Colonel, you must be checking the same web page as me.
http://www.alta.com/pages/report.php It was about 21" and still snowing hard this morning. I was prepared for the day of my dreams. Big skis, Transceiver, shovel, probe, water, calories, etc.
Well, be careful what you wish for. I caught the late bus this morning, 8:00 knowing that the road would be closed until 8:30 for avalanche control. Buses have priority so we were in the front of a 5 mile backup on UT210, the Little Cottonwood Canyon Rd. Still stopped on the rd. at 9 a snowbird employee riding with us got word on his electronic device that a test round after the main artillery barrage set off a new slide so it would be closed until 9:30 or later. When it did open it was very slow, either an accident or a moron who disregarded 4x4 restrictions and couldn't get his 2 WD out of the way. Then there are all the tourists in 2WD rental cars who cannot simply turn around when told. They have to play 20 questions with the cop. (A large sign explains the restrictions in effect a mile before the canyon entrance.)
We got there at 11:30. Cars at the lodges were totally buried, at least I think they were cars. Nevertheless, my excitement was sky high. I went up for a test run, started down a reasonably steep face and when the grade backed off just a bit got stuck, and just as I came to a stop gently toppled over in the powder. I'm grateful to have had the crossed pole trick in my bag or I might still be there. It was my only fall of the day, but it was unbelievably hard work to ski the untracked snow. I am not a fast learner when my dreams are being disabused. I kept venturing into the deep. When momentum ran out it was incredibly hard to stride/pole/flail back to something groomed or tracked. Groomed means it was only 6" or so deep. Light was extremely flat so there was no seeing undulations.
I picked up a handful of snow and blew it away as easy as a dandelion. The lightness meant that ones weight distribution had to be exactly 50/50 on each ski or the heavier one would bury itself. My ability to sense and correct this on the fly is normally very good. I love powder and ski it a lot. But this stuff was so light and so lacking in substance that the margin for error was extremely small. Flat light didn't help.
I soon became worried about the road being closed in the afternoon, and then about interlodge restriction. I am too old to sleep on a hard cafeteria floor, so I decided to ask a couple of lodges if they had a bed for the night. I asked at the Snowpine and the Goldminer's Daughter; nothing available. They said every lodge was completely booked. Exhausted and worried about interlodge, I caught the 2 PM bus down. The road closed at 2:30 and reopened at 5. I don't know if there was interlodge; the Canyon alert email system only tells you about the roads.
Of course I'll be back tomorrow. It may be a repeat of today, or the snow may settle enough overnight to make for heavenly skiing.
Skiers are like farmers. Neither group is ever completely happy with the weather.
I was reminded about that conversation this past Feb during a mini-Epic reunion. And I was the one who originally asked about the cliff sign a year ago. Go figure.
