Any Interest in Cat Skiing at the UtahMini?

**glademaster** · 11-21-2004, 05:02 PM

Is there any interest in doing a day of cat skiing at the upcoming Utah MiniSummit at either Park City Powder Cats or Alta Cat Skiing(more likely of the two)? Possibly either Wednesday the 15th or Thursday the 16th of December. If we book a whole cat we could prolly get a cheaper rate on it, and what would be more fun than a day of cat skiing with 10 of your closest internet friends?

If anyone is interested or has a line on a good deal at either place, post up or PM me about it, hopefully we can pull this together one day that week with so little advance notice. Thanks.

www.alta.com
www.pccats.com

**AltaPowderDaze** · 11-21-2004, 07:00 PM

don't know about park city but alta cat skiing takes you up grizzly gulch. i wouldn't pay 20 bucks for a ride up there. some others may have experience w/ cat skiing around here.
i'd think that park city may have better terrain for cat skiing. damn, i really didn't just say that. i'll have to edit this later.

**glademaster** · 11-21-2004, 07:13 PM

I saw that Alta cat skiing is in Grizzly Gulch, but since I lack backcountry gear and any amount of avy knowledge that would warrant me feeling safe in the bc, I thought it might be a fun way to get out in some powder on my Spatulas. PC Cats may have better terrain, but unless you get more low elevation snow out there, there might not be much doing around them. Whatever, what happens happens.

**AltaPowderDaze** · 11-21-2004, 08:13 PM

if that's your last option, you should pray for a storm and buy a lift ticket. if you want to get some safe bc skiing in, you should check with wasatch touring or ski utah. i think they both have the interconnect tour where you go from snowbird to park city in the bc. it is guided and i think they either rent or hook you up with bca alpine tour wrekkers and skins. grizzle will know about some of this stuff. try to pm him on monday. he'll likely be stuck at work and checking the boards.

link

**glademaster** · 11-21-2004, 08:21 PM

Thanks for the info, we looked at the Interconnect tour, but there's a catch. You have to be 16+ years old to do it, and I'm only 15.

Oh well, how many Summits and MiniSummits have gotten skunked for snowfall or conditions in the past? Not many, if any. I think well have epic amounts of [....] during the week I'm there. All I can do is hope, eh?

**Unregistered** · 12-05-2004, 08:55 AM

Originally Posted by glademaster

Thanks for the info, we looked at the Interconnect tour, but there's a catch. You have to be 16+ years old to do it, and I'm only 15.

Oh well, how many Summits and MiniSummits have gotten skunked for snowfall or conditions in the past? Not many, if any. I think well have epic amounts of [....] during the week I'm there. All I can do is hope, eh?

you do see that HUGE dome of high pressure building off the west coast don't you?

conditions might be more like last year's summit...sunny and warm.

Not sure whether Red Baron is a met or just a tv weather dude who reports right from the NWS discussions (GFS worshipers that they are), but maybe he can throw in his .02 on the impending pattern change.

**zion zig zag** · 12-05-2004, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by glademaster

PC Cats may have better terrain, but unless you get more low elevation snow out there, there might not be much doing around them.

They don't actually ski in park city. They ski at high elevation in the Uintas. If we are in a high pressure system I'd say you have a better chance at untracked with park city cats since they use a huge area that no one tours in.

**glademaster** · 12-05-2004, 09:12 AM

I haven't been checking the weather patterns yet out there except the immediate Utah area. Does it really look that bleak out there for the week? I guess sunny and warm enough for corn-type snow wouldnt be bad, but sunny and cold would suck. Hopefully some Bro Model demos will make to the Mini so I can go mach loony through some nice snow (powder or not). I can see it now, 5'8'' 140lb, east coaster riding some burly 188's. Oh yeah.

As for cat skiing, I don't have the money to do a day without renting a whole cat and gettin a break on prices. Oh well. High pressure would suck.

**AltaPowderDaze** · 12-05-2004, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by glademaster

Does it really look that bleak out there for the week? I guess sunny and warm enough for corn-type snow wouldnt be bad, but sunny and cold would suck.

being that you are from the east, you need to clarify what you mean by warm and cold. our definitions differ usually. i would rather it stay cold (25-0 f) rather than warm up and then get cold (sun crusts). if it stays warm and sunny, then you have the S and W faces peeling away from the mountain. that sucks if you're not on the line between 9 and 11.

edit for link

**Red Baron** · 12-05-2004, 04:28 PM

Not sure whether Red Baron is a met or just a tv weather dude

Good question; I have two undergrad degrees, one in Environmental Engineering and one in Telecommunications; and being the masochist that I am, I also have a Masters in Meteorology, so yes, I am a "meteorologist".

My thesis was on using doppler radar to estimate precipitation in mountainous terrain, so if you ever have questions along those lines - well, it was a good chunk of my life for two years. I'm also a member of the AMS and the NWA, and not a fan of the GFS or Ensemble forecasting, in general...