TR Alta April 4-19, 2024, spring skiing with a powder storm

[marzNC]

Per usual, my trip to Alta in April includes a bit of powder skiing. I got a head start staying with NC friends in SLC before moving to Alta Lodge on April 7. I'll be skiing through April 19, mostly Alta but may spend a little time at Snowbird. A few Divas will be around in the next week. Also with friends from North Country School since this is the alumni gathering week.

The snowstorm April 5-7 came in with cold temps and dumped 2 FEET of snow. The next couple weeks will mostly be spring skiing. Alta has had just over 600 inches so coverage is quite good in general. Probably the best in April since 2019.

For more about the weather and snow conditions:

Utah LCC/BCC April 2024 conditions - Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, Brighton

I and a few other Divas will be skiing Alta in the next couple weeks. May wander over to Snowbird a bit too when Mineral Basin is open. I tend to pay attention to Alta with OpenSnow all season since it's my favorite resort out west. Of course late season conditions can vary quite a bit. I...

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Warm day at Alf's, perfect for a picnic lunch on the deck, April 4


Sunnyside opened a little late on April 6, it was cold and snowy all day


Drifts on the roof of Alf's during the snowstorm, mid-afternoon April 6

 

[marzNC]

Some pics from Monday, April 7. Ballroom and Devil's Castle opened so there were locals and regulars around in the morning. By lunch time they were mostly gone. It was quiet in the afternoon. The snow stayed good up high. It was in the 30s at the base by lunch time.

View from my window, about 30 minutes before the lifts opened at 9:15


East Castle (closed), Castle Apron (open) on the Supreme side


Bill on a Wildcat run


View of Wildcat parking, GMD, Alta Lodge, Rustler, Snowpine


Bill got a pic of the partial solar eclipse, we were at the top of Collins when the cloud cover was just right

 

[marzNC]

After 3:00 I was skiing solo. Got on Supreme a few minutes before it closed at 3:30. Then caught Sugarloaf just before it closed at 4:00. Wanted to go back to the Collins side on the EBT cat track instead of taking the transfer tow that goes between the Albion and Wildcat bases. Took my time and enjoyed the views.



From top of Sugarloaf, rope line separates Alta from Snowbird's Mineral Basin


Ballroom and Baldy Shoulder, view from Main Street (groomer)

 

[marzNC]

Woke up early (still on ET) and got to watch the groomer work on the Alta Lodge access. Took about 25 minutes. Extra snow was moved down to the base area. It's going to get warm the next few days and they'll need to keep that area deep enough to get through the rest of the season. Per usual, there were three groomers working at the Wildcat base in the early morning.

Groomer at work next to Alta Lodge, started about 6:15am, April 9


Early morning views from Alta Lodge

 

[BlizzardBabe]

SOOOOOO jealous! Have fun!!!

 

[marzNC]

SOOOOOO jealous! Have fun!!!

Thanks!

That reminded me of when the folks from the Massanutten Gold Clinic spent a week at Snowbird and I did a guided tour of Alta one morning. With lunch at Alta Lodge. That was fun!

Start of the March 2018 tour, at the top of the Wildcat lift (best views of Mt. Baldy, Ballroom, High T)

 

[marzNC]

@TNtoTaos and @IKam arrived today. Along with my NC friend, JF. Her first trip to Alta was in April 2017 when she brought her two kids. She learned to ski taking lessons at Massanutten when her kids were in ski school. She took advantage of the Kids Stay Free during the last few weeks of the season at Alta Lodge for a few years. Now her kids are too busy with high school and she comes solo. She takes lessons with at Alta too.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

Bittersweet memories. One of us is deceased (far too soon), and another can no longer ski b/c of medical issues. I just realized that one of the non-Massanutten folks in the pic was with us two weeks ago in Revelstoke. Dang, I knew he looked familiar!

 

[marzNC]

One of the features of the small (2 twin beds) Original Lodge room that I like at Alta Lodge is that I have a view of the slopes. That means I can see when the groomers are working. In the spring, that often happens as late as possible. Meaning there are groomers to watch 6:00-7:30 am. I'm usually still on Eastern Time so tend to wake up around 6am.

Groomer at work, 6:15 to 6:45am, April 9
Grooming the Alta Lodge handle tow slope, which is above Goldminer's Daughter and the Wildcat base. The Collins and Wildcat lifts load there. Since it will get warm (over 40) in the next few days, some extra snow was moved down to the base area. The groomer also made a small pile along the track Alta Lodge guests take to the locker room, then spun on it to pack that area down, before smoothing it out.



Views outside Alta Lodge, temperature about 15 degrees, 7:10am, April 9

 

[marzNC]

I went out early on April 9. Was in the short line for Collins soon after lifts opened at 9:15am. It was still cold, in the 20s, and the Collins groomers were very fun. They weren't icy at all. The lower groomers had been groomed by the first shift (4pm-midnight). The only new terrain that opened up was Mt. Baldy.

Had to set up my Mountain Collective Pass for 50% off additional days, which can only be done after the included days are used up. The MCP card that was mailed is direct-to-lift at Alta only for the included 2 days. Alta provides a separate (not plastic) RFID card that is linked to a credit card for any additional days.

I save my Full Ikon days for the days I'm most likely to consider skiing over to Mineral Basin at Snowbird. Either solo for a few runs first thing in the morning because Mineral Basin softens early, or because I'm with someone who wants to check out Snowbird and has Ikon. It's possible to use the MCP to ski Snowbird but need to get a ride over in the morning. Can ski back to Alta via Mineral Basin after 3pm, but can't ride any Alta Lifts without using another MCP day at Alta.

The views from the top of the Wildcat lift are the best way to see all of the terrain off Mt. Baldy and the High T.

Ballroom (right), top of Collins lift (in the center), start of the High T


Terrain off the High T stays in the shade in the mornings, groomer straight down is Stimulation (black), which goes into Aggie's Alley (blue)


Looking towards Watson's (mid-mountain day lodge) and Wildcat base

 

[marzNC]

Today, April 10, I gave @TNtoTaos and @IKam a tour of Alta in the morning and a quick look at Snowbird in the afternoon. It warmed enough that the front side of Snowbird was pretty nice, even at the top. An Ikon pass works as a combo pass so can ski at Alta and Snowbird on the same day and it only counts as one day.

We started with Collins and Wildcat, then headed over to Sugarloaf. After a stop in Alf's, we did a few runs off Supreme and headed down to the Albion base to ride Sunnyside. We were skiing blue groomers mostly. From the top of Sunnyside we went back to Sugarloaf. Then headed into Mineral Basin to check out Snowbird.

Heading into Mineral Basin


Just enough time to get over to Creekside to ride up Gadzoom, we took Chip's Run down to Rothman Way


After skiing past the Mid-Gad day lodge, we headed to Snowbird Center aka the Tram Deck to ride up the tram. Mid-Gad is closed already because it's being replaced by a new building this summer.

TNtoTaos and IKam in the tram passing by the Cirque terrain


There was another mid-day road closure, 1:30-3:00, for heli operations for avalanche mitigation. That probably made it even emptier in the afternoon than usual for a warm spring day. The snow was quite fun, even pretty low.

Mineral Basin


Front side groomers

 

[floridakeysskibum]

Yeah! Can’t wait to see you guys. I started packing today

 

[Bookworm]

Is the tunnel open?

 

[marzNC]

Is the tunnel open?

The Peruvian Tunnel has been open this week. When I asked when it might close, I couldn't get a good answer. Since there is plenty of snow in Mineral Basin, hopefully it will stay open through the next snowstorm that's expected to start April 15.

 

[marzNC]

It was already 32 degrees at the base of Alta at 9:00 this morning, April 11, so people headed out early. In general, few people skied later than 2:30 or so. By then it was in the low 50s at the base.

The groomers off Supreme were good fun in the morning. One of the North Country School alumni is a long time instructor at another destination resort and is here with his family. When he tested a potential short shot off-piste around 11:00 and bailed, the rest of us skiing with him knew it was too soon. Sugarloaf terrain was soft enough that Arthur took @IKam and JF to Extrovert (groomed black under the lift) during their morning lesson. That was the first time JF skied a black trail at Alta.

In the afternoon, @TNtoTaos and I stuck to Collins. I was mostly checking out snow conditions to figure out what might be good in the next couple days when it's going to be warm. We went in about 3:00.

Folks heading out at 9:15


The access to Catherine's at the top of Supreme was open, but no takers in the morning
The short uphill is groomed these days. Can be done with skis on, or as a boot pack.


View of High Rustler, with Mt. Baldy in the distance, 7:30pm

 

[VickiK]

Have fun, all!

 

[floridakeysskibum]

Is the tunnel open?

I’m going g to assume that the tunnel will be open until Alta closes, because of the snow fall. Then the tunnel may be open just on weekends if Alta extends, and they have staff that stayed over.

 

[marzNC]

I’m going g to assume that the tunnel will be open until Alta closes, because of the snow fall. Then the tunnel may be open just on weekends if Alta extends, and they have staff that stayed over.

There is no indication that Alta will have bonus weekends this season.

Note that even when the Peruvian Tunnel closes early, Mineral Basin can remain open. Just means the only way into Mineral Basin is by skiing down from the top. Staffing and lack of guests is more likely to be the issue than snow coverage. Snowbird starts closing down food service and lifts by late March at times.

 

[marzNC]

Saturday, April 13, was the annual Earth Day event at Alta. Tents were set up at the base of Collins in front of Goldminer's Daughter. It was a party atmosphere since it was a warm, sunny day.

In the afternoon there were two unexpected events: 1) Collins was closed from 2:00-2:45 for maintenance, and 2) the road was closed for a short time around 3:30 because of a vehicle accident. The road closure was announced at the end of the drawing that was a fundraiser. Probably didn't last that long. People still around having a good time on the GMD porch weren't in any hurry to head down canyon. By then it was in the high 50s and felt warmer in the sun.

Alta Earth Day, April 13
There were two local companies who brought demo skis: DPS and WNDR. @TNtoTaos and I took out DPS Kai 100 skis for a run. They are designed for soft snow so harder to turn on groomers compared to my DPS Zelda 106 skis. Apparently the Kaizen 105 is the current model that is the followup to the Zelda. We didn't have time to do another demo run.

The fundraising raffle prizes included new skis (flat) from Armada (pink) and Faction. It seemed as if employees had bought multiple tickets. Had to be present to win. At least one pair of skis went to the second name because the first person wasn't around. Needless to say, the winners were very happy. The winner of the Armada skis, which were pink, was a husband/father. They were a perfect length for his wife. I happened to be standing behind the family (two boys) during the drawing.


Man in the green jack and orange pack won a pair of skis


Collins closed 2:00-2:30, see the guys on top of Tower 3? Re-opened about 2:45. By then, most people who wanted to ski more had hiked up to Wildcat.


Blitz (short black) was soft


The wiggle on Ballroom was getting some attention around 3:45. First view is from Collins, which closes at 4:30.

 

[marzNC]

The Peruvian Tunnel operator told me today that they weren't starting "weekend only" operations for the tunnel until mid-May. Presumably that means it will be open 7 days a week until then.

On the other hand, the Gad Valley will be closed starting April 15. That's because major construction will be happening soon. The Mid-Gad building will have major renovations started this summer.