Unofficial Snowbird

Today was a day that most people stayed away from the mountain. Most people made a mistake. There was top quality Rain Pow to be had at Snowbird today and that delicious liquid cream type of snow made for many a good time. The High Speed Double seemed to be the move of the day since the upper mountain was often covered in a thick fog bank. Silver Fox was also killer in the early afternoon. I bet it was even better in the morning. Don’t give up on winter yet friends….it was snowing when I took off at about 2:45pm. See you tomorrow.

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People were getting a little bit crazy today at Snowbird with big airs being the move of the day. The Broom Closet, the High Speed Double, Smokestack, and even Tom Runcie’s Sickbird Buckle earning double in the Amphitheater were sent multiple times each today into the deepest snow the Wasatch has seen since last April.  Former US Ski Jumper Josh Hanson won the day in my opinion by hitting Smokestack 3 times in about 1 hour including two 360 attempts.

The morning was a bit frustrating due to giant lift lines and extremely limited terrain. Once P-Gulch got opened up things got interesting. I think the next day or two will continue to be awesome pow before the warm up later in the week send us back into Spring Break mode.

Did you see anything crazy today? What wins in your book?

Another angle on the Smokestack 360.

Little Cottonwood got a solid dose of snow last night to add to the pile that has been building up the last few days. The official report was 14″, but it seemed like about twice that deep to me. The Wildcat Chair at Alta was the call of the day for deep snow and fun jib lines.Today was also the best hucking day thus far this season and I think people were getting after it pretty hard at both resorts. The area formerly known as “Mexico” was getting lapped hard by both visitors and locals with waist deep good times had by all. I heard that Baldy was open at Snowbird first thing in the morning and it was out of control good; however, I also heard it was closed shortly after for the rest of the day. Not sure what the story is on that, let us know if you have more.

Today and yesterday were likely the best two days of the season so far at Snowbird. After a rugged first couple of months the season looks like it is finally getting itself on track. Skiing on Baldy the last two days could only be described as epic. A female snowboarder friend of mine stated loudly in the tram line yesterday that she loves Baldy more than she does her her long time boyfriend. I completely understand that claim and think that if you were there either of the last two days you do too.

The wind was howling today and the Snowbird lifts department did a hell of a job keeping the tram running. Mineral was closed all day and patrol shut down the Baldy hike at about 1:00pm today due to massive amounts of wind loading. Tower 3 was also a bit unstable, with myself and several other kicking off significant slides in that area. Silver Fox was more buffed out than it has been since sometime last year. All in all it was the kind of storm day that we have been sorely missing thus far in 2012. It started dumping again at about 5:00pm today and the forecast is calling for up to 2 feet of new by the end of the day tomorrow. 

Game on!!!

The snow machine is finally getting cranked up at Alta and Snowbird with more snow coating the slopes last night. The soft snow is fun for jumping around in and it is awesome when it hits you in the face too.  I would say that the upper mountain picked up about 6″ or so of new snow with West Baldy and Tower 3 being the best snow I found today. Trams were once again only half full and parking was plentiful. Oh the joys of midweek powder days!

If you were lonely today for Valentines Day you could have found some leftover powder love at either Snowbird or Alta. I blasted up late in the day to find completely empty trams and lift lines, with better snow than we have had 97.98% of this season so far. The light was a little rough on the upper mountain at Snowbird, but you could easily score some soft stuff anywhere in the trees.  Both High Rustler and Eagles Nest skiing uber well at Alta between 4:00 and 4:30pm. There was light snow falling at the end of the day and I am thinking that the forecast of 1″ tonight will likely be exceeded. See you up there bright and early!

Powder conditions ruled today at The Snowbird with left over snow from yesterday still in full effect. There was deep snow in the Mid Cirque and Hanging Bowl all day long and the trams were once again walk on. The word is that there is still loads of pow up on Baldy if you can hunt it down. Skies were sunny almost the whole day and even Mineral was sweet as hell.

I think there are a number of advantages to the smaller pow day, which I will now list in no particular order:

1) No canyon jam in the morning.

2) Walk on trams all day.

3) No powder panic on the hill.

4) Can get sandwich at Grits in about 3 minutes.

5) Nobody hiking Baldy.

6) Fresh lines every run.

7) No canyon jam on the way down.

8) Stoke is high and is not hindered by lift lines. (Kinda like #2, but I think this is worth 2 mentions….or is it 3.)

The conditions have taken a turn for the way better at Snowbird in the last few days. The weekend storm has added coverage and powder that make all kinds of new things possible. There has been a ton of avalanche activity and patrol has been cautious about opening up more terrain so far. Mineral did not open today by the time I headed out at 2:00, which was a little surprising to me. I guess there are still a lot of things moving out there.

The pow on Silver Fox was blow up into your face light and legit face shots were had by many today for the first time this season. The lower mountain is filling in nicely and still skiing super soft. The monster bumps of last week have not re-formed yet and I hope they don’t for a while.  There is some light snow forecast for the next 24-48 hours and another storm should be here by Friday. Gotta love it when the snow machine turns on!!!