Date: March 26, 2016
Resort: Snowbird
Weather: Sunny and cold with highs in the low 30's
Conditions: Midwinter powder with some drifted areas; 380" for the season; 108" base
Report: After a nice Good Friday ski session with BenedictGomez and his wife at Alta, I was jonesin to ski Snowbird and looking forward to trying out some areas and lines that I had not skied and are not in play when bases are lower. The plan was to focus on the Cirque and Baldy since I normally ski Mineral Basin and Gad almost exclusively. It was the perfect day to explore and I felt like after five years out here I am finally getting my "western skis" under me and am comfortable exploring pretty much anything at Snowbird. Today was not about quantity of vert or runs, it was about quality and exploring some legendary stuff that sets Snowbird apart.
The first time I wondered over into the Cirque was in 2012, when I bumped into a guy from Pennsylvania who got talking to me and insisted I ski it with him. Down the traverse we went--the traverse is the worst part since it usually is a combination of rocks, ice, and bodies. Since then I have skied Middle, Lower, and the very last lines in Cirque. I had not skied Upper or Great Scott and I figured what the hell.
After a couple warm ups on a groomed top-to-bottom Primrose Path to warm up, I headed to the gate and down to the first entrance to Great Scott. Except for a few rocks at the very top poking through, it definitely looked doable and pleasant, but as I sat at the top, my body was just not into this line. So I skied to the next one:
It looked primo. I saw a clear route that had good snow and dove in. About half-way down did I realize how steep it was and the adrenaline was rushing. Alas, it was not that long and after skiing through the throat of the rocks I came out into the Cirque Proper and looked back up at what I had done
On the next Tram up I paused when I saw what I had ACTUALLY skied:
It was a real rush and from the top was a clear line right down. From the Tram it was nothing short of impressive.
Since the Tram was pretty crowded, I decided to go right over to Baldy right away. For years I had watched skiers and riders make the hike along the ridgeline to the shoulder of Baldy. I wondered where they were going and thought that the stuff was simply too steep or required mandatory cliff jumps. After studying maps and hiking around in the summer, I located some lines that were indeed doable without death or serious injury and all I needed was some more snow and an opportunity to explore.
The hike from Chamonix Bowl to the gravity traverse was a mere 10 minutes offering some great views.
My target was an obvious major line right on the shoulder of Baldy:
I had skied the very lower part of this line a few years back thanks to a lower traverse that originated right below the Peruvian Express, but the upper part looked amazing. I had no problem locating it...probably 30 seconds into the gravity traverse:
The line was primo--some stout uncut powder and chowder with a handful of lines. It was nice and long too--reminiscent of Stonecrusher at Alta and descended right down to the first hairpin turn of Chip's.
Well worth the hike.
Since the Tram line was out onto the Plaza, I decided to head for the Cirque Traverse via Gadzoom and Little Cloud with my eyes set on a line in the Upper Cirque, just down from Great Scott. I had no problem finding a good line:
Another great line with stout chowder. It not as steep as the first line of the morning but just as much fun:
Part II coming soon...
Resort: Snowbird
Weather: Sunny and cold with highs in the low 30's
Conditions: Midwinter powder with some drifted areas; 380" for the season; 108" base
Report: After a nice Good Friday ski session with BenedictGomez and his wife at Alta, I was jonesin to ski Snowbird and looking forward to trying out some areas and lines that I had not skied and are not in play when bases are lower. The plan was to focus on the Cirque and Baldy since I normally ski Mineral Basin and Gad almost exclusively. It was the perfect day to explore and I felt like after five years out here I am finally getting my "western skis" under me and am comfortable exploring pretty much anything at Snowbird. Today was not about quantity of vert or runs, it was about quality and exploring some legendary stuff that sets Snowbird apart.
The first time I wondered over into the Cirque was in 2012, when I bumped into a guy from Pennsylvania who got talking to me and insisted I ski it with him. Down the traverse we went--the traverse is the worst part since it usually is a combination of rocks, ice, and bodies. Since then I have skied Middle, Lower, and the very last lines in Cirque. I had not skied Upper or Great Scott and I figured what the hell.
After a couple warm ups on a groomed top-to-bottom Primrose Path to warm up, I headed to the gate and down to the first entrance to Great Scott. Except for a few rocks at the very top poking through, it definitely looked doable and pleasant, but as I sat at the top, my body was just not into this line. So I skied to the next one:
It looked primo. I saw a clear route that had good snow and dove in. About half-way down did I realize how steep it was and the adrenaline was rushing. Alas, it was not that long and after skiing through the throat of the rocks I came out into the Cirque Proper and looked back up at what I had done
On the next Tram up I paused when I saw what I had ACTUALLY skied:
It was a real rush and from the top was a clear line right down. From the Tram it was nothing short of impressive.
Since the Tram was pretty crowded, I decided to go right over to Baldy right away. For years I had watched skiers and riders make the hike along the ridgeline to the shoulder of Baldy. I wondered where they were going and thought that the stuff was simply too steep or required mandatory cliff jumps. After studying maps and hiking around in the summer, I located some lines that were indeed doable without death or serious injury
and all I needed was some more snow and an opportunity to explore. The hike from Chamonix Bowl to the gravity traverse was a mere 10 minutes offering some great views.
My target was an obvious major line right on the shoulder of Baldy:
I had skied the very lower part of this line a few years back thanks to a lower traverse that originated right below the Peruvian Express, but the upper part looked amazing. I had no problem locating it...probably 30 seconds into the gravity traverse:
The line was primo--some stout uncut powder and chowder with a handful of lines. It was nice and long too--reminiscent of Stonecrusher at Alta and descended right down to the first hairpin turn of Chip's.
Well worth the hike.
Since the Tram line was out onto the Plaza, I decided to head for the Cirque Traverse via Gadzoom and Little Cloud with my eyes set on a line in the Upper Cirque, just down from Great Scott. I had no problem finding a good line:
Another great line with stout chowder. It not as steep as the first line of the morning but just as much fun:
Part II coming soon...
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