Alta question

Sheik Yerbouti · Jan 24, 2007, 3:00 PM

I've only been there a couple times, and looking at their website, it says that their base is 59". Isn't that incredibly short of what it 'should' be at this time of year? I would expect it to be well over 100" at this point, since they get over 500" a year
I have got to get back there, pure skiing, old school ideology...

SkiDog · Jan 24, 2007, 3:15 PM

yeah so far not a huge winter...I think only a little over a 100" so far this season...but I hear things are still nice...but theres nothing like Alta/Snowbird after a big dump.....

Mmmm STEEPS...

M

Sheik Yerbouti · Jan 24, 2007, 3:20 PM

Thanks. Yea, it seemed a bit shy of the normal base at this point. The more I think about it, the more I want to go.... maybe my brother still has some contacts out there...

ajl50 · Jan 24, 2007, 4:00 PM

I'm going in March and I'm not worried. If you worry about the conditions at alta you might as well give up skiing. They have had like 150 for the season and while that is low at this point in my mind it means that when this pattern breaks they will get hammered. They haven't had a season with under 300 so 150 over feb/march/april is good stuff.
Oh yea- and lsat time i checked if we had a 59 inch base out here it would be epic.

RISkier · Jan 24, 2007, 4:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheik Yerbouti

I've only been there a couple times, and looking at their website, it says that their base is 59". Isn't that incredibly short of what it 'should' be at this time of year? I would expect it to be well over 100" at this point, since they get over 500" a year
I have got to get back there, pure skiing, old school ideology...

Yep, they've not gotten their usual quota. We just returned (3 days at Snowbasin, 2 days at Powder Mountain, and 1 day at Alta) from Utah. Even with the relatively low snow totals we thought the conditions were very good. But right now, it's not the deep, light powder that many expect.

snoseek · Jan 24, 2007, 4:53 PM

i got it pretty good the first 2 weeks of jan. Yes the base is less than normal, but it still is 5 feet of natural, so the skiing will be fine with any new snow they get. also feb and especially march can be huge snow months for them.

koreshot · Jan 24, 2007, 7:38 PM

I was there in mid december and with the exception of some rocks hiding under the snow the skii was great. One would think that the skiing has improved since then. Even on a bad day, Alta has pretty good snow.

kingslug · Jan 25, 2007, 7:21 AM

It's still a blast to ski there even with low coverage. You just have to watch out for the rocks. Solitude is usualy in better shape due to less crowds and tons of trees. And they have some prety steep groomers to blast down on. More snow is on the way for them as well. March seems to be the best month.

Sheik Yerbouti · Jan 25, 2007, 8:30 AM

I wasn't complaining, just curious, and hell yea, if we had a 59" base at any NH or VT area it would be a ncp dream.

GrizzlyFD · Jan 25, 2007, 10:54 AM

The resorts out west have a different way of measuring snow totals/base depths than we do back east. When a resort out west reports a 59" base, that is the settled snow depth, NOT the depth of the snowpack on groomed trails. Plus, it is usually measure in a wind protected area so blowing snow and snow lost to wind aren't counted. 5 feet might sound like a lot, but a lot of that terrain is very rocky, most of snowbird is a scree field and they need a lot of snow to fill in the terrain. Actually snowbird had the snow guns blasting recently mid mountain to get regulator johnson covered up. Seems crazy with 150" season total and a 5 foot base.

That said, they are definitely behind in snow this year. I saw on the UT avy report that it hasn't snowed a decent amount in over 2 weeks and the Jan snow totals for Alta are 30". They usually average 80-90" a month during the winter. Last year I think they hit 300" in January.

Jan 24, 2007, 3:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
Sheik Yerbouti Attitash, Founders day 07 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Dedham, MA Posts: 354	Alta question I've only been there a couple times, and looking at their website, it says that their base is 59". Isn't that incredibly short of what it 'should' be at this time of year? I would expect it to be well over 100" at this point, since they get over 500" a year I have got to get back there, pure skiing, old school ideology...

Jan 24, 2007, 3:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
SkiDog Join Date: May 2005 Location: Sandy UTAH Posts: 1,620	yeah so far not a huge winter...I think only a little over a 100" so far this season...but I hear things are still nice...but theres nothing like Alta/Snowbird after a big dump..... Mmmm STEEPS... M __________________ http://www.firsttracksonline.com

Jan 25, 2007, 7:21 AM	#8 (permalink)
kingslug Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: looooooong island ny Posts: 1,584	It's still a blast to ski there even with low coverage. You just have to watch out for the rocks. Solitude is usualy in better shape due to less crowds and tons of trees. And they have some prety steep groomers to blast down on. More snow is on the way for them as well. March seems to be the best month. __________________ Lets go! I'll drive.

Jan 25, 2007, 10:54 AM	#10 (permalink)
GrizzlyFD Join Date: May 2005 Location: Northern NJ Posts: 61	Different way of measuring snowfall The resorts out west have a different way of measuring snow totals/base depths than we do back east. When a resort out west reports a 59" base, that is the settled snow depth, NOT the depth of the snowpack on groomed trails. Plus, it is usually measure in a wind protected area so blowing snow and snow lost to wind aren't counted. 5 feet might sound like a lot, but a lot of that terrain is very rocky, most of snowbird is a scree field and they need a lot of snow to fill in the terrain. Actually snowbird had the snow guns blasting recently mid mountain to get regulator johnson covered up. Seems crazy with 150" season total and a 5 foot base. That said, they are definitely behind in snow this year. I saw on the UT avy report that it hasn't snowed a decent amount in over 2 weeks and the Jan snow totals for Alta are 30". They usually average 80-90" a month during the winter. Last year I think they hit 300" in January.

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Jan 24, 2007, 3:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
Sheik Yerbouti Attitash, Founders day 07 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Dedham, MA Posts: 354	Thanks. Yea, it seemed a bit shy of the normal base at this point. The more I think about it, the more I want to go.... maybe my brother still has some contacts out there...

Jan 24, 2007, 4:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
ajl50 Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: philly Posts: 702	I'm going in March and I'm not worried. If you worry about the conditions at alta you might as well give up skiing. They have had like 150 for the season and while that is low at this point in my mind it means that when this pattern breaks they will get hammered. They haven't had a season with under 300 so 150 over feb/march/april is good stuff. Oh yea- and lsat time i checked if we had a 59 inch base out here it would be epic.

Jan 24, 2007, 4:53 PM	#6 (permalink)
snoseek Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Golden, Co Posts: 1,557	i got it pretty good the first 2 weeks of jan. Yes the base is less than normal, but it still is 5 feet of natural, so the skiing will be fine with any new snow they get. also feb and especially march can be huge snow months for them.

Jan 24, 2007, 7:38 PM	#7 (permalink)
koreshot Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: NJ Posts: 960	I was there in mid december and with the exception of some rocks hiding under the snow the skii was great. One would think that the skiing has improved since then. Even on a bad day, Alta has pretty good snow.

Jan 25, 2007, 8:30 AM	#9 (permalink)
Sheik Yerbouti Attitash, Founders day 07 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Dedham, MA Posts: 354	I wasn't complaining, just curious, and hell yea, if we had a 59" base at any NH or VT area it would be a ncp dream.