Superior is a sight to behold.
A little more LCC porn.
So, a week ago Friday my daily check of OpenSnow and the like hinted that Utah could see some storms this week. Ok, check Delta to see how ridiculous tickets are so I can get back to whatever it is I was doing. What’s this? A ticket I have enough SkyMiles for? Booked that quick….and the watch was on.
A storm that was supposed to deliver single digits dropped more than 20 on LCC Monday into Tuesday. Ok. Then the big storm predicted for Wed to Fri showed up. Well then, time to book a car and lodging! All told LCC got more than 50” of snow this week. Powder Mt. did ok too, picking up more than 3’. As would be expected, I was excited.
Pardon the interruption but….I hate JFK. It just has the best flights. But man, 678 sucks. I won’t bore you with the details, let’s just say I JUST made my flight. Stressful start, but I was en route.
Some logistics. Staying down Canyon in Murray. Cheap decent hotel (Crystal Inn & Suites). Used the UTA bus today (ended up deciding on Alta, and I didn’t have a parking reservation). Not a big fan, but that’s neither here nor there. At least there is a UTA Ski Bus stop right outside the hotel. Oh, and I got the Salt Lake Ski Super Pass. At least with that I didn’t have to pay for the bus! The pass costs I think $162 a day (3 day min) and is good at Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, and Solitude. An Alta ticket online was pushing two bills. So, if you find yourself in SLC and you aren’t beholden to Ikon, check it out.
I’m going to post daily on the mountains I hit, if you don’t mind. Yesterday I decided that today, 3/8, I was going with Alta. Just about everything at Snowbird opened yesterday. Same wasn’t true at Alta. Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder, Backside, and Devil’s Castle haven’t been open this week….and they were on the schedule for today. Powder prospects were much better for Alta. It was the right call.
At least the bus had me at Alta about 8:00. Quite the social scene, the front of the lift queue on a stellar Saturday morning at a place like Alta.
Only 5 or 6 back in the singles line I got a good chair at 9:15 opening. Get to top of Collins and rope had just dropped on Ballroom, while there was already a conga line out the gate to the Backside. Easy choice, take the guaranteed untracked powder. Jumped in on the Baldy Shoulder.
The storms this week came in right side up. Two feet of light powder on a couple of feet of denser powder that covered any firm from the Tuesday to Wednesday thaw-freeze. Knee deep floaty powder, mission accomplished.
Back up Collins and a quick run with some groomer, some powder down to Sugarloaf, see if anything’s happen at the gate to Devil’s Castle. Sure enough when I get to the top of the lift a line is starting to form.
20 odd people back, more good powder prospects. Wait was maybe 40 minutes. It would be worth it, getting untracked snow in the Castle after 50+ inches of new snow. Always tricky on the traverse out, near the front. Gotta ignore so much powder turn possibility to go further out, but how far? Sometimes old legs trump vertical of the run. However, I patiently picked my drop in. To have the expanse of the terrain below Devil’s Castle in front of you with not a track in sight, hard to beat that.
Wish I had more photos of those runs for you, but you know the pressure at the front of the crowd on a powder day rope drop.
I figured I’d go check out Catherine’s, even though I knew it would be pretty skied out. It’s a fun zone. When going out gates and on hikes or traverses I usually adventure as far as I can, often finding my way to the boundaries. I passed a lot of eh looking cut up on the traverse out Catherine’s. The backcountry saw a lot of traffic yesterday and everything was skiing stable. I had my gear with me. The goods beyond the boundary were too tempting. Found this fun line in the Rocky Point area off the back of Catherine’s.
After the relatively short skin back up it was decision time. I had been eyeing up the Mt. Tuscarora western face leading back to the Catherine’s run out.
So, out over Catherine’s Pass toward Tuscarora. There’s no way I had legs or time get to the summit of Tuscarora, plus the midday sun was starting of affect things. I went until the right combination of tired legs and BC sense hit, and jumped on the shoulder.
My legs are toast (note: Crystal Inn and Suites has a hot tub). Not a shabby day.
A little more LCC porn.
So, a week ago Friday my daily check of OpenSnow and the like hinted that Utah could see some storms this week. Ok, check Delta to see how ridiculous tickets are so I can get back to whatever it is I was doing. What’s this? A ticket I have enough SkyMiles for? Booked that quick….and the watch was on.
A storm that was supposed to deliver single digits dropped more than 20 on LCC Monday into Tuesday. Ok. Then the big storm predicted for Wed to Fri showed up. Well then, time to book a car and lodging! All told LCC got more than 50” of snow this week. Powder Mt. did ok too, picking up more than 3’. As would be expected, I was excited.
Pardon the interruption but….I hate JFK. It just has the best flights. But man, 678 sucks. I won’t bore you with the details, let’s just say I JUST made my flight. Stressful start, but I was en route.
Some logistics. Staying down Canyon in Murray. Cheap decent hotel (Crystal Inn & Suites). Used the UTA bus today (ended up deciding on Alta, and I didn’t have a parking reservation). Not a big fan, but that’s neither here nor there. At least there is a UTA Ski Bus stop right outside the hotel. Oh, and I got the Salt Lake Ski Super Pass. At least with that I didn’t have to pay for the bus! The pass costs I think $162 a day (3 day min) and is good at Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, and Solitude. An Alta ticket online was pushing two bills. So, if you find yourself in SLC and you aren’t beholden to Ikon, check it out.
I’m going to post daily on the mountains I hit, if you don’t mind. Yesterday I decided that today, 3/8, I was going with Alta. Just about everything at Snowbird opened yesterday. Same wasn’t true at Alta. Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder, Backside, and Devil’s Castle haven’t been open this week….and they were on the schedule for today. Powder prospects were much better for Alta. It was the right call.
At least the bus had me at Alta about 8:00. Quite the social scene, the front of the lift queue on a stellar Saturday morning at a place like Alta.
Only 5 or 6 back in the singles line I got a good chair at 9:15 opening. Get to top of Collins and rope had just dropped on Ballroom, while there was already a conga line out the gate to the Backside. Easy choice, take the guaranteed untracked powder. Jumped in on the Baldy Shoulder.
The storms this week came in right side up. Two feet of light powder on a couple of feet of denser powder that covered any firm from the Tuesday to Wednesday thaw-freeze. Knee deep floaty powder, mission accomplished.
Back up Collins and a quick run with some groomer, some powder down to Sugarloaf, see if anything’s happen at the gate to Devil’s Castle. Sure enough when I get to the top of the lift a line is starting to form.
20 odd people back, more good powder prospects. Wait was maybe 40 minutes. It would be worth it, getting untracked snow in the Castle after 50+ inches of new snow. Always tricky on the traverse out, near the front. Gotta ignore so much powder turn possibility to go further out, but how far? Sometimes old legs trump vertical of the run. However, I patiently picked my drop in. To have the expanse of the terrain below Devil’s Castle in front of you with not a track in sight, hard to beat that.
Wish I had more photos of those runs for you, but you know the pressure at the front of the crowd on a powder day rope drop.
I figured I’d go check out Catherine’s, even though I knew it would be pretty skied out. It’s a fun zone. When going out gates and on hikes or traverses I usually adventure as far as I can, often finding my way to the boundaries. I passed a lot of eh looking cut up on the traverse out Catherine’s. The backcountry saw a lot of traffic yesterday and everything was skiing stable. I had my gear with me. The goods beyond the boundary were too tempting. Found this fun line in the Rocky Point area off the back of Catherine’s.
After the relatively short skin back up it was decision time. I had been eyeing up the Mt. Tuscarora western face leading back to the Catherine’s run out.
So, out over Catherine’s Pass toward Tuscarora. There’s no way I had legs or time get to the summit of Tuscarora, plus the midday sun was starting of affect things. I went until the right combination of tired legs and BC sense hit, and jumped on the shoulder.
My legs are toast (note: Crystal Inn and Suites has a hot tub). Not a shabby day.
