NewEnglandSkier
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Time for my annual Alta/Bird trip; I'm going about a week earlier than normal this year.
I flew in last night and it was snowing when we drove up the canyon with a few inches on the ground, but at least the road was open! When I checked the website this morning it said the road was restricted.
Day 1(thurs)
So it snowed Wednesday and all Wednesday night and all day Thursday. In fact I think it finally just stopped snowing--about 7pm. They reported 13 inches this morning over 24 hours and it snowed heavily all day adding even more inches. When I checked the website at the end of the day it said the 24 hr total was 20 inches.
There was a big line for Collins at opening and since I suck at powder and even more if I can't see, I opted to take the rope over to Albion and ski off the Sunnyside lift instead which was ski on with no line. Basically, I had a very dull first day--I lapped the Sunnyside lift all day because I just couldn't see any contours in the snow at all--just didn't feel comfortable going higher. There were other people (also not beginners) doing the same thing, though we were in the minority.
One of my runs I was on a groomer with about 4 inches on top but since I couldn't see the side of the trail and it wasn't fully groomed, I went from 4 inches plowing into the side of the trail which had about 14 inches and promptly tipped over--with my skis uphill and buried. That was fun getting out of that one.
I found 2 trails that had a decent amount of powder on then that I could practice. So I just repeated them all day.
Here is a picture at the base of Albion--normally you can see all the hotels lined up along the right side. Note how you can't see anything beyond the Albion base building.
Here is another picture I took at the top of Sunnyside. Classic polar bear in a snow storm image.
The fog did lift a tiny bit but then it would descend again. Many times you could not see Alf's from the Sunnyside lift, the fog was too dense.
I made another "mistake" in the afternoon during a brief moment when the fog lifted. I decided to go down Blue Bell. Well, apparently it's not quite steep enough for all the snow we had by then--probably like 16 inches (according to estimate from ski pole). I kept getting stuck and felt like I couldn't turn to save my life.
I seemed to do okay in powder up to 6 or so inches but had problems with anything deeper.
Took time out for a snack at Alta Java. I always like their mochas and the waffle stuffed with chocolate.
By the end of the day, it did get a little brighter and easier to see and the runs I'd been skiing had gotten chopped up which I found easier to ski, so the end of the day was more fun than the beginning. I quit at 4:15pm and decided to check out the newly rebuilt Snowpine Lodge. It now has a chair lift up to it instead of a tow. The lodge was nice though I'm not sure it's really my style---too modern. I think if I was going to stay at a lodge in that price point (they raised the prices when they rebuilt) I'd rather stay at the Rustler. Just based on decor/style.
Below is a picture of one of the lounge areas on one of the floors of the Snowpine
Depending on the weather tomorrow, I may go to Snowbird; depends on fog etc. Hoping to get 2 decent ski days in with my remaining days!
I flew in last night and it was snowing when we drove up the canyon with a few inches on the ground, but at least the road was open! When I checked the website this morning it said the road was restricted.
Day 1(thurs)
So it snowed Wednesday and all Wednesday night and all day Thursday. In fact I think it finally just stopped snowing--about 7pm. They reported 13 inches this morning over 24 hours and it snowed heavily all day adding even more inches. When I checked the website at the end of the day it said the 24 hr total was 20 inches.
There was a big line for Collins at opening and since I suck at powder and even more if I can't see, I opted to take the rope over to Albion and ski off the Sunnyside lift instead which was ski on with no line. Basically, I had a very dull first day--I lapped the Sunnyside lift all day because I just couldn't see any contours in the snow at all--just didn't feel comfortable going higher. There were other people (also not beginners) doing the same thing, though we were in the minority.
One of my runs I was on a groomer with about 4 inches on top but since I couldn't see the side of the trail and it wasn't fully groomed, I went from 4 inches plowing into the side of the trail which had about 14 inches and promptly tipped over--with my skis uphill and buried. That was fun getting out of that one.
I found 2 trails that had a decent amount of powder on then that I could practice. So I just repeated them all day.
Here is a picture at the base of Albion--normally you can see all the hotels lined up along the right side. Note how you can't see anything beyond the Albion base building.
Here is another picture I took at the top of Sunnyside. Classic polar bear in a snow storm image.
The fog did lift a tiny bit but then it would descend again. Many times you could not see Alf's from the Sunnyside lift, the fog was too dense.
I made another "mistake" in the afternoon during a brief moment when the fog lifted. I decided to go down Blue Bell. Well, apparently it's not quite steep enough for all the snow we had by then--probably like 16 inches (according to estimate from ski pole). I kept getting stuck and felt like I couldn't turn to save my life.
I seemed to do okay in powder up to 6 or so inches but had problems with anything deeper.
Took time out for a snack at Alta Java. I always like their mochas and the waffle stuffed with chocolate.
By the end of the day, it did get a little brighter and easier to see and the runs I'd been skiing had gotten chopped up which I found easier to ski, so the end of the day was more fun than the beginning. I quit at 4:15pm and decided to check out the newly rebuilt Snowpine Lodge. It now has a chair lift up to it instead of a tow. The lodge was nice though I'm not sure it's really my style---too modern. I think if I was going to stay at a lodge in that price point (they raised the prices when they rebuilt) I'd rather stay at the Rustler. Just based on decor/style.
Below is a picture of one of the lounge areas on one of the floors of the Snowpine
Depending on the weather tomorrow, I may go to Snowbird; depends on fog etc. Hoping to get 2 decent ski days in with my remaining days!