Snowmonster and Trailboss' Utah Powder Adventure - 'Bird/Alta/DV - 3/17-21/2012

[snowmonster]

Planned the trip just right: between the afternoon of 3/17 to the late evening of 3/20, Little Cottonwood Canyon got pounded by 49" of snow. Deer Valley got hit by slightly less snow but we're talking in the order of just a few inches less. Here's a quick summary of an excellent 5 days with the trailboss:

3/17: Snowbird - In the morning, east coast hardpack, boiler plate, dust on crust. It was my first day ever in UT and I was wondering why I got on a plane for four hours just to ski in stuff that was actually infinitely worse than anything I had ever seen at the Rivah. Then, in the afternoon, the snows came -- hard.

3/18: Snowbird - Powder day with 15 inches. Skied all over including Mineral Basin. Got to the Mineral Basin tunnel after lunch just after they were opening after avy control. Holy freakin' s#it! Every crummy run the day before was so blanketed in snow, it was like skiing another mountain.

3/19: Alta - Powder day with 23 inches. Started at Albion then worked our way to Supreme then Sugarloaf, Collins and Wildcat. Can't remember anymore what we skied but it was all deep and lots of untracked. It was the first time I came close to choking on snow. Had to wear a balaclava to keep the snow out of my nose and mouth. Hit Alf's High Rustler.

3/20: Alta - Powder day with 11 inches but bluebird. Felt like skiing in a ski movie. Still lots of untracked. Highlight was getting to Catherin's Area. Lots of bomb holes from artillery/hand-held charges. Hit West Rustler and East Greeley countless times.

3/21: Deer Valley - Bluebird day with temps reaching the 50s. Cruised around on the groomers and skulked around the woods. Snow was getting baked in some areas but snow in the shade was nice and fast. Tried to hit the X Files and Lady Morgan chair but ran out of time. Maybe, next time.

Trailboss has lots of great pics but I'll share a few since I hardly whipped out my camera phone. Remember: when you need snow, call the Monster!

Snowbird:

TB ripping it up!


Untracked goodness


Mineral Basin tunnel


A pause in the action




Alta:



Steep and deep



High Rustler


Nina's Curve


Ripping up a bluebird day!


Beautiful!


Deer Valley:



First run down Tycoon:


Know You Don't and Champion, 2002 Winter Olympic runs:


Stein!

[thetrailboss]

Yeah Man! I've got my TR's and pics ready!

[thetrailboss]

Day One:

Ski Area: Snowbird

Date: March 17, 2012

Conditions: MG/FG/P

Trip Report #: 20

Report:

Last season, Snowmonster and I did a weekend of skiing at Sugarbush and Smuggler's Notch. One of the nice things about AZ is that you meet some cool folks and this is such a case. Snowmonster and I planned on him coming out to Utah to visit our daughter (he will be her Godfather) and to slay some Mormon Pow, as he put it.

Well, Day One did not look so good. We met on Friday evening at the airport--me coming from a meeting in St. George, Utah where the temperature was in the 80's and he from the warm east coast. Neither of us needed jackets on the stroll to the car. But the forecast looked decent, with one, maybe two, feet of new snow by Tuesday in the Wasatch.

Knowing that Saturday was going to be a transition day, we slept in before making the short drive to the 'Bird. With Steve Young in town for his annual ski benefit, we got parking a bit further from Creekside than normal. We knew it would be a groomer day. First run off Gadzoom was down a scratchy Bassackwards to Gad II, where we decided to do Bananas. We enjoyed the views and scouted out terrain that in less than a day would be delicious. The terrain was FG/MG and quick edges were needed. We did Gad II again, this time heading down Upper Bassackwards, which was frozen moguls and rough to say the least.

At about this time, the snow began to pick up. During our day it snowed lightly, picking up in the afternoon. Most of the runs had a thin layer of snow on top of frozen MG. Dust on crust. Regulator Johnson was no exception. We scraped down it to Lunch Run and Big Emma, before crossing over to Snowbird Center where the circus was in town. Specifically, the Freestyle World Tour Championship. We took a break and scored some swag from Cliff Bar, Subaru, and others. Snowmonster looked for the perfect 'Bird gear before we boarded the Tram and headed to the summit. Knowing that the front side was rough, we opted to venture into Mineral Basin. Lupine Loop was similar to the frontside trails, but the new snow was beginning to pile up. We did a few runs on Baldy Express hitting Claim Jumper, Lucky Boy, and Bird's Nest, and even venturing onto the frozen remains in between the trails.

With visibility low, and lots of flat light, we decided that we would head back to Peruvian Gulch and grab lunch. We found chalky goodness on Upper Primrose Path and Schmutz's Hi Nowhere, thanks to the fact that the sun had not cooked this area during the week. Surf Turn Gully was bordering on good skiing, as was Hully Gully.

We got to the ampthitheater and took in the FWT Championship. The course was down Fields of Glory (or Feel Da' Glory). The skiers we watched were amazing and the few hundred who gathered were a good crowd.

Once that ended, we skied down Men's Downhill to Phone 3 Shot and Lowest Chip's Face, which had soft spring snow. We skied over to Cliff Lodge and had a nice lunch at the Atrium. For those that visit Snowbird, I recommend that you make the short hike to the Cliff because the food is better and the price difference is negligible.

We watched the snow dump outside as we ate lunch, and then we headed to the Tram for a top-to-bottom run down Regulator Johnson and Bassackwards. That light snow? Yeah, by now it had gotten to about 6-8 inches of snow up top which made the skiing on Regulator very nice powder bumps.

By now I was tired, and I decided to end to save my legs for the rest of the week, while Snowmonster hit Mid-Gad for one more run. I came out of Creekside just in time to hear a hoot and hollar as he was hitting the bumps on Gadzoom Liftline.

What began as an icy groomer day ended as a decent powder afternoon, complete with thundersnow, which made us hope for better things to come....

[thetrailboss]

Day Two:

Ski Area: Snowbird

Date: March 18, 2012

Conditions: P (15" and more)

Trip Report #: 21

Report:

Day Two of our Five Day Tour started out with expectations that were blown away. Overnight, Snowbird had been dumped on and we awoke to see that they had received over 15" of snow. It continued all day. We took the Subaru and had no problem going up LCC to Snowbird and got a great parking spot at Snowbird Center. We got into line at the Tram and had a three car wait before we got up to Little Cloud Basin. We skied down the side of Regulator Johnson and found amazing powder snow....more than a foot of it by the way....and hooted and hollared the whole way.

Little Cloud was the game for the first few runs, hitting my favorite lines including Old Lady's Slide, various Regulator Lines, Goblin Gully, and Package Pig. The snow was dumping and each run got better and better.

Having skied most of the open lines, and seeing that Road to Provo was not open, we skied down to Gad II. Blackforest had some really deep, stop you in your tracks, snow drifts and made for a nice detour. Good choice. I had been eying STH all season, and today was the day. We dropped in and found delicious powder bumps that made this steep run a real treat When we got down to Gad II, we had planned on doing another run but found a very long line, so down Bassackwards to Tricep we went, finding more deep snow. Below Gad II the snow was noticably heavier and denser than up top, where it was drier. But it was all soft and delicious.

With the deep snow, the only place to go was steep and deep. And that was STH. I had been eying this steep open area for some time. Well it delivered. We dove in at the upper entrance and found deep, soft powder bumps. Any sign of FG or ice was long gone. Amazing.

We skied this down to Lower Blackforest and then down to the bottom of Gad II, which was already getting busy. So we cut onto lower Tiger Tail and then down to Tricep which was denser and wetter snow than STH, but still tasty.

After unloading from Gadzoom with big smiles, we headed into Bear Hill Glades where I found a line that was untracked. Wow. Knee deep and amazing. We skied it down to Bassackwards.

We were planning on heading to Snowbird Center for lunch, but that Damn Sneaky Pete got in the way. Like STH, I was waiting for the right day and today was that day. It was pretty much bottomless snow. No rocks or ice from the day before that Snowmonster braved.

After lunch, we rendezvoused with Snowmonster's friend and headed to Peruvian Express. As we were ready to get on, the liftie shouted, "Mineral Basin is open." We were so excited that we almost missed double loaded a chair! When we got to the top the tunnel was closed. We were puzzeled and wondered what to do. Then the alarms went off and the doors opened. We were right there...ready to go...and we got FIRST TRACKS in bottomless pow on Not Quite Corn, although the abrupt drop to the cat track caught me off guard and knocked me off my feet. Regaining control, we continued down to High Stakes which was delicious.

Next run was down Silver Dipper/Nash Flora Load, which was deep and tasty. We glided down to Mineral Basin Express and headed back up top. I steered us down Schmutz's High Nowhere over to High Baldy Traverse where we peered down one of my favorite areas: Chamonix Bowl.

We dropped in, each taking a different line, with me going far skier's left to hug the rope line. The snow was not as deep as other areas and a bit choppy from the wind, but still pretty damn nice.

By now Baldy Express was open, so we got on to score more untracked lines on Livin' The Dream, Claim Jumper, Lucky Boy, and Bird's Nest. The snow was, as usual, inconsistent between wind-drift and soft powder. On one run we skied over to a chute on Bassanova and past some skiers and riders who found themselves on top of a cliff near the liftline. Snowmonster and his friend offered help.

After several runs in the Baldy Express area, Snowmonster's friend headed back to the front side. Snowmonster and I did one more run on Baldy and got stuck on it for about 15 minutes. We learned later that a snowcat at Alta had hit a transformer and they had been experiencing lift problems at Alta all day. After a call to Ski Patrol confirming that we would not be in the next "Frozen" movie, we headed down Bird's Nest to Mineral Basin Express and out to the front side. We were both pretty wiped, but hit Schumutz's High Nowhere to Surf Turn Gully and down Chip's to Who Dunnit and down to the Cliff Access trail to meet Snowmonster's friends for apres. When they were nowhere to be seen, we headed into El Chanate Restaurant for a beer and nachos as the snow continued to dump.

Without a doubt the best day at Snowbird this season and one of two of the best days for me ever (Monday was face shots at Alta....read on....). Fresh snow all day, big powder bumps, and fun terrain.

[speden]

Wow, that's a lot of snow. Looks like you picked a good time to go. I'm glad it was winter somewhere. Hope your skis were wide enough for those conditions.

[snoseek]

Happy Snowmonster got to experience Utah the way its supposed to be. I'm thinking we got several feet of snow here in Tahoe just simply because he was only one state over, winters lucky rabbit foot!

[Tooth]

Whats April shaping up to be like? Early April looking solid?

[snowmonster]

Hope your skis were wide enough for those conditions.

My fatties were very happy in these conditions. Even in the east, my skis are at least 100 underfoot. Waterskis, baby!

Happy Snowmonster got to experience Utah the way its supposed to be. I'm thinking we got several feet of snow here in Tahoe just simply because he was only one state over, winters lucky rabbit foot!

Glad to oblige. Happy that you finally got the snow you were lookin' for! Yup, my luck is holding out. Oh yeah, and as soon as I got back east (where it was 70 degrees last week), snowmaking weather!

TB, where's days 3 to 5? And pics? I'm impressed with your detail of every run. I had no idea where we were skiing. Didn't know they had trail names.=)

[Nick]

Wow that looks really great.

What's up with that tunnel?

[snowmonster]

What's up with that tunnel?

That tunnel links the front side of Snowbird to the backside (Mineral Basin). They basically dug a mining tunnel to get from one side to the other. Neat, huh?

to slay some Mormon Pow, as he put it.

This should have been the title of this TR! Slayin' some Mormon Pow!

On one run we skied over to a chute on Bassanova and past some skiers and riders who found themselves on top of a cliff near the liftline. Snowmonster and his friend offered help.

Always ready to help damsels in distress.