OK time to get caught up. I mentioned a change in the air back on February 6th. By that I was referring to a much needed change over the western US, where a high pressure ridge sat and in fact strengthened over a 45 day period from around mid December through, well, now. Yep, I was a little early in my hopes for a change in the weather with that post, but it looks like were on a good storm track now. It’s been four days since I posted, so let me track back day-by-day and fill in the SBP blog:
Fri, Feb 16th – Well it was a dang good day. Not only was it my Father’s 57th birthday, it was a hero day on the hill. Blower pow was hard to come by. In fact, it was impossible to find! From what I understand, Thursday was the day of the week last week (I missed it) in terms of the fluff. Then, that night the wind machine turned on and big time. By the morning in line it was still whipping and also dumping easily an inch an hour while we waited for Collins to open. I was actually first chair, first time this year. The only lame thing about the wait was witnessing the behavior of some whining locals over some ski schoolers being let on ahead of the public. Please, cry at home over dinner…not in line. Ski school getting on first is just how it is so please deal with it a little better from now on. As far as the skiing: All I can say is BUTTER. My first three laps were 45 seconds descents of highboy. First lap was untracked. I made it in first even with my haggered Volkl Gotamas. That day I went in and had the boys at the P-Dawg Ski Shop mount my new pair. Yep, we’re closing in on our 100-inch base now, and that’s when Alta becomes a brand new ski hill with all new terrain presenting itself. Check out the Alta Photo of the Day for Feb 16th, 2007.
Sat, Feb 17th – Well I worked myself pretty hard on Friday and now that I look back I should have saved a little for Saturday. There were multiple terrain openings Saturday morning including Bad News, the Backside and Devil’s Castle and I missed every dang one. Why? Because I was laying in bed at 8am thinking about how sore I was from running bell-to-bell the day before. Plus it was the President’s day weekend and I wasn’t thrilled about dealing with the crowds. I ended up getting on the hill around 1pm after picking up my newly mounted skis from the shop. I ran them for almost three hours and loved it. They were fast. I’ve been waiting a long time for pair of new fat skis with Salomon 916s. I am locked and loaded for the rest of the season now! Alta Photo of the Day for Feb 17th, 2007.
Sun, Feb 18th – On Sunday Danette and I took it easy at home and enjoyed the sunny and warm day. It was actually a pretty productive day of cleaning out drains and doing other household chores that tend to get put off during ski season. But, that’s all I have to say about that ;). Alta Photo of the Day for Feb 18th, 2007.
Mon, Feb 19th – OK this was a true Little Cottonwood pounding and I missed it. I don’t have the best track record with hitting these storm rides this season. Much like Thursday the 15th…I should have been skiing. But I wasn’t, I was busting bum at home working on work. The long term plan is to get hosed on a few pow days in the short term, and own a house in Albion Basin, Little Cottonwood Canyon in the long term. Let’s hope it plays out that way. Ay any rate, Alta was on today. To wit, the Alta Ski Area Powder Alert: In the past 24 hours, Alta Ski Area has received: 14″ of new snow. SNOW ADVISORY THROUGH NOON. Steadier snow will taper off to snow flurries around noon, but areas favored by northwest flow could see snow flurries into the late afternoon.A potent system is expected to bring back snow Thursday night and Friday. As of the time of this posting, it’s been said and done and I’ll just say the end result was MUCH more than 14 inches (see what PowHound at AltaCam has to say about it). So she goes in LCC. Alta Photo of the Day for Feb 19th, 2007.
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The weather folks are already predicting a “potent storm” for late in the week. I’ve already arranged a day off for Thursday and Friday. The snowpak is coming around and it’s time to get into it…maybe even scare myself a little.
