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Snowbird/Alta 4/1-4/2/19

Zand

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Got back into SLC from Jackson around 11:15 last night. After a powder day at Alta, 2 insane spring days at Jackson, and 10 hours of driving I really wasn't up for doing anything today but finally willed myself to drive to Snowbird at noon.

With the sun shining and temps in the upper 40s I expected another corn harvest and bumps all over the place but I quickly found everything but. All the natural terrain was still tracked out crud from the storm 3 days ago. Groomed terrain was mainly packed powder or chalky where it was more skied off. Only the lowest elevations near the base and the Mineral Basin groomers were corned up. Drastic change from what I skied the past 2 days despite similar weather.

First run I headed out Road to Provo which is where I found the tracked out crud wasn't all that fun to ski. While it wasn't corn or crust, it was moist and nearly impossible to turn in without catching a ski. Plus I just didn't have the energy to make it work.

Decided to head to Mineral Basin next and spent the next hour and a half skiing groomers over there which were nice and soft and baking in the sun. The natural stuff over there was also tracked out crud...just a little more wet but still barely skiable unless you had very wide skis. Didn't see many people venture off groomers on that side other than towards the Bookends.

Around 2:00 I went back over to the front. Did a long nonstop run down the entire length of Chips...I believe it's 3 miles or something like that and 2700 vertical feet...real leg burner. Next run I hit the chute under the top of Peruvian which was tracked out enough that you weren't sinking like the Titanic while skiing it. Also hit the bottom of Tramline...nice steep shot and that was one of the few trails sporting spring bumps.

Being a glutton for punishment I just had to do a run off the Cirque. Decided to drop off Gad side as I knew the snow facing north would be the same sticky soft stuff I'd seen everywhere else. Descended down Restaurant Roll and even though it faces south, it was just like everything else that didn't face south...soft and sticky. Wasn't pretty but picked my way down okay.

Did a couple runs off Gad 2...first was the liftline which looked really packed down and it was, but I was still like skiing on a sponge. But one of the better runs of the day. Bassackwards Benches was next and that was...interesting. Felt like i spent more time climbing or traversing than I did skiing.

Did a couple groomers off Little Cloud before it closed and I headed for the bottom. Last run was down the trees skiers right of the mid Gad double. A little less soft down low so much more skiable.

Tomorrow looks like light snow...also looks like everything that softened the past few days will be solid. Not sure how I'll go about it. Planning on at least starting at Alta but maybe I'll cross over to Snowbird at some point too. Last day of the trip unfortunately then a few days left back east (hopefully 2 more months).
 

Zand

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IMG_20190401_145454723.jpgIMG_20190401_145509257.jpgIMG_20190401_145511499.jpgIMG_20190401_155212194_TOP.jpgIMG_20190401_155214443.jpg

Just realized almost all these pics are the same angle and direction. Oops.

I have tons of pics from yesterday in Jackson, I'll try to get those up in the next couple days. They're better than these Snowbird pictures lol.
 

thetrailboss

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Bummer that the snow was tough. I've seen those conditions before there...it was not quite warm enough to soften it all.
 

Zand

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Maybe next year I can finally hit it on a day where I can ski everything. Maybe wider skis would've helped, it was just a sinking feeling everytime I felt a ski grab midturn knowing if I lost it I probably wouldn't stop tumbling until I smacked into the restaurant :D
 

legalskier

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Hey, a bad day of skiing is still better than a good day of anything.
 
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Zand

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Last Western day was spent at Alta today. My energy is totally shot so didn't get up there till 11. Started to snow right when I got there, including 45 minute of very heavy wet snow which didn't stick to call or roads but did add 1-2" of softness to the groomers and harder packed natural runs.

Started off with a cruiser off Collins...Alta doesn't like putting out many trail signs and therefore I have no idea what the name is of the runs that I skied but it was a nice blue cruiser.

Took the strange platter/rope contraption thing over to the Sunnyside Express Triple (first time I've ever seen either one of those). Went up Supreme side for a couple runs...first one I skied Rock & Roll and ventured off into the ungroomed stuff a bit. Very crusty underneath the little bit of new snow that had fallen. Took another run down some woods that looked more skied in, but still not great.

Headed to Sugarloaf next and right as I got on it started dumping. The snow melted instantly on contact, plus the wind picked way up which meant being dressed for 40s wasn't working very well. Took a cruiser back down and it was nearly impossible to see between the openness of that part of the mountain plus the snow caking onto my goggles. Picked my way down and went all the way back to Goldminers so I could go in and dry off.

Didn't take long for the snow to calm down, so headed back and and spent the next hour or so on Collins. First run I checked out Ballroom which was all crusty. But it's also short so was on a nice groomer in no time.

Headed out High Traverse to High Rustler which for some reason was in great shape. The base snow was carveable hardpack with a couple inches on top, making it by far the best skiing today. Got crusty towards the bottom so traversed out but the top 3/4ths were beautiful. That's a good steep run and long too with a great view of the base and the mountains across the street.

Tried another run off High Traverse, this time dropping down above the restaurant. The sun must've gotten in there or something because it was deep crust. Took a couple turns and pretty much traversed all the way back to one of the lower traverses which was groomed.

Next ride up it started snowing/sleeting so decided that I'd take one more run. Between being underdressed and skiing like shit, I figured I'd quit while I was ahead. Took the trees skiers left of the Collins Liftline. They were skied in nicely so mostly nice soft turns (but not too soft). Kept on that and then a groomer to the bottom and that's all she wrote.

So between leaving everything I had on the mountain in Jackson and the conditions being tough, the last couple days weren't the best for me but overall it was a terrific trip. SLC will definitely be a yearly occasion for me. Between the low cost of everything, the ease of getting around, and the variety of great resorts, it's by far the most practical trip west that one can make. Flying red-eye back tonight and hopefully a few good spring days await from here on out back east.
 

Skrn

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I totally agree. With great snow terrain and low cost, there is really no reason not to come to SLC at least once.

Out of my 3 trips to SLC this season (December, early Feb and late March), I found myself enjoying the late March spring condition the LEAST. Spring skiing is fun but only fun for half day. I'd rather ski chopped up powder or soft mogul during days after a storm. So going forward, I will avoid late March.

It seems that you had 2 trips to SLC this year with one in late March/early April. Will you continue to come late season?

SLC will definitely be a yearly occasion for me. Between the low cost of everything, the ease of getting around, and the variety of great resorts, it's by far the most practical trip west that one can make.
 

Zand

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I totally agree. With great snow terrain and low cost, there is really no reason not to come to SLC at least once.

Out of my 3 trips to SLC this season (December, early Feb and late March), I found myself enjoying the late March spring condition the LEAST. Spring skiing is fun but only fun for half day. I'd rather ski chopped up powder or soft mogul during days after a storm. So going forward, I will avoid late March.

It seems that you had 2 trips to SLC this year with one in late March/early April. Will you continue to come late season?

I'd probably do spring again but I had weird conditions both times. I was looking at webcams last week and Alta was definitely covered in spring bumps. However, after skiing excellent spring conditions in Jackson over the weekend I was surprised to see Alta and Snowbird had no bumps whatsoever and the majority of the ungroomed was either manky or crusty tracked out crud. I know there's a lot of territory to ski in but I found it odd that nothing was bumped up. However I had the exact same conditions in January as well (which was really just bad luck).

Preliminarily, I'm planning on Utah for a week and Steamboat for 4 days next year. We'll see how conditions look
 

abc

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Interesting discussion. I'm in the middle of making a decision on where to go in 2 weeks.

I've had the best luck in Colorado for spring skiing. But after doing that for many year, I'm itching to try some other places. Utah would have been a natural choice. So I'm surprise to hear so many people had "weird" condition in early spring.

Tentatively, I'm leaning heavily towards Tahoe & Mammoth at the moment. I have till 5 o'clock to change my mind.
 

thetrailboss

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Interesting discussion. I'm in the middle of making a decision on where to go in 2 weeks.

I've had the best luck in Colorado for spring skiing. But after doing that for many year, I'm itching to try some other places. Utah would have been a natural choice. So I'm surprise to hear so many people had "weird" condition in early spring.

Tentatively, I'm leaning heavily towards Tahoe & Mammoth at the moment. I have till 5 o'clock to change my mind.

So a couple points. First, I feel bad for Zand, the truth is he skied one day at Snowbird and it coincidentally was not a stellar day. I would not really extrapolate much beyond that. It's like my upcoming trip this weekend to Aspen/Snowmass. Saturday is now looking like a meh day, but tomorrow is going to be awesome. Unforunately I can only ski Saturday and not tomorrow when it will be 50 and sunny. It is what it is. Snowbird just got 6" up there yesterday and I am sure that the skiing is good. Next Wednesday it may not be. That's true for any area. It also helps to know how to ski Snowbird--usually I suggest starting in Mineral Basin where things soften up first and then moving to Little Cloud at about 11am (follow the sun).

Second, and on a related note, spring skiing this time of year out here can be awesome (powder day or warm spring corn day) or meh (cloudy, cold, windy and frozen crud). Generally the later in the spring the more apt you are to get warm and sunny and softer conditions, but it can snow out here at anytime. It is just hard to know in advance, especially two weeks in advance. Snowbird is going for a while and I think over a 3 or 4 day period you would get some good skiing in. If you are just looking for a random day, like a lot of places it can be a roll of the dice.

Some good resources for Snowbird conditions include Guru Dave Powers (gurudavepowers.com) and Open Snow.
 

Zand

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So a couple points. First, I feel bad for Zand, the truth is he skied one day at Snowbird and it coincidentally was not a stellar day. I would not really extrapolate much beyond that. It's like my upcoming trip this weekend to Aspen/Snowmass. Saturday is now looking like a meh day, but tomorrow is going to be awesome. Unforunately I can only ski Saturday and not tomorrow when it will be 50 and sunny. It is what it is. Snowbird just got 6" up there yesterday and I am sure that the skiing is good. Next Wednesday it may not be. That's true for any area. It also helps to know how to ski Snowbird--usually I suggest starting in Mineral Basin where things soften up first and then moving to Little Cloud at about 11am (follow the sun).

Second, and on a related note, spring skiing this time of year out here can be awesome (powder day or warm spring corn day) or meh (cloudy, cold, windy and frozen crud). Generally the later in the spring the more apt you are to get warm and sunny and softer conditions, but it can snow out here at anytime. It is just hard to know in advance, especially two weeks in advance. Snowbird is going for a while and I think over a 3 or 4 day period you would get some good skiing in. If you are just looking for a random day, like a lot of places it can be a roll of the dice.

Some good resources for Snowbird conditions include Guru Dave Powers (gurudavepowers.com) and Open Snow.

Don't feel too bad for me...was still much better than being at work or Stratton :D

For whatever reason I seem to hit Snowbird on off days. But I could've easily rectified that by turning right one mile earlier instead of going to Alta on two different 18"+ dump days.
 

abc

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From what I've heard, Tahoe is skiing very well RIGHT NOW. Warm, sunny, typical soft spring corn harvest condition.

But as my trip is still a week or so out, I'm naturally wondering if it'll be too warm by then.

While Alta/Bird is currently stuck in a semi-wintery state, it may warm up by the time I'll be there.

Oops! As I type, I realize my trip has been moved up... turns out, I may be heading out in a week's time instead of two! So, Tahoe is looking a lot more attractive. Hmmm... we'll see.
 

kingslug

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What size skis? I find the wider the better out there. I've been going there for about 22 years and spring can be iffy at times. Sometimes its all groomers for most of the day.
 

abc

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What size skis? I find the wider the better out there. I've been going there for about 22 years and spring can be iffy at times. Sometimes its all groomers for most of the day.
I used to go to Tahoe almost every spring (and I used to live in CA before that). Though I don't recall exactly how late it were. I do remember it can be variable. Vary by the hour, or even half hour.

I used to have a 85mm ski. I didn't have much trouble except, ironically during powder days. The Sierra Cement is legendary. But not so much with spring snow. So I'm not too concern about my skis (89mm). More the degree of corning of the snow.

From the sound of the various reports from the locals, Utah still hasn't quite warm up...
 

Zand

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Looks like a fairly large helping of snow around Tuesday. Snow showers and cold all week. If you're looking to avoid spring conditions this week it's the place to me.
 
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