Utah getting pounded with fresh snow!
December 11, 2007
Alta only has 12 of 118 runs open, but!!!
Current Conditions as of: Sat December 8th, 2007 at 04:25:00
Settled Snow Depth:
49"
Snowfall (Past 12 hrs):
14"
Snowfall(Past 24 hrs):
21 "
Snowfall this Season: 110"
Sky Cover:
Snowing
Ridgetop Winds:
Light WSW
Mid Mountain Temp:(°F)
22°
Highway 210 Status:
4x4 or Chains Required
Forecast for Today 24" more today and tonight.
Colorado is beating them right now.
Wolf Creek has just received their SECOND 50+ inch snowstorm in a week, skiing on 100% of their terrain.
Monarch just received 5 1/2 feet of snow in a single storm, and is skiing on pretty much all of their terrain except Mirkwood.
Avalanche watches and warnings are up all over the backcountry.
Even in the Dillon/Frisco area, snow totals are around 30 inches as of this morning, with another 10+ forecast for the day and tonight. Keystone is going on 1,700 acres of terrain including two bowls, Breck is up to 750 acres of terrain and Vail has been skiing on over 1000 acres of terrain for a week now.
I think Colorado has lost contact with Steamboat. I don't even want to know what's going on out there.
And Aspen got schlacked in the LAST storm (don't know what's going on in this storm- but the forecasts have generally been for heavier snow west of the 10 Mile Range than east of it).
It's gone from nothing to everything in about a week's time in CO. I think the only thing holding back 100% terrain is that these storms are the settling base- probably need another one to get some of the real gnarly stuff up and running for the year.
I'm heading to Loveland/Keystone/Breck next weekend- will provide a report back on how things are looking out there. I'm leaning toward Breckenridge and Loveland, skipping Keystone- though if A-Basin gets more terrain open I might skip Breck, too- we'll see.
I'd guess 2-4' depending on your exact location ... I heard vail opened up the back bowls and the blue sky basin or whatever its called but i did not go there myself.
Alta was great today and yesterday. They opened up ballroom this morning and it was my deepest I ever skied 40"+. But 47" base isn't much and people were still hitting rocks. Utah will be ready for Xmas but is still below where they should be right now. Collins and wildcat were open. Sugar loaf wasn't really open supreme nada. Mineral isn't open. The high T just opened Sunday afternoon with super gnar coverage. By next week they will be able to open more stuff but I am thinking they still need another storm before its time to put the rock skis away.
Edit to add: alta so far is having the best early season of anywhere in UT.
But 47" base isn't much and people were still hitting rocks. ... By next week they will be able to open more stuff but I am thinking they still need another storm before its time to put the rock skis away.
Until you get ~100" base, you'll still need rock skis at Alta (or skis you don't mind gouging), especially at the top of some of the ridges which can get wind-blown. Of course, it depends upon how hard you work the mountain.
The best stuff is still not open.
tromano,
Beautiful pictures!
I have skied Alta many times...once got involved with a mini avalanch.
While agree that a big base is essential to skiing Alta, especially off the regular trails and groomed, I would not folks to get the idea that an 100 inch base was essential, or don't go to Alta.
The Colonel
alta is the shit! the snowflake shall never die!
I would not folks to get the idea that an 100 inch base was essential, or don't go to Alta.
I suggest that all tourists never go to Alta. You really need a 200 inch base before your ski bases are safe. If you choose to ignore my advice, you're best off if you stick to the groomers or the wide-open faces like Ballroom.
Ballroom was money when they first opened it yesterday morning.
Ballroom was money when they first opened it yesterday morning.
If it has been closed a while (normally due to avi issues), it can be real nice at first. (But any terrain that opens after an extended closure is bound to be sweet.) Ballroom gets tracked out real fast since it is so visible and accessible and not that steep.
With most of the mountain open, Ballroom is not the first place I'd head on a powder day.
John, I agree alta is the kind of palce that its really big and spread out and you need a plan / experience if you want to hit untracked stuff. I don't know what that plan is but it seems to me that the longer traverses seem to hold more goods the further out you go so you can start working in a section and keep skiing untracked the further you traverse out from the lift. On a powder day you could hit wildcat or supreme and work in this manner pretty safely I would think. On the drive out I noticed that wildcat still was relatively untracked out the further towards skiers left you went. And this was with more skier concentrated in just that one area.
I would not folks to get the idea that an 100 inch base was essential, or don't go to Alta.
I suggest that all tourists never go to Alta. You really need a 200 inch base before your ski bases are safe. If you choose to ignore my advice, you're best off if you stick to the groomers or the wide-open faces like Ballroom.
... actually i think more like 600 inches, so in an average year just forget about it and go groomers...
Try the St. Catherine's area to the left of the skiable Alta slopes when looking up.
It can stay deep in there for longer, and few crowds due to the walk required from the top lift.
The Colonel
Or you could just go to Solitude and ski untracked in Honeycomb Canyon for a day or two after a storm.
