Snowbird August 27, 2005 - photo TR

[boarderline]

I've been jonsing hard to get back on snow ever since I broke my foot back in June. I haven't had any pain in it lately, so today was the day to make some turns. It was a beautiful day and fun to put the board back on snow again

I took the tram up with full snowboard/safety gear on my backpack, drawing some quizzical looks from the other tram passengers. I then began the vigorous -500 vertical approach down the Road to Provo over towards Malu Malu and Pipeline Bowl.



Once I got to the top of Malu Malu, I stopped for a minute to take in the view:



There were a couple other skiers in the area, so we chatted for a bit. Some hikers were attempting to cross from the end of the Road to Provo to where the other skiers and I were sitting without axes/crampons. It was a bad idea. One guy slipped and slid 1/4 of the way down Malu Malu before he was able to stop himself. Given that the snowfield terminated in rocks, that could've had some bad consequences.

After taking in the view for a minute, I strapped in and made a few turns. It was fun, although the snow wasn't great - lots of suncups, runnels, and exposed rocks. But the surface was corn and pretty soft. The bigger snowfield in Pipeline bowl looked like it had smoother snow - project for next weekend.

Skier named Bob hiking up for another lap in Malu Malu:



It seemed like you could see forever today:



And the wildflowers are still everywhere:



Construction of the tunnel into Mineral Basin:



I chatted with the tram operator for a bit about the construction. He said that it will be completed by next summer. They're using the rock and rubble from the excavation to build a platform for the top station of the new high-speed quad that's replacing the Peruvian chair.

Parting shot of Mt. Baldy before it was time to ride the tram back down:



Nice way to spend a Saturday. Anyone want to meet up next weekend to take on Pipeline Bowl?

[stump832]

Nice pics, mang!

[Pedro]

After taking in the view for a minute, I strapped in and made a few turns. It was fun, although the snow wasn't great - lots of suncups, runnels, and exposed rocks. But the surface was corn and pretty soft.

Its all good.....nice shots.

[Powder Seeker]

Sweet! Nice pics Mag!

[ski_faster]

Way to get after it in August.

[tele mark]

Nice turns! There was a group of 7 of us skiing it the 1st weekend in August, looks like the coverage has shrunk dramatically since than. We're getting late enough in summer the snow should stop receding pretty soon, so those patches should be around the remainder of the year. Compared to last year (August 1st, 2004),

coverage is significantly better, + the Tram saved the 2400' approach up Gad Valley.

This Friday a group of us are going down to Timp to hit the main glacier. Hoping it'll be better than last year as well, motivation to get past the lower (and significantly smaller) lower Timp snow field