Jenny
Angel Diva
https://picasaweb.google.com/jjlahaie/Snowbird2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCL_Cgoa43ovsngE&feat=directlink
OK - If this works, it's a link to the pictures I took this past weekend.
We started out at Snowbird on Friday, after a relatively uneventful flight. Only about two hours of delay in Denver, and no luggage, but it arrived by 9:30 or so Thursday night, so everything was fine.
Friday was extremely poor visibility - picture skiing with a white t-shirt over your face! Mostly it was cloud cover, because it wasn't snowing that hard. Jim and I started out in the morning, just the two of us, and then met up with perma-grin and Skisailor at 1:00. We had a GREAT time - and many thanks to perma-grin for her tips on where to start the next morning. We were able to get to everywhere we wanted to at the best times! But on this day we pretty much stayed on the Gadzoom lift and played around there.
Saturday was the kind of day that I went out west in April for - warm, blue sky, not much wind. It was FABULOUS! By now Floridakeysskibum (FKSB from now on) had joined Jim, Skisailor, and me. We started in Mineral Basin, where, after a run down the Junior Powder Paradise I got brave and traversed over a little further, into the ungroomed area. Nice and soft, but not too soft, so I was fine. The next time I went even further, but when the other three started to get over toward the Bookends I bowed out.
After a few runs down that side, we took the traverse the other direction, toward the Baldy lift (closed). I do NOT like traversing, by the way, and it was here that I discovered I like it even less when the open area is to the right side of me and I can't see anything except the cliff edge. Plus, I don't know why they have to have hairpin turns!
Over here I mostly stayed on the groomed part of the run, but the others did at least a couple of runs in the general vicinity of Double Downs. I'm so glad that Skisailor and FKSB were with us, because it meant Jim got to do some of the harder areas without feeling like he had to stay with me, and he had partners in case something happened. (Although later, at Alta, I was wondering if I should let him hang out with FKSB since she suggested he straightline down one of the runs and he, of course, did.)
After we were done back here we moved on to the front, and probably took Chip's Run down to lunch. It was at this point that I realized I also don't like the open space on a traverse when it's to my left and I can't see over the cliff edge. In addition, this was the first time I actually saw what I had skied (skiied? How DO you spell that, anyway?) the day before, in the clouds. Holy crap!
Anyway, it was off to the Little Cloud lift after lunch, where we spent most of the rest of the afternoon playing around with Mark Malu Fork, some of the area closer to the Gad Valley (whatever they could traverse to) and then to the other side of the lift and Regulator Johnson.
Sunday morning we went to Alta - they only had two lifts running, so we only got to see a little bit, but it was enough to make me want to go back. At lunch Skisailor had to leave, so she gave us a ride back to Snowbird where the two remaining Divas and my Diva dude spent the afternoon on the Little Cloud lift again.
It was on Mark Malu Fork where Jim got a HUGE burst of adrenalin as he tried to build up enough speed to get up a hill at the bottom. As he went over a hump he got big-time air (much more than he was expecting) but he landed it like he knew what he was doing! FKSB and I looked on and when we got down to the bottom he had the biggest grin on his face - although he did admit that his heart was pounding! I'm not sure he's stopped smiling yet.
Once it got too mushy we said goodbye to this season - but this time it didn't feel too early. The trip was everything I wanted it to be - I met another Diva (Skisailor), got to spend time with two others that I had met before (perma-grin and FKSB), sat out on the deck in the sun, looking at the snow, challenged myself on the slopes and just had a GREAT time.
Also got a headstart on next season by having my boots fiddled with - I think maybe the quad fatigue problem is taken care of now. and I have questions for perma-grin on ramp angle, but I'll save those for another time.
OK - If this works, it's a link to the pictures I took this past weekend.
We started out at Snowbird on Friday, after a relatively uneventful flight. Only about two hours of delay in Denver, and no luggage, but it arrived by 9:30 or so Thursday night, so everything was fine.
Friday was extremely poor visibility - picture skiing with a white t-shirt over your face! Mostly it was cloud cover, because it wasn't snowing that hard. Jim and I started out in the morning, just the two of us, and then met up with perma-grin and Skisailor at 1:00. We had a GREAT time - and many thanks to perma-grin for her tips on where to start the next morning. We were able to get to everywhere we wanted to at the best times! But on this day we pretty much stayed on the Gadzoom lift and played around there.
Saturday was the kind of day that I went out west in April for - warm, blue sky, not much wind. It was FABULOUS! By now Floridakeysskibum (FKSB from now on) had joined Jim, Skisailor, and me. We started in Mineral Basin, where, after a run down the Junior Powder Paradise I got brave and traversed over a little further, into the ungroomed area. Nice and soft, but not too soft, so I was fine. The next time I went even further, but when the other three started to get over toward the Bookends I bowed out.
After a few runs down that side, we took the traverse the other direction, toward the Baldy lift (closed). I do NOT like traversing, by the way, and it was here that I discovered I like it even less when the open area is to the right side of me and I can't see anything except the cliff edge. Plus, I don't know why they have to have hairpin turns!
Over here I mostly stayed on the groomed part of the run, but the others did at least a couple of runs in the general vicinity of Double Downs. I'm so glad that Skisailor and FKSB were with us, because it meant Jim got to do some of the harder areas without feeling like he had to stay with me, and he had partners in case something happened. (Although later, at Alta, I was wondering if I should let him hang out with FKSB since she suggested he straightline down one of the runs and he, of course, did.)
After we were done back here we moved on to the front, and probably took Chip's Run down to lunch. It was at this point that I realized I also don't like the open space on a traverse when it's to my left and I can't see over the cliff edge. In addition, this was the first time I actually saw what I had skied (skiied? How DO you spell that, anyway?) the day before, in the clouds. Holy crap!
Anyway, it was off to the Little Cloud lift after lunch, where we spent most of the rest of the afternoon playing around with Mark Malu Fork, some of the area closer to the Gad Valley (whatever they could traverse to) and then to the other side of the lift and Regulator Johnson.
Sunday morning we went to Alta - they only had two lifts running, so we only got to see a little bit, but it was enough to make me want to go back. At lunch Skisailor had to leave, so she gave us a ride back to Snowbird where the two remaining Divas and my Diva dude spent the afternoon on the Little Cloud lift again.
It was on Mark Malu Fork where Jim got a HUGE burst of adrenalin as he tried to build up enough speed to get up a hill at the bottom. As he went over a hump he got big-time air (much more than he was expecting) but he landed it like he knew what he was doing! FKSB and I looked on and when we got down to the bottom he had the biggest grin on his face - although he did admit that his heart was pounding! I'm not sure he's stopped smiling yet.
Once it got too mushy we said goodbye to this season - but this time it didn't feel too early. The trip was everything I wanted it to be - I met another Diva (Skisailor), got to spend time with two others that I had met before (perma-grin and FKSB), sat out on the deck in the sun, looking at the snow, challenged myself on the slopes and just had a GREAT time.
Also got a headstart on next season by having my boots fiddled with - I think maybe the quad fatigue problem is taken care of now. and I have questions for perma-grin on ramp angle, but I'll save those for another time.
