Alta Experts: good runs in bad visibility?

[Skiing2BFreeInYYC]

Hi everyone, we’ve made it here to Alta (woohoo!). Looks like day 1 is going to start out snowy with poor visibility. Any recommendations on where we should start? Blues and easier blacks are my jam, I’m good with ungroomed and moguls but bad visibility is my nemesis as I have crappy eyesight even on a good day! Haha

At my home mountain I know there are definitely areas and runs to avoid in conditions like this and then some areas that are usually always better visibility even if it’s dumping. Hoping for some tips like that from the been there down that folks here

We’re starting from wildcat base as that’s where my ski rentals are. Hopefully starting out on Sheeva 10s that are supposed to be in the rental shop waiting for me (it was a serious effort yesterday to track this pair down!). If they don’t have them as promised, my backup pair offered us a rossignol rallbird 102s.

 

[MaryVA]

Hi everyone, we’ve made it here to Alta (woohoo!). Looks like day 1 is going to start out snowy with poor visibility. Any recommendations on where we should start? Blues and easier blacks are my jam, I’m good with ungroomed and moguls but bad visibility is my nemesis as I have crappy eyesight even on a good day! Haha

At my home mountain I know there are definitely areas and runs to avoid in conditions like this and then some areas that are usually always better visibility even if it’s dumping. Hoping for some tips like that from the been there down that folks here

We’re starting from wildcat base as that’s where my ski rentals are. Hopefully starting out on Sheeva 10s that are supposed to be in the rental shop waiting for me (it was a serious effort yesterday to track this pair down!). If they don’t have them as promised, my backup pair offered us a rossignol rallbird 102s.

Glad you made it! Alta is the best, especially when there's a bit of fresh snow on the ground. You may have gotten a start already today, but if not, I would recommend starting with the Collins lift rather than the Wildcat lift, as the runs off Wildcat are mostly ungroomed blacks that I think could be harder to navigate in poor visibility. From the top of Collins, you could try Ballroom, which is a wide, open blue bowl. Because it's so open, I think it should have decent visibility, and you can pick where you feel most comfortable dropping in from the traverse. It's a great run for approachable bumps, though you do need to take a traverse from Main Street to access it, which could potentially be an issue for visibility. From the bottom of Ballroom (or from the top of Collins if you skip Ballroom), you can get all the way back down to the Collins/Wildcat base on wide, clearly marked blue and/or black groomers.

Alternatively, if you ski left from the top of Collins, you can take the wide cat track over to the terrain accessed by the Sugarloaf lift. There are some great, fairly wide and easy to navigate blue and green groomers over there as well, with patches of ungroomed terrain to the sides of some of the groomers which can offer some "low commitment" bumps mixed in with a groomer run if the visibility has you too uncomfortable to commit to a full bump run you can't bail out of. Once you get to the bottom of Sugarloaf, you can also take the Supreme lift, which has a few really nice and clearly marked groomers as well. No. 9 Express is a nice steep black groomer, and Rock n' Roll is a nice long winding blue.

Hope you have fun!

 

[Skiing2BFreeInYYC]

Thank you so much for these insights! I couldn’t post earlier, but they were so helpful some of the terrain you mentioned was closed still, but hopefully they will open it tomorrow and there will be more fresh tracks!

today ended up being easily one of my top 3 ski days ever! Amazing! Even though it was hard to see at times, I was still smiling as the snow was incredible and the hill had such a great feeling. So glad we came and pumped we have a few more days here still!

 

[MaryVA]

Thank you so much for these insights! I couldn’t post earlier, but they were so helpful some of the terrain you mentioned was closed still, but hopefully they will open it tomorrow and there will be more fresh tracks!

today ended up being easily one of my top 3 ski days ever! Amazing! Even though it was hard to see at times, I was still smiling as the snow was incredible and the hill had such a great feeling. So glad we came and pumped we have a few more days here still!

Yay! Glad you had a great day, and I hope they are able to open up more runs for you to explore. Alta is my absolute favorite place to ski. Amazing snow, amazing terrain, and amazing culture. I'll be there in a few weeks and I can't wait.

 

[Chuyi]

@Skiing2BFreeInYYC I don't ski Collins much. I'm low viz/storm trees are best. Supreme was the easiest next to the tree line Big Dipper to 3bears to Vicky gate. More terrain should open with better viz. Enjoy.

 

[Mary Brosnan]

If you like off piste Catherine's area can be great in low viz when the snow is good. Lots of trees make it easier in low light. It's a short hike off the Supreme lift. If you're not in the mood for a hike the trails off Supreme are great when the visibility is bad.

 

[Skiing2BFreeInYYC]

If you like off piste Catherine's area can be great in low viz when the snow is good. Lots of trees make it easier in low light. It's a short hike off the Supreme lift. If you're not in the mood for a hike the trails off Supreme are great when the visibility is bad.

Thank you! We went to Catherine’s today and had an awesome time!