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….
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:
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.
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….
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:
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.
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