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First Powder Day: Snowbird, UT: 12/8/12

thetrailboss

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Ski Area: Snowbird

Dates:
December 8, 2012

Conditions:
31" base, MG/FG base with 4-6 inches of pow on top (and more in drifts)

Weather:
Windy and snow; temps falling through the 20's.

Report No: 4

The best powder days are the ones that you don't expect. On Friday night NOAA was calling for initially 40 F and then some snow showers later, but nothing much. Utah Avalanche Center was calling for 4-8" and temps falling to near 0 F by the end of the day. By the time it came time to hit the road both were agreeing that we were in for 4-8" during the day and some lake effect cranking up for later.

We drove up the Canyon to find clouds dropping and snow starting out light and then picking up quickly. While we were there it snow about six inches and made the skiing great.

First couple runs were down Lunch Run and Bassackwards on Gad side. The groomers had gotten out onto the upper parts after the temps had dropped and the snow was edgeable underneath with a nice 1" layer on top to start...more as the morning went on. Big Emma below the mid-unload was different story with shiny cord under the new layer of snow.

After a couple I headed over to Wilbere to scout out that area and headed down Wilbere Ridge for the first spin of the season. De ja vu from last December with snowmaking going and soft snow for hero turns. Wilbere Cutoff was pretty thin by the looks of it so I cut over onto Miner's Road to a slick Lower Harper's. I took Wilbere back up and did the Wilbere Ridge down to Wilbere Cutoff, which was not too bad, but the Creekside Run was pretty sketch having not been groomed out and chewed up by snowcats and snowmobiles.

The recon had said that the lower third of the mountain had gotten some rain and was firm if not crusty. This held up with everything below Rothman Run being FG, at best, with new pow on top. Non-groomed stuff off of Wilbere was interesting to say the least.

I met back up with the Mrs. and our friend and we did another round down Gadzoom before doing the Wilbere Ridge to Wilbere Chair. We opted to head back to Creekside via the Race Cutoff from Miner's Road and it was frozen bumps with 4 inches of pow on top at this point. It was decent, but not stellar.

After another short break did a couple more off Gadzoom before the Mrs. and I headed to Peruvian, which was socked in with NW winds and blowing snow. The temps were falling and the snow was amazing...some nice drifts in the trees and the drifts in Hully Gully made me pretty happy. We were both having a hard time with the drifting snow and low light...not to mention the cold winds. We worked our way down through Hubba Bubba and I did Middle Men's DH, which had an icy headwall and deep drifted snow on the sides. Rothman's was tough with the dense, dry snow making for slow going.

The snow is filling things in nicely. We are looking at another 2 storms in the next week that hopefully will deliver more than advertised. At the rate we are going, Little Cloud and Mineral Basin will open next weekend (which is what Snowbird said they hoped to do).
 

Cheese

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Cheese--

It's only getting better. Come on out. Your S7's would eat it up!

It's been several years since my annual western trip dropped me in UT. I'm pretty sure it's coming around the year after next since CO is probably next in the rotation. Sadly I had a fat pair of Rossi B4s when I was there last. They had the float but didn't carve like the S7s do.

I'll certainly look you up when I'm out there. I'll offer beer if you'll bring an extra snorkel.
 

Cheese

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Bring your powder cords.

Haha! Lost an S7 at Mammoth last year even with a cord. Luckily it made it's way to lost and found 2 days later. Gave me a chance to demo the Super 7 though which I didn't like. That's a story for the "Do you rent skis?" thread though.
 

thetrailboss

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Haha! Lost an S7 at Mammoth last year even with a cord. Luckily it made it's way to lost and found 2 days later. Gave me a chance to demo the Super 7 though which I didn't like. That's a story for the "Do you rent skis?" thread though.

You will have to ask Snowmonster about how I first tried to use my powder cords.....
 

ski stef

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Nice TTB! hopefully the snow storms keep coming! Our first powder day on Sunday was a crazefest over here in Summit County.. not much open on the hill and mobs of people.
 

wa-loaf

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I feel like an idiot in this convo lol. WTF is a powder cord???

Basically a long ribbon attached to your ski. You tuck it in your pants you something (never actually used them) and when you lose a ski in pow it is easy to find by the bright ribbon trailing behind it.
 

Cheese

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I feel like an idiot in this convo lol. WTF is a powder cord???

Basically a long ribbon attached to your ski. You tuck it in your pants you something (never actually used them) and when you lose a ski in pow it is easy to find by the bright ribbon trailing behind it.

In theory, the ski is below the snow but when you click out your pant leg is above the snow so you'll hopefully deploy the bright cord on top of the snow so it can be easily seen. They work far better than not having them but there are cases that the ski submarines for a good distance and will drag the ribbon under the snow with it. Searching an hour for a ski is a pain and since it's typically a powder day, your friends will trust you to perform the search alone. Searching an hour for a ski that has a ribbon attached amplifies the irritation substantially.
 
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