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Snowbird: Dec. 22, 23, and 26, 2011

thetrailboss

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Date: December 22, 23, 26, 2011

Resort: Snowbird, Utah

Conditions: 12/22: 10 inches of new snow (powder); 12/23: MG, P; 12/26: windblown hard pack, MG, some chowder.

Weather: 30’s. Nice sunshine.

2012 Trip Report #: 6, 7, 8

Report: The holidays were busy, but I was able to get in three solid days of skiing with two bluebird days and one powder day. Not too shabby, but we are having the 4th worst winter for snow since 1945!

December 22nd:

Folks were excited about some significant snow that we finally got and Snowbird even issued a powder alert. I managed to get up there early and get a good parking spot, but I was not able to get the first tram, so third chair on Peruvian would have to suffice.

Well, it was the first day on the new fat powder skis and I was stoked. I was able to snag a couple photos of them before the camera died (sorry):

Just as well since I had some skiing to do. First run was down an untracked Surf Turn Gully to Chip’s and then into Hubba Bubba for some nice turns in the trees. However, I still exited too low and had to hoof it out of the very top of Hot Lips Gully and back onto Chip’s. Down Men’s Downhill and Phone 3 Shot to the base.

Second run was pretty much a repeat, except I jumped into Hot Foot Gully and then cut onto Rothman Way where I came across the Paparazzi yet again….

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It was a nice thing because at least I had some pictures for the day. As you can see the fat, long powder skis manage to carve pretty well!

Next run was a recon run to see if Gad 2 had opened yet….as it was advertised to be opening for the season. I hit Gadzoom and did Lunch Run down to find that the rope was still pulled across. So down Big Emma into the next photo shoot:

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And another spin up Gadzoom before hightailing it to the Tram for a run down Regulator Johnson, just in time to see patrol dropping the ropes for Gad 2. I hightailed it down Bassackwards and got into line. Though folks were hitting the very thinly covered Broomstick and Gadzooks, I opted for a tour down Bananas which had been groomed before the last snowfall and was a nice mix of solid base with about a foot of pow on top. It was nice to see this part of the resort. By the time I made it back to the base of Gad 2, the line was well back behind the queues and I opted to head down Lower Bassackwards to Gadzoom (repeated) and then headed back to Tram base and one more run down Peruvian.

I headed to Upper Silver Fox and then cut across Sweep Three Traverse for a spin down the Cirque. The original traverse split after Rat’s Nest, with an upper route and a lazy man’s traverse that was much lower than before. Still, the skis loved the pow and I high tailed it down Great Scott to Chip’s and Hubba Bubba Boulevard, exiting much higher so as to avoid Hot Foot Gully. I was spent.

In terms of my Head Joe 105 Powder skis, they were great. The 181 length was nice for speed and they loved it. The faster I went the higher they rose in the pow. They even carved on the groomers. :eek:

ry%3D315
 
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thetrailboss

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December 23, 2011

My wife and I returned for a morning of turns, which was the first time for her this season and at Snowbird. We opted to start at Creekside so as to avoid the crowds at Tram side for the 40th Birthday. We warmed up on Bassackwards and Big Emma before hitting Lunch Run and cutting over to Gad 2 for a spin down a bumpy but fun Bananas.

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What a nice morning!

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After Banana’s, we hit Gad 2 and did Election before cutting over to Little Cloud, which had just opened.

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We did a spin down Regulator Johnson:

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We got back on Little Cloud and I found myself at the top of my favorite line in Little Cloud:

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It was thin at the top, but quite tasty. It was about as good as Upper FIS at Sugarbush gets (and that is one of my favorites).

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By now the Mrs. was ready to hit the Tram, so we headed down Bass Highway to the base and boarded the Tram. We hit Chip’s Ahoy and Primrose Gully to Chip’s, before taking it (via Chip’s Bypass) to the bottom. We managed to do one more run, cutting onto Rothman’s to get us back to the car. We were beat. All in all, a decent day.
 

thetrailboss

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December 26, 2011

I was able to get out one more day during the holiday weekend and had planned on skiing for a couple hours and then getting home to spend time with the family. As I pulled into the Snowbird Center at 8:15, securing a great spot, my phone rang and my wife was on the other end telling me that one of our friends was en route with her family to Snowbird and they wanted my company.

After making arrangements, I made it to the Tram for the first load. It was eerily quiet. My first run down a firm Regulator was nice and I grabbed first chair on Little Cloud, hitting Regulator again. After this I decided to try out Shireen, which had just opened and found it to be very set up, but well covered. I picked my way down, accidentally straying onto Snowboarder’s Slide/Brickyard and finding too many rocks for my liking, before getting back to the bottom of Gad 2. I did one more run down Regulator and headed to the Snowbird Center. I was literally the only person in Little Cloud for most of this first hour, which was nice.

I got a drink and then skied down Ski School Lane to Creekside where I met my friend and her family. Though they were from South Dakota, they were accomplished skiers with the two Bob’s having skied Jackson Hole and other big areas. Kelly lived in Montana and was an architect for the Yellowstone Club (as in Warren Miller’s Yellowstone Club). He had a pass to Big Sky. So yes, he was a good skier. And Toni, a fellow resident in my wife’s program, had just gotten new powder skis and had a pass to Brighton. Well, we convinced her to join us at the ‘bird for next season. It didn’t take too much.

We did two warm up runs on skied off Bassackwards and then Lunch Run before heading to the Tram where we ducked into Peruvian Gulch. The snow over there was a bit better with some nice chowder in Surf Turn Gully. We hit Chip’s to Phone 3 Shot, and then to the bottom of Peruvian Express. Sarah took a break and we headed up for another run.

This time Toni, the Bob’s, and Kelly were chomping at the bit to get into the Cirque. So we picked our way down to Sweep Three Traverse to head over to a nice line just above Naco’s Knoll. Kelly and I managed to get to the upper traverse and it was worth it. We waited for the others to come and were almost run over by a snowboarder who poached the upper portion above us.

Well, we finally headed down and were met by ski patrol who wanted to find Mr. Snowboarder so that they could speak with him about his poaching, but we were not able to help them. We headed down Hubba Bubba and then down Chip’s to Rothman’s Way and Adagar, which skied pretty well, especially on skier’s left.

We met Sarah at the Snowbird Center, who grabbed us a nice sunny table in the plaza, and a few beers. We enjoyed PBR’s and pizza. Even though there was not much snow, folks really liked Snowbird and its enormous terrain. I urged them to ski another day at Alta to get another good experience.

After lunch we hopped onto the Tram and headed to the top for more photos and a run down Regulator Johnson. Our photo crew showed up:

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Sarah:

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It was admittedly slick, and one of the Bob’s, Toni, and Sarah pulled the plug leaving Kelly and the other Bob with me to head up Little Cloud. As we got to the top, Kelly was interested in heading towards Mark Malu/Shireen. Bob opted for Regulator. I had told Kelly that Shireen was not great but we decided to roll the dice. Well, it had softened from traffic and temperatures and was really the run of the day. We repeated and then headed to Big Emma, where I parted and headed to Snowbird Center and my car.

My two hour trip turned into a 9-4 day at the ‘bird. Not too shabby. I’m glad that we have a fair amount open…barely…but we really need snow.
 

thetrailboss

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Some pictures:

Morning Light on Superior:

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The view of Hidden Peak from Road to Provo:

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Toni and me:

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Kelly in Surf Turn Gully:

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Having fun!

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Sweep Three Traverse:

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Heading into the Cirque:

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Bob in the Cirque:

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Kelly getting ready to launch:

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Adager:

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thetrailboss

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Summit at just shy of 3pm:

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Regulator Johnson:

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Shireen:

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Alpenglow (well, sort of) on Little Cloud:

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Nick

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I can't believe i never looked at these earlier. Great pics Trailboss, looks like you guys are really living it up out there!
 

thetrailboss

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Thanks. Maybe I will do an update this week if I get a chance. The snow is slowly getting deeper......
 
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