SLC Area Info

[Zand]

Well I hope that 1-3" catches some Utah magic and turns into 12+ because otherwise this whole trip looks like dust on crust and zero spring conditions. Lovely.

 

[jimk]

Wed sounds like it might be a storm day!

 

[Zand]

You never know...almost starting to feel like my last trip. Got out there right as some nice bluebird days were on their way out. Frozen solid, groomers only the first day. Forecast for my second day was 2-4", which stayed consistent for a few days. Suddenly, while I was eating dinner in 65 degree and sunny Midvale, the forecast changed to 16-24" the next day.

High T was deeeeep the next day.

 

[thetrailboss]

View attachment 51374

Well I hope that 1-3" catches some Utah magic and turns into 12+ because otherwise this whole trip looks like dust on crust and zero spring conditions. Lovely.

Winter is back......

A lot of chairlift chatter about the weather and a return of snow. Too bad so many places are closing.

 

[kingslug]

Thise weather forcasts are speculative at best..predict an inch..get a foot..
No one can predict mountain weather..
Do a snowdance tonight..worked for me in pc

 

[Zand]

NWS is up to 5-9" Tuesday Night into Wednesday.

 

[Zand]

Now 9-15"...LFG!!!

 

[thetrailboss]

Now 9-15"...LFG!!!

Now that a lot of places are closed that makes complete sense.

 

[Zand]

So now I think I need to start figuring out where I want to be on each day based on the weather (subject to change of course). I'll give my own reasoning but let me know if my assumptions are incorrect.

Tuesday - Cloudy, cold day after many days of sun and spring conditions. Not expecting it to be very good, maybe even groomers only. Getting in late Monday night so kinda planning on a half day anyway. Feel like I should pick Snowbird. Lots of good long groomers, and as far as ungroomed terrain goes I feel like some of the stuff off Road to Provo has the best chance of not having corned up the past few days, so a potential for soft snow.

Wednesday - Storm day. First choice would be Alta. If the canyon looks like a shitshow, maybe an audible to Brighton.

Thursday - Powder day, maybe another storm day? The opposite of the day before. If I go to Alta Wednesday, then Brighton Thursday and vice-versa. If I'm at Brighton, maybe a brief side-trip over to Solitude, but a lot of their good stuff seems to be closed already, so not really too interested in going there.

Friday and Saturday - Storm moving out, hopefully some sun. Alta one day and Snowbird the other. Or both each day.

I'm really interested in getting to know Alta and Snowbird better than I did the last two times I was out there. I've skied Alta 3 times and still feel like I barely know it. I've been watching videos and reading blogs the last couple days just trying to figure out where some of the more "hidden" traverses are to stuff like High Nowhere. Every time I've been I take the lower traverse (and did finally discover High Boy the last time I was there) or stuff in the Supreme Bowl just because they're easy to find. Alta reminds me of Super Mario Bros and trying to discover all the Warp Zones.

Snowbird I've been to twice and both times with iffy conditions, although I found good stuff each time. I feel like I know Mineral Basin and the Gad side (other than the stuff that goes down towards Baby Thunder) pretty decent as that's where I spent the majority of my time there. That said, I've been to the Peruvian base a grand total of 3 times. I know hiking is going to kick my ass, but I've heard that the High Baldy hike is very short and easy, but worth it. And then all that lower Peruvian stuff is still totally foreign to me but I've heard there's some hidden gems.

NWS point and click for Snowbird adds up to 19.6" through Thursday.

 

[snoseek]

Explore the supreme lift. Short vert but tons of stashes.

 

[jimk]

PM sent.

 

[thetrailboss]

So now I think I need to start figuring out where I want to be on each day based on the weather (subject to change of course). I'll give my own reasoning but let me know if my assumptions are incorrect.

Tuesday - Cloudy, cold day after many days of sun and spring conditions. Not expecting it to be very good, maybe even groomers only. Getting in late Monday night so kinda planning on a half day anyway. Feel like I should pick Snowbird. Lots of good long groomers, and as far as ungroomed terrain goes I feel like some of the stuff off Road to Provo has the best chance of not having corned up the past few days, so a potential for soft snow.

Wednesday - Storm day. First choice would be Alta. If the canyon looks like a shitshow, maybe an audible to Brighton.

Thursday - Powder day, maybe another storm day? The opposite of the day before. If I go to Alta Wednesday, then Brighton Thursday and vice-versa. If I'm at Brighton, maybe a brief side-trip over to Solitude, but a lot of their good stuff seems to be closed already, so not really too interested in going there.

Friday and Saturday - Storm moving out, hopefully some sun. Alta one day and Snowbird the other. Or both each day.

I'm really interested in getting to know Alta and Snowbird better than I did the last two times I was out there. I've skied Alta 3 times and still feel like I barely know it. I've been watching videos and reading blogs the last couple days just trying to figure out where some of the more "hidden" traverses are to stuff like High Nowhere. Every time I've been I take the lower traverse (and did finally discover High Boy the last time I was there) or stuff in the Supreme Bowl just because they're easy to find. Alta reminds me of Super Mario Bros and trying to discover all the Warp Zones.

Snowbird I've been to twice and both times with iffy conditions, although I found good stuff each time. I feel like I know Mineral Basin and the Gad side (other than the stuff that goes down towards Baby Thunder) pretty decent as that's where I spent the majority of my time there. That said, I've been to the Peruvian base a grand total of 3 times. I know hiking is going to kick my ass, but I've heard that the High Baldy hike is very short and easy, but worth it. And then all that lower Peruvian stuff is still totally foreign to me but I've heard there's some hidden gems.

NWS point and click for Snowbird adds up to 19.6" through Thursday.

Feel free to shoot me a PM. The High Baldy hike is short. Just make sure that there is enough snow in the amphitheater area (above Lower Men's Downhill) on Peruvian Side to be able to easily exit. You can check by skiing down Chips and looking up or looking at it from the Peruvian Chair/Tram.

I don't know if they make them anymore, but these resources are great:

1. A Powderhound's Guide to Snowbird;
2. Powderhound's Guide to Alta;
3. Snowbird Landmark Map (satellite image denoting the locations of significant features);
4. Alta Landmark Map (same).

 

[Zand]

The new airport is f*cking huge. It takes so long to walk from the gate to the baggage claim that the bags were already all going around the carousel by the time we got to it.

Fancy as hell too.

 

[kingslug]

Its like a 15 minute walk. Hear a lot of locals do not like it. The ski carrousel is better though.

 

[kingslug]

Are the Baldy chutes open..thats a blast..Main chute. Yeah its a 700 foot climb but worth it if you can do it.

 

[dblskifanatic]

 

[thetrailboss]

View attachment 51397

Hopefully. So far we've been skunked.

 

[thetrailboss]

Its like a 15 minute walk. Hear a lot of locals do not like it. The ski carrousel is better though.

Locals complaining about our new $1 billion airport is the definition of a first world problem.

 

[kingslug]

I was in it..seemed like just a big airport. Not sure why they are complaining. Does take a while to move around it..like Kennedy..and your gate is always the last one...hmmm....

 

[Zand]

Looking at the satellite view of it, the new terminal just has a bizarre layout because it's kind of shoehorned in next to the old one. The entrance and baggage claim is kind of at one far corner instead of in the middle like most airports. Theres a long underground tunnel if you're coming from the back terminal. Needs more people movers.

Yes, the new ski carousel is pretty snazzy. That whole area feels like the Bellagio.