Spring Skiing at its Finest

After a spring tip to Mexico for some kayaking and whale watching with 11 of our closest friends, we came home to no moose in the yard and no expectations of new snow in the mountains. How wrong we were! Yesterday provided plenty of the soft stuff in the Sisters and Moonshine at Snowbasin - skied untracked run until 11:30. It snowed some more last night, providing a treat for our friends, Mike, Barb and Rich, on the Middle Bowl Cirque today. With such a great base, no matter what March brings, the skiing and riding will be AWESOME for the rest of the season!

No Name was calling us

We enjoyed every inch of this 18-inch storm that started Sunday morning. Howdy and I had hosted out-of-town visitors, our old friends Rob (Vashon, WA) and Craig (Bozeman, MT), as well as Curt (Ski Patrol at Brighton). The boys go back to the 70’s – here they are enjoying some après ski the night before.

Skiing primarily the “old Snowbasin” on Sunday, it just kept getting deeper and deeper, right up to 4 PM. What a great time for all! With great anticipation of more slopes opening after avalanche control the next morning, our expectations were met as we ventured to Moonshine and beyond on Monday.

This gorgeous view greeted us on our way to the Mountain on today. We hoped for the chance to ski No Name, which had not opened since the storm began. Loading the John Paul Quad for the very first run of the day, it seemed like wishful thinking. Even during the Tram ride, rumor had it that the gate had not quite opened. So we headed in that direction just in case, and low and behold, it WAS open. Up we hiked to a winter wonderland of untracked fluffy stuff all the way to the lower parking lot. Absolutely wonderful – timing is everything! Here is a clip of Howdy and Rob:

The Moose is Loose!

When my friend Joanne in Salt Lake City heard that we have had two to four moose living in our yard for the past month, she asked me to post a picture. We live on the Valley floor, between Huntsville and Eden, across the highway from Pineview Reservoir. The heavy snowfalls this year (did I mention that the skiing has been great?) have forced deer and moose into the valleys. They spend their time happily trimming our trees and bushes, sleeping under trees and on the sunny deck, and leaving neat little pelletized fertilizer all over the yard, deck, driveway and sidewalk.

The second picture is Mavis walking up to our front door with twigs in her mouth - she comes around often, perhaps to compliment us on the cuisine, looking in our dining room window. It has been interesting to say the least! We hope they make it through the winter!

Last Minute Decision...Showing them Around

I had to catch up on some work today, but that didn't stop my husband, Howdy, from joining some out of town visitors based in Salt Lake City who made a last minute decision to come to Snowbasin today.

Guest post and photos from Howdy:

"Well, I wasn’t going skiing today – but got a call from Pam, a California friend with her Santa Rosa Ski Club – and shot up to Snowbasin at the last minute. That was a really good decision. There were 6+ inches of fresh stuff at the start and it snowed most of the day. The wind filled in the tracks from earlier days and amazingly did not densify the snow very much. Ten runs on Needles Express and fresh, deep powder on each circuit. The Californians were all smiles, all day. The photos show some of the stashes that we found. Hats off to Harry and Dave (Sugar Bowl volunteer patrol) who skied to the end and treated me to a couple of drinks in the No Name Lounge to finish a great day!"

EXTREMELY DELICIOUS

What a day! We skied super deep snow during the storm two days ago and had a ball. Not really believing that we would find much untracked snow, we went up to enjoy the sun and great mountain coverage. As luck would have it, the gate to Middle Bowl Cirque opened just as we arrived. Howdy filmed me above on my second run (taking a big breath and pulling a Melinda - see Jan 27, last picture). Our first run is documented below- the tracks just to the left of the middle rocky area are mine. I was wondering why Howdy said "Stay close to my line" until I saw this picture! I honestly do not remembering seeing the rocks while I skied the delicious snow.

Here is a run that we took earlier in the day (below). Talk about gorgeous scenery!

A Banner Day!

What a day! We took our first two runs off John Paul Quad. No stopping for pictures there - the foot (plus) of new snow was fabulous, the light was sooooo good, and we just kept moving.

Barb and Mike McConvill surveyed the view of Powder Mountain from the top of Snowbasin's "The Diamond" Run - just briefly - on the way to our next powder stash. The rest of these pictures tell the story... Mike, Barb and two pcitures of our friend Hudd - a master of teleski.

Mike sent me the GPS record of our runs - mapped on the Google Earth database image (believe me, there was no bare ground today). Click for larger image. It is fun to re-live the powder runs of this banner day!

In Search of STEEP

Face shot delights! It was one of those days when steeper was better… 16 inches last night, 10 inches the night before. The sun came out briefly and I thought it was time for a movie of my friend Mike. Due to operator error, the movie is short... but sweet!