June 26, 2019

Non-Skiing Spring


You wouldn't guess it could possibly be true, but we've actually been doing all sort of non-skiing things this spring (and now summer).

Turns out summer dawn patrol can be just as great. Instead of powder, you get wildflowers. Fair trade.

As I mentioned in the last post, I'm going to retire from Wasatch and Beyond posting soon. I think I'll let our upcoming trip to the Swiss Alps be the swan song. 
























 















June 18, 2019

Winter's Last Stand ROUND TWO

Hallway Couloir in powder on May 18th

When we got a couple good bonus powder days in early May, you figured new snow was over at that point. We transitioned to corn skiing and had a big snowpack, so no matter what the skiing through Memorial Day was going to be pretty good. 

Then things somehow just got crazy again and it snowed almost every day for the week leading up to Memorial Day weekend. The season of spoiled skiers escalated to an unprecedented level.

Monday May 13
Solo slushy runs at Alta. Then took a few days off and waited for the next storm to materialize.



Friday May 17
Post-work "tour" at Alta. About 8-10" of new snow. What a dream, and it was only going to get better...





Saturday May 18
Legit winter skiing in Days Fork and then dropped into the Hallway in a foot of fresh powder. 









Sunday May 19
A couple runs near Devil's Castle, but the sun had gotten to it a bit the afternoon before so the powder turns were a bit more limited.


Wednesday May 22
Another round of new snow and first tracks down Main Chute, followed by a couple more off the Baldy Shoulder and Collins. 

I went back up to ski again AFTER work (doubles!) because it was so great and did several laps in Toledo Bowl and from Cardiff Pass.


Thursday May 23
Another dawn patrol where it was light out before 6am and you didn't need a headlamp. Skied a few laps in Holy Toledo.






Friday May 24
Back to Toledo Bowl and skied 4 laps in 10"+ cold powder on top of all the snow (several feet) that had fallen in the past week. This storm pushed Snowbird over 700" for the season. It was the clincher for me: Greatest. Season. Ever.


At this point I didn't feel like I was done skiing, but it was time to head to the desert for a long weekend, and then I had a conference in Boston, so it would be two weeks before I took the skis out again.

Saturday June 8
Main Chute + Collins. The calendar said summer but we got a couple cold overnight freezes. We dropped into Main well after 12pm and parts were still frozen.





Sunday June 9
Toledo Chute and Toledo Bowl





Saturday June 15
Two-lapper on Suicide Chute, always a fun outing as the season winds down.







Sunday June 16
A couple Brighton laps (really just to get a little skiing on the way to Park City for trail running).


In between skiing we've ramped up hiking, trail running, racket sports, etc. We'll probably ski a few more times for the novelty of it (and as part of a well-balanced multisport summer day) but my heart is into summertime now. 

I can't keep up with this blog, especially as the days get longer and I just want to be outside all of the time. I'm not sure many people really read blogs much these days anymore, anyways. So I'll do another post to wrap up this ski season once it finally wraps up, and then I'm thinking that will be the wrap-up for Wasatch and Beyond as well. I think I'm approaching the decade mark, which seems like a good time to retire it.