Resort: Snowbird
Date: April 15, 2012
Conditions: P/MG, 3" new snow, 100" base mid-mountain (363" for the year)
Weather: Cloudy, fog, some snow showers. Temps in the low 30's.
Trip No: 28
Report: Day II of my Snowbird Weekend. Considering the lines for the Tram and my slightly later start, I decided to start at Creekside. It was a good choice, considering that most of the morning the visibility was nil. My legs were a bit tired from Saturday, so I opted to warm up on Lunch Run to Gad Gully. The thin layer of powder on top of the groomed snow was pretty nice. However, dropping down the Elbow I found that the groomers got to it a bit too early and it had iced over during the night making it a bit icy. I cut over to West 2nd South and found untracked groomed.
I headed back up and decided to go to the top via Little Cloud. Big mistake in hindsight. The summit was socked in like pea soup. The clouds were rolling over the Twins and into the Mineral Basin and Little Cloud Basin areas thanks to the air flow coming off of the Salt Lake. I made my way down Road to Provo and then Mark Malu, but I literally got vertigo from all the white and the inability to see where I was. I fell twice going on and off the groomed surface (no way I was skiing the off-piste in this visibility).
So I made my way back to GadZoom and decided to take Bicarbonate Gully, which was groomed the night before. I had not skied it in several months and the one groom pass made it ski like an eastern narrow trail which was delightful.
As I skied along I peered down Organgrinder and decided that was my next run. I headed back down West 2nd South and back to GadZoom. Bicarbonate Gully to Organgrinder was a good choice. The snow in Organgrinder was choppy, but still soft, unlike lower portions of the Gad Valley that had a crust on it. I skied out of Grandma’s House to Gad Gully, which had been groomed as well and was reminiscent of East Bowl at Burke.
I had seen that Trulock’s Tricep had seen a groomer pass and figured it would be better than scraping down Bassackwards (or the Elbow Proper). So I held on and dropped in to find that this groomer had gone through after the freeze had occurred and the snow was nice and soft.
By now the sun was breaking through the clouds and I decided to roll the dice on the upper mountain. I got up to the top of Little Cloud and could see all the way into Mineral Basin, so back to the Bookends I went first skiing the line I hit yesterday to find it was a bit crusty, and then again to do a nice line down the Bookends Bowl into the Lower Powder Paradise, which skied much better.
Visibility was coming and going, but I wanted to get in a few more easier groomers so I hit the groomed portion of White Diamonds and then Powder Paradise before doing a quick easy run down Schmutz’s High Nowhere to Lupine Loop.
The last run was down the Primrose Path which had some drifted snow and tasted pretty nice. Hully Gully had some untracked lines and Phone 3 Shot was soft spring groomed snow.
I must admit that I hate Chip’s Run Traverse down at the bottom of Peruvian because, like today, more often than not I get run over by a skier or boarder jumping off the sides. I wish that they would just groom Lower Chip’s Face so that there was a direct line down instead of the icy sluice way….
Anyway, I took the Ski School Lane back to Creekside to wrap up Day 28 of the season. The snow is filling in nicely and this week looks not too warm and maybe some hints of snow. Get it while it is still good!
And yes, pictures are coming, but after yesterday’s report snafu, I am going to wait and try uploading on another computer.
Date: April 15, 2012
Conditions: P/MG, 3" new snow, 100" base mid-mountain (363" for the year)
Weather: Cloudy, fog, some snow showers. Temps in the low 30's.
Trip No: 28
Report: Day II of my Snowbird Weekend. Considering the lines for the Tram and my slightly later start, I decided to start at Creekside. It was a good choice, considering that most of the morning the visibility was nil. My legs were a bit tired from Saturday, so I opted to warm up on Lunch Run to Gad Gully. The thin layer of powder on top of the groomed snow was pretty nice. However, dropping down the Elbow I found that the groomers got to it a bit too early and it had iced over during the night making it a bit icy. I cut over to West 2nd South and found untracked groomed.
I headed back up and decided to go to the top via Little Cloud. Big mistake in hindsight. The summit was socked in like pea soup. The clouds were rolling over the Twins and into the Mineral Basin and Little Cloud Basin areas thanks to the air flow coming off of the Salt Lake. I made my way down Road to Provo and then Mark Malu, but I literally got vertigo from all the white and the inability to see where I was. I fell twice going on and off the groomed surface (no way I was skiing the off-piste in this visibility).
So I made my way back to GadZoom and decided to take Bicarbonate Gully, which was groomed the night before. I had not skied it in several months and the one groom pass made it ski like an eastern narrow trail which was delightful.
As I skied along I peered down Organgrinder and decided that was my next run. I headed back down West 2nd South and back to GadZoom. Bicarbonate Gully to Organgrinder was a good choice. The snow in Organgrinder was choppy, but still soft, unlike lower portions of the Gad Valley that had a crust on it. I skied out of Grandma’s House to Gad Gully, which had been groomed as well and was reminiscent of East Bowl at Burke.
I had seen that Trulock’s Tricep had seen a groomer pass and figured it would be better than scraping down Bassackwards (or the Elbow Proper). So I held on and dropped in to find that this groomer had gone through after the freeze had occurred and the snow was nice and soft.
By now the sun was breaking through the clouds and I decided to roll the dice on the upper mountain. I got up to the top of Little Cloud and could see all the way into Mineral Basin, so back to the Bookends I went first skiing the line I hit yesterday to find it was a bit crusty, and then again to do a nice line down the Bookends Bowl into the Lower Powder Paradise, which skied much better.
Visibility was coming and going, but I wanted to get in a few more easier groomers so I hit the groomed portion of White Diamonds and then Powder Paradise before doing a quick easy run down Schmutz’s High Nowhere to Lupine Loop.
The last run was down the Primrose Path which had some drifted snow and tasted pretty nice. Hully Gully had some untracked lines and Phone 3 Shot was soft spring groomed snow.
I must admit that I hate Chip’s Run Traverse down at the bottom of Peruvian because, like today, more often than not I get run over by a skier or boarder jumping off the sides. I wish that they would just groom Lower Chip’s Face so that there was a direct line down instead of the icy sluice way….
Anyway, I took the Ski School Lane back to Creekside to wrap up Day 28 of the season. The snow is filling in nicely and this week looks not too warm and maybe some hints of snow. Get it while it is still good!
And yes, pictures are coming, but after yesterday’s report snafu, I am going to wait and try uploading on another computer.
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