Ringing in the new year right in UT
Chasing storms is like gambling, in the sense that sometimes you go with your intuition and block out what others tell you. Or at least that's what I was telling myself as we left Steamboat and their forecasts of 2' overnight on the 1st.
Things seemed to be going pretty good as we pulled into Heber city after an epic drive through a dumping storm. However, as we neared Salt Lake, the clouds broke, the roads were dry ... and LCC was closed. Patience grasshopper, patience.
Woke the next morning, and after twenty phone calls, decided on Solitude. LCC was still closed, but Brighton was reporting 16" and Solitude 7". I was calling BS on Solitude’s snow report.
To make a long story short, Solitude was unreal. New snow depth was easily 14” to 21”+. First tracks bell to bell, with untracked lines everywhere. One of the best days I’ve ever had.
The next two days were spent at Alta. Saturday was good, finding pillows in N. Rustler and off Supreme. phunk and Altagirl (maybe) sighting in the Germ liftline, but didn’t recognize anyone in the Wildcat pileup in the morning. Sunday we were a little disappointed with only 4” overnight, but headed up for a half day. I secretly hoped the gates would drop at Alta, but feared that saying something would jinx our day. However any disappointment quickly evaporated when we hit the Backside just as the gate opened. Only about 10 folks in front as we hit East Greeley. Kept on lapping the Backside until we hit the Ballroom opening, and proceeded to partake in that feeding frenzy. After a couple laps, our bellies full of amazing turns, and our luck pretty much dried up, we called it a trip.
This trip was just what the doctor ordered. The conditions in CO had me a bit down on skiing, but after this weekend I remembered why I love skiing. With awesome conditions on an equally impressive mountain, I feel connected to my skis. It lets my creativity run wild. Arcing turns here, hip smears there, putting it all together in a fluid run. It is my temporary masterpiece.
