was full cattle car approach. Packed in folks who had just finished lunch I guess. Did some adventure skiing, at least for me. Snow was soft and manageable on the single blacks. One of the Bears is a very experienced instructor, so she could quickly figure out that I was not over my head. I met her last year at the EpicSki Mid-A Gathering at Blue Knob.

A little hard to explain, but the real adventure was going into the trees to a chute entrance that requires assistance from a rope. Pretty fun since I like to rock climb. Snow was still very nice. Things opened out pretty quickly. All in all, a fun run. Bill has a GoPro with a chest mount. So there will be video to watch someday.

Bill near the top of the tram. We skied over from Alta since we both have the MCP. A pain that Snowbird lifties have to handscan the barcoded on every ride even though it's a an RFID card. Alta has had RFID gates for quite a few years. Surprised Snowbird isn't getting them installed now that it's part of the Mountain Collective Pass.


Bill on the rope. Have to step down over a few big rocks or logs before in a place where it's possible to get fully onto snow.


Peruvian Tunnel, the exit on the Mineral Basin side. Probably closes on April 13, the same day that the Alta Supreme lift closes for the season.


Bill did a few more runs with the Bears after I started heading back to Alta. The Baldy lift out of Mineral Basin to the top of Sugarloaf closes at 3:30. Here's Bill heading into the trees under the Gad2 lift. He's following the husband of the lady in yellow. The other skier is a woman who is a very experienced instructor. The three of them are skiing at Snowbird in April using the $199 spring pass that started on April 1. All of us are over 55.

 

[marzNC]

April 10 was about 5 degrees cooler than the day before. Still got too soft in the afternoon. But didn't make that much difference because I decided to have another lesson with Arthur. Another NCS alum joined me. We were a good match in terms of ability.

The morning included a treat. I got to ski a few runs with Naomi. The groomers off Supreme were very nice by about 10am.

With the weather forecast for much cooler temps and possible snow next week, I decided to extend my stay by a few days. Since Bill and the friends from DC will be around too, it seemed to be the right thing to do. At least that's what my NCS friends all said.

 

[skibum4ever]

Glad you're having such a good time. We skied Vail today. The top half was great; the bottom got pretty slushy. We are hoping for cooler temps and some snow over the weekend.

 

[marzNC]

Have been having too much fun with North Country School friends to post a daily report. Plus it warmed up too much for a few days so the skiing was definitely not the best. When temps are over 50 by 10:30am, even the upper mountain is pretty much too soft by mid-afternoon. Most people were heading in around 2:30 or 3:00. The Collins lift runs until 4:30.

The most fun runs on April 10 were with Naomi, the 92yo who has been staying at Alta Lodge and skiing Alta for decades. I joined her on the main Sugarloaf groomer when it was still on the hard side. After one more run there, we headed over to the Supreme lift. Sugarloaf was getting too busy for her. Rock'N'Roll is her favorite. It was groomed to perfection. After a few times enjoying the empty slope, she headed in to Alf's for a rest break. Then she headed back to Sugarloaf to take the CBT over to Collins to go in for the day. She usually skis 9:15-11:45 every day that she is at Alta, but only on weekdays.

That afternoon I had another semi-private lesson with Arthur. Another schoolmate joined me. We were well matched in terms of ability. Needless to say, Arthur knew how to keep things going even when the snow was really, really soft. We both got a lot out of the lesson, which included some video analysis on Arthur's iPhone. Made quite a difference the next few days.

Sugarloaf at 10:30am on April 11 was still fun. Razorback softens very early. Extrovert softens nicely soon after. Pretty much the same story on April 10 and 12.

 

[marzNC]

April 12 was Alta Demo Day, organized by the Deep Powder House. Quite a nice list of brands represented per usual. There was a much smaller crowd than the last couple years. Probably because of the snow conditions. So it was much easier to get onto something without waiting in line or waiting for skis to be returned. In general, seemed to be more women's skis, in particular more women's skis in the 158-166 range. So I had a lot of options. Hope to write them up at some point.



One of my schoolmates loves DPS. After trying out the carver, Uschi 85, and the all-mountain Nina 99, I can see why. Super light weight because of the carbon construction, but can really hold an edge. After the help from Level III instructors this season, I had a blast carving on the Uschi on soft groomers. The Nina was fun, but I would like to try it in better snow.

 

[marzNC]

April 13 . . . a powder day! Started overnight with a thunderstorm at the base, but by morning it was obvious it turned to snow at some point. Probably all snow up top. Snowed enough that it wasn't obvious how hard it rained. Snowed most of the day, with a bit more on the Collins side. Very few people skiing. Locals are done. Although it's a spring break week for some schools, not enough to make that much difference.

Today was the last day for the Supreme lift for the season. So spent the morning over there with some folks from the NCS reunion group who didn't have to leave until early afternoon. Went back after lunch with Bill for a few last runs. Nice new snow on the groomers, as well as elsewhere if you knew where to go to avoid the crusty stuff underneath. Not really enough new snow to cover up the frozen bumps on steeper slopes. The gullies were quite fun, as well as other low angle spots.

Finished the day with a leisurely powder run off the Wildcat lift. Went down the blue run that few people bother with on a powder day with limited visibility. Quite fun with 2-3 inches of fresh plus windblown.

Before and after lunch at Alta Lodge. About an hour in between. About an inch of new snow.


Inside the gate on lower Rock'N'Roll. Rolling hills of powder to play in.


About 2 inches of new snow on the Supreme side. Snowed a bit more on the Collins side.

 

[SkiBam]

Thanks so much for the great report and fabulous photos. And after skiing with you there last year, I have an idea of what runs/lifts you're talking about. Sounds like a wonderful trip. Hi to Bill.

 

[marzNC]

Thanks so much for the great report and fabulous photos. And after skiing with you there last year, I have an idea of what runs/lifts you're talking about. Sounds like a wonderful trip. Hi to Bill.

Thanks for reading. It's getting easier to follow Bill more places without hesitation. Although I've gotten to know Alta well enough that he is unlikely to get me to go somewhere that's too complicated. The day my classmate and I ended up following him to the middle of High Rustler was really not that much of a stretch.

 

[marzNC]

As some of you reading since last week may have noticed, the TR is going to go until April 17. Originally I was flying out April 15. But all sorts of factors came into play and I've extended to get in a few more ski days with Bill and friends who are here at Alta Lodge for their kids' spring break. Although the most important factor is that it won't be too warm in the next few days. High's are not expected to be over 45.

A few weeks ago the fares for SW flights home April 16-18 were quite high. Late last week I could get a flight home for $10 more than what I paid months ago. Makes a huge difference that making a change on SW does not involve any cancellation charge.

 

[marzNC]

April 14 was a great day for skiing Alta. Temps stayed cool enough that there was powder to be found all day if you knew where to look. The official total for the storm was 6 inches. Not the lightest pow but plenty of fun. The groomers were in great shape all day.

Mostly skied with our friends who have two kids who are my daughter's friends. Did the trees around the Yellow Bear trail (a gully used by ski school a lot) several times. Stayed light powder until mid-afternoon.

Bill and I went off on one adventure. He talked me into doing the Devil's Castle traverse for the first time. The side stepping up from the top of Sugarloaf does go pretty fast. We went all the way over to Castle Apron because that snow stays in the shade a lot in the spring. It was easy to feel the frozen stuff under the new snow on some parts of the traverse. It was nice to be able to do it when there weren't impatient powder hounds around. Plenty of untracked to be found. The powder turns were great fun! Felt like a bit more than 6 inches, which was probably because there was some windblown too.

If you look very closely, that's Bill just below the shadow of the closest cliff


Past the first cliff. We decided it was better to go as far over as possible. Bill is just to the left of the center of the picture.


Getting ready to head into Castle Apron (the farther shadow)


Looking back up Castle Apron. One of those tracks is mine!