Date: March 4, 2012
Resort: Snowbird, Utah
Conditions: P (93" base)
Weather: 30's and 40's with nice sunshine
2012 Trip Report #: 20
Report: It's been a while since a report, but since December we have finally broken the 200 inch mark on snowfall. In fact during the last week we got nearly 50 inches of snow which made for an off-the-hook day at Snowbird.
Quite appropriately enough, Andrea and Andrew, friends from college, were in town from Maine for some skiing. They took me up on the open invite to ski Snowbird and picked probably the best day of the season thus far with abundant sunshine, deep bases, and few folks.
After meeting them and getting situated, we decided to begin by taking Peruvian to the Mineral Basin Tunnel and into Mineral Basin. As I had learned, the game plan usually was to follow the sun at Snowbird, starting in Mineral Basin and then working into Little Cloud area. The lift ride up Peruvian was cold, but the first runs down Lupine Loop and Bassanova were sunny and warm.
I had to do some recon for them and headed over to Silver Dipper to find some nice chalky windblown powder that made for some nice turns. But they were enjoying the sunshine, so we lapped Baldy Express and that side with Andrew and I jumping onto untracked powder or windslab, depending on where you were, on Livin the Dream, Lucky Boy, and in between. Andrew and I also hit a nice chute near the Limber Pines area, and on another run I hit the steep section of Baldy Express liftline enjoying softening snow. I also hit a choice line above the tunnel finding nice drifted powder and chowder that was bottomless.
By now it was in the 30's and getting crowded in Mineral Basin, so we headed up Mineral Basin Express and to the top. Mineral Basin is in good shape and the chutes and lines are filling in nicely. There is some interference on upper Blue By You/Lone Star thanks to a retaining wall that is just not covered yet.
At the summit we took a rest before heading into Little Cloud Basin. I could not pass up one of my favorite lines on Old Lady's Slide, and briefly left Andrew and Andrea to indulge myself in more windswept powder. We met up near the Brick Yard and headed down Lower Mark Malu Fork. It finally is in great shape thanks to deep snow and nightly grooming efforts. Mark Malu upper is also in good shape, albeit not as deep as last June.
And yes, much to both Andrea and my wife's chagrin, the paparazzi was in place:
I just can't seem to get away from these guys! :lol: As you can see with the smile on my face, Little Cloud is probably my favorite spot on the mountain thanks to the many bowls and open areas to ski. We headed back up and did Regulator Johnson, with me flirting with the area between Regulator proper and Cirque Traverse finding some more good chalky goodness.
At this point we were contemplating lunch. Both my wife and I had enjoyed beer and fries on Mid-Gad's sunny deck, so I suggested that to my friends. We skied down Lunch Run and they saw why it was the best place for lunch. We soaked the sun and enjoyed good burgers while hearing murmurs of the Canyon Road being closed due to avalanche, leaving us with the mountain to ourselves. At first I thought it was a joke until we got down to Creekside to see signs stating that the road was closed until at least 4pm "or when it cools down." The warmer temperatures were reeking havoc on the steep cliffs of Superior, warming the rock up and sending the new snow sliding off into the canyon.
We skied down to Baby Thunder, in time to hear the roar of a slide giving way across the empty road. That was spooky.
We did a few runs in this area, with Andrea sticking to the soft groomers and Andrew and I ducking into the untracked on Lazy Susan. At about 2pm, Andrea headed down to take a break and Andrew and I headed up to the top and into a cooling and firm Mineral Basin, hitting Lone Star and then going into Niagara/Gheen Gully. It was tasty and "not quite corn."
The refreezing surface made us rethink Mineral Basin, so we headed to the top and then into the usually colder and darker Peruvian Gulch, which proved to be so today. This meant that the snow was still cold and dry not having been cooked by the sun. We skied down a delicious Upper Primrose Path, with me following it all the way down to Chip's and Andrew hitting Surf Turn Gully. We then hit one part of Great Scott to the Honey Hole, and then down Hully Gully to Middle Men's Downhill and Phone 3 Shot.
As I mentioned in another thread, before leaving the summit we saw a lot of action at the Ski Patrol Building, and a patroller with an avi dog heading down Peruvian for what we thought was a drill or just a run. When we got to the bottom of Phone 3 we saw a Patroller sitting on the side of the Chip's Run looking across the ravine up towards Black Jack while other patrollers, including the one with dog, were digging and probing an obvious avalanche pile in the middle of the trail. As we found out later the heat caused a significant slide off of Blackjack and onto Who Dunnit, taking out a snowboarder who was on the trail. We heard that he was buried up to his chest and had been pulled out. But seeing that sight was spooky, especially inbounds.
I hit Lower Chip's Face and found great chowder bumps. We then did the Cirque via the Sweep Three Traverse and got separated after I got stuck on Psychout Rock. I got free and hit a choice line at Tram Cables, heading down to Lower Primrose and taking the traverse into Dalton's Draw, which was cool and powdery. Lower Mach Schnell was also powder bumps.
Last run for me was via the Tram, which stopped for a bizarre photo op featuring the photographer and a mechanic standing on Tower 3 as the tram cars were stopped beside each other (much to the anger of the passengers) before the photographer and mechanic climbed onto the running gear of the blue car, strapped themselves in, and rode down on top of the running gear to the bottom. :blink:
I headed over to Rasta Chutes and down Bassackwards to Creekside, only minutes before the road re-opened creating the mass exodus out of the Canyons.
A spooky but great day. Best day yet and more snow to come!
More pics to come.
Resort: Snowbird, Utah
Conditions: P (93" base)
Weather: 30's and 40's with nice sunshine
2012 Trip Report #: 20
Report: It's been a while since a report, but since December we have finally broken the 200 inch mark on snowfall. In fact during the last week we got nearly 50 inches of snow which made for an off-the-hook day at Snowbird.
Quite appropriately enough, Andrea and Andrew, friends from college, were in town from Maine for some skiing. They took me up on the open invite to ski Snowbird and picked probably the best day of the season thus far with abundant sunshine, deep bases, and few folks.
After meeting them and getting situated, we decided to begin by taking Peruvian to the Mineral Basin Tunnel and into Mineral Basin. As I had learned, the game plan usually was to follow the sun at Snowbird, starting in Mineral Basin and then working into Little Cloud area. The lift ride up Peruvian was cold, but the first runs down Lupine Loop and Bassanova were sunny and warm.
I had to do some recon for them and headed over to Silver Dipper to find some nice chalky windblown powder that made for some nice turns. But they were enjoying the sunshine, so we lapped Baldy Express and that side with Andrew and I jumping onto untracked powder or windslab, depending on where you were, on Livin the Dream, Lucky Boy, and in between. Andrew and I also hit a nice chute near the Limber Pines area, and on another run I hit the steep section of Baldy Express liftline enjoying softening snow. I also hit a choice line above the tunnel finding nice drifted powder and chowder that was bottomless.
By now it was in the 30's and getting crowded in Mineral Basin, so we headed up Mineral Basin Express and to the top. Mineral Basin is in good shape and the chutes and lines are filling in nicely. There is some interference on upper Blue By You/Lone Star thanks to a retaining wall that is just not covered yet.
At the summit we took a rest before heading into Little Cloud Basin. I could not pass up one of my favorite lines on Old Lady's Slide, and briefly left Andrew and Andrea to indulge myself in more windswept powder. We met up near the Brick Yard and headed down Lower Mark Malu Fork. It finally is in great shape thanks to deep snow and nightly grooming efforts. Mark Malu upper is also in good shape, albeit not as deep as last June.
And yes, much to both Andrea and my wife's chagrin, the paparazzi was in place:
I just can't seem to get away from these guys! :lol: As you can see with the smile on my face, Little Cloud is probably my favorite spot on the mountain thanks to the many bowls and open areas to ski. We headed back up and did Regulator Johnson, with me flirting with the area between Regulator proper and Cirque Traverse finding some more good chalky goodness.
At this point we were contemplating lunch. Both my wife and I had enjoyed beer and fries on Mid-Gad's sunny deck, so I suggested that to my friends. We skied down Lunch Run and they saw why it was the best place for lunch. We soaked the sun and enjoyed good burgers while hearing murmurs of the Canyon Road being closed due to avalanche, leaving us with the mountain to ourselves. At first I thought it was a joke until we got down to Creekside to see signs stating that the road was closed until at least 4pm "or when it cools down." The warmer temperatures were reeking havoc on the steep cliffs of Superior, warming the rock up and sending the new snow sliding off into the canyon.
We skied down to Baby Thunder, in time to hear the roar of a slide giving way across the empty road. That was spooky.
We did a few runs in this area, with Andrea sticking to the soft groomers and Andrew and I ducking into the untracked on Lazy Susan. At about 2pm, Andrea headed down to take a break and Andrew and I headed up to the top and into a cooling and firm Mineral Basin, hitting Lone Star and then going into Niagara/Gheen Gully. It was tasty and "not quite corn."
The refreezing surface made us rethink Mineral Basin, so we headed to the top and then into the usually colder and darker Peruvian Gulch, which proved to be so today. This meant that the snow was still cold and dry not having been cooked by the sun. We skied down a delicious Upper Primrose Path, with me following it all the way down to Chip's and Andrew hitting Surf Turn Gully. We then hit one part of Great Scott to the Honey Hole, and then down Hully Gully to Middle Men's Downhill and Phone 3 Shot.
As I mentioned in another thread, before leaving the summit we saw a lot of action at the Ski Patrol Building, and a patroller with an avi dog heading down Peruvian for what we thought was a drill or just a run. When we got to the bottom of Phone 3 we saw a Patroller sitting on the side of the Chip's Run looking across the ravine up towards Black Jack while other patrollers, including the one with dog, were digging and probing an obvious avalanche pile in the middle of the trail. As we found out later the heat caused a significant slide off of Blackjack and onto Who Dunnit, taking out a snowboarder who was on the trail. We heard that he was buried up to his chest and had been pulled out. But seeing that sight was spooky, especially inbounds.
I hit Lower Chip's Face and found great chowder bumps. We then did the Cirque via the Sweep Three Traverse and got separated after I got stuck on Psychout Rock. I got free and hit a choice line at Tram Cables, heading down to Lower Primrose and taking the traverse into Dalton's Draw, which was cool and powdery. Lower Mach Schnell was also powder bumps.
Last run for me was via the Tram, which stopped for a bizarre photo op featuring the photographer and a mechanic standing on Tower 3 as the tram cars were stopped beside each other (much to the anger of the passengers) before the photographer and mechanic climbed onto the running gear of the blue car, strapped themselves in, and rode down on top of the running gear to the bottom. :blink:
I headed over to Rasta Chutes and down Bassackwards to Creekside, only minutes before the road re-opened creating the mass exodus out of the Canyons.
A spooky but great day. Best day yet and more snow to come!
More pics to come.
Last edited:
