February 23, 2017 Alta, 10" Powder

The forecast was “SPOT ON”. We have 2 tickets for Alta and Snowbird and the forecast looked great.  In the morning the road conditions were for 4x4 or chains and the road was scheduled to open at 8am. With 10”of new overnight it was definitely a bus day. Snowbird had the Mineral Basin closed and Peruvian Express on hold. OK, easy choice - go to Alta with all the chairs open. We caught an early bus and on the Little Cottonwood Canyon  Road the traffic stopped!  A few more road problems.  We arrived at Alta around 8:40am, and the line for Wildcat lift was BIG and Collins lift even BIGGER. The opening was delayed and we knew the Supreme lift was our goal. So we took the “Transfer Tow” rope (which I/we hate) to Sunnyside, then Cecret, and then Supreme lift. I was feeling great because the tourists would never plan this route and the only tracks I saw from the chair were from the ski patrol under the lift. We got over the rock area and the wind was blustery, like “can you see the snow??”. We had some powder runs, but the wind was strong and it was a 'get off the ridge and turn around the trees'. There were long lines for the main lifts, and it was snowing  and the wind was getting worse – it felt like a full on blizzard.  During the day another 5” arrived and the wind made new drifts. More snow is predicted for tonight and with the temperatures dropping the wind chill will be in the minus category. The last 3 three days have been a powder holiday and  each day we've had more powder, wind and dropping temperatures. We've also enjoyed spending time each evening swapping tales about our day with Art Freeman, a fellow skier from Seattle. It is difficult to choose which area to ski with so many choices within 40 minutes from Sandy.   

Just sick thinking bout all that powder. Gotta love it when your tracks close up behind you.

Sounds Awesome and glad that Art made his way out there too! His a good friend of mine.

Tristan