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2016-17 Utah Weather & Conditions
- Thread starter Lorenzzo
- Start date
And the trend continues. Today was very different to the two days before. Sunny but with a cold North breeze. We headed to Empire Mtn with my son just to find Orion perfectly groomed but mostly hard (not quite hard frozen but fairly hard).
So, we went back to Flagstaff, Bald, early lunch, Flagstafd ... the kid drops out at 2 but I am lucky to find @Lorenzzo . He gave me lovely tour to the groomers (which is all i can handle at this stage). Had a blast. It is really weird when you follow one of the top 1 in 1000 skiers in the mountain. You barely see them, let alone making turns with them. I had a great time. We also went for a beer après. Lovely time. I am thinking @Philpug and @Tricia picked the right place for the gathering.
Yes, definitely a later start today, 14 degrees at the top of hidden lake this morning. Except for the high north slopes that still held some cold snow, as soon as we were lower on the mountain we stayed only on the sunniest slopes. Even those aspects didn't really begin to soften till almost 11am but they uncharacteristicly remained fast & corny till day's end.
We could still make out a couple sets of our tracks from yesterday...
Thread Starter
TS
I'm usually an opening bell skier but the afternoon today looked more promising so I didn't get started until lunchtime. Things were a little crispy and temps stayed cold but it was very skiable on-piste. Good conditions for sharp edges and working on the turns.
Another beautiful sky day. Fun meeting up with @Mendieta.
Another beautiful sky day. Fun meeting up with @Mendieta.
Yes! I couldn't quite believe the quality of the snow at the bottom steep off Nabob. Most of the time it's slush by noon in Spring. Today it was one of the best hero snow I ever skied. And that was 4pm sharp. Only in Utah.
Two days in a row skiing 9 to 4. I obviously have tons to learn, which is exciting. But I am so glad I can ski a full day without burning out. Conditions or not, I suck less than last year, and that's something to celebrate
Am I spamming at this point? I should have opened a trip report I guess. Day 4 of the trip, again different. This time it was what you would expect of a Spring day. Sunny, with snow softening all over and getting travked up. But not too bad. It wasn't that warm, fortunately.
The star of the day was Princess Mendieta who wanted to ski, so daddy took her to lap one of the greens and she had a blast. Now she wants to take a lesson! I managed to book one of the folks recommended by the Pugger crowd, for a 3 hour morning private.
Before lunch the kids burned out and I did Stein's way a couple times; then lunch, and in the afternoon all over the place. The run of the day was Orion at 3 pm. It was soft, with spring bumps (pushed up soft snow), which forced me to practice short turns, which I really need to work on. Fun and educational.
Like yesterday, they stopped the lifts and I was like: why so soon? I think this is ski Heaven. People are really corteous and respectful, mountain hosts all over the place, it is crazy good.
Some pics:
Nabob/Birdsview from the bottom:
Same runs from above:
Hidden treasure from the top:
The star of the day was Princess Mendieta who wanted to ski, so daddy took her to lap one of the greens and she had a blast. Now she wants to take a lesson! I managed to book one of the folks recommended by the Pugger crowd, for a 3 hour morning private.
Before lunch the kids burned out and I did Stein's way a couple times; then lunch, and in the afternoon all over the place. The run of the day was Orion at 3 pm. It was soft, with spring bumps (pushed up soft snow), which forced me to practice short turns, which I really need to work on. Fun and educational.
Like yesterday, they stopped the lifts and I was like: why so soon? I think this is ski Heaven. People are really corteous and respectful, mountain hosts all over the place, it is crazy good.
Some pics:
Nabob/Birdsview from the bottom:
Same runs from above:
Hidden treasure from the top:
Day 5. Yet a different day. No kidding. Today was one of those hot Spring days when by 2pm runs are a slush fest. Want a picture of that?
Those were taken on Flagstaff, between 2:20 and 2:40.
But let's take it from the top. We started the day with a fantastic 3 hour lesson with Lance Swedish (@lswedish; thanks to @cbk for the recommendation). Bumps oh yeah, bumps! My son shared the second part of the lesson with me, and was as pumped as I was. But I will talk more about that on the proper thread. Conditions in the morning were breezy but nice. Good snow all over. We did all of the flagstaff runs with my son, then a Nabob, and back to the meeting point where Lance came with my daughter after her 1.5 hours of learning.
The lesson ended at noon and I decided to take my son to Stein's way before it got slushy. So glad we did it. It was soft but still very skiable:
And, like I said. After our late lunch, the slush was unsufferable. I practiced some bumps and went to the family at the pool at the SEL
Not a bad day
Those were taken on Flagstaff, between 2:20 and 2:40.
But let's take it from the top. We started the day with a fantastic 3 hour lesson with Lance Swedish (@lswedish; thanks to @cbk for the recommendation). Bumps oh yeah, bumps! My son shared the second part of the lesson with me, and was as pumped as I was. But I will talk more about that on the proper thread. Conditions in the morning were breezy but nice. Good snow all over. We did all of the flagstaff runs with my son, then a Nabob, and back to the meeting point where Lance came with my daughter after her 1.5 hours of learning.
The lesson ended at noon and I decided to take my son to Stein's way before it got slushy. So glad we did it. It was soft but still very skiable:
And, like I said. After our late lunch, the slush was unsufferable. I practiced some bumps and went to the family at the pool at the SEL
Not a bad day
You ended up getting a really good week here, @Mendieta! Snowbasin has also been skiing beautifully all week. The slush came out early here yesterday on the lower mountain, but I got my requisite morning runs in, then dusted off my mountain bike and took it for a spin.
Ahhh, spring in the Wasatch!
Ahhh, spring in the Wasatch!
Yes, very lucky. Today might be a clunker with the wind and rain forecast. We'll head out and give it a go but it's not looking good ...
Wednesday was almost a repeat of Tuesday but with warmer temps allowing more options earlier. A classic Spring day that allowed good skiing right till 4pm. First thing in the morning, I was able to take my friend Sean out into the same zone I had been on Monday. It was only good for one run & the hike out was pretty warm but the yield was perfect corn.
Yesterday (Thursday) was warmer right off the bat & grey to start but bluebird by late morning. Without a solid freeze for the first time this week the good skiing was on the high north aspects, specifically Lone Tree chute (which is actually a steep bowl lately). Except for the first 2 runs, we skied this one till 3pm.
The flats were getting stickier as the day went on but anything with a good pitch was fine. Still managed to get close to 30k vert even with short hikes every run.
I wonder if @AmyPJ can see me waving...
With strong winds, thick grey clouds on the horizon, temps in the 50's this morning, I think it'll be a good day to get some neglected work done
.
Yesterday (Thursday) was warmer right off the bat & grey to start but bluebird by late morning. Without a solid freeze for the first time this week the good skiing was on the high north aspects, specifically Lone Tree chute (which is actually a steep bowl lately). Except for the first 2 runs, we skied this one till 3pm.
The flats were getting stickier as the day went on but anything with a good pitch was fine. Still managed to get close to 30k vert even with short hikes every run.
I wonder if @AmyPJ can see me waving...
With strong winds, thick grey clouds on the horizon, temps in the 50's this morning, I think it'll be a good day to get some neglected work done
.
Last edited:
I don't know that I see you waving, but did I see you in Mt. Ogden chute on Tuesday? (I think it was Tuesday.) Might have been Wednesday. It's all a blur.Wednesday was almost a repeat of Tuesday but with warmer temps allowing more options earlier. A classic Spring day that allowed good skiing right till 4pm. First thing in the morning, I was able to take my friend Sean out into the same zone I had been on Monday. It was only good for one run & the hike out was pretty warm but the yield was perfect corn.
View attachment 22051
Yesterday (Thursday) was warmer right off the bat & grey to start but bluebird by late morning. Without a solid freeze for the first time this week the good skiing was on the high north aspects, specifically Lone Tree chute (which is actually a steep bowl lately). Except for the first 2 runs, we skied this one till 3pm.
View attachment 22052
View attachment 22053
The flats were getting stickier as the day went on but anything with a good pitch was fine. Still managed to get close to 30k vert even with short hikes every run.
I wonder if @AmyPJ can see me waving...
View attachment 22055
With strong winds, thick grey clouds on the horizon, temps in the 50's this morning, I think it'll be a good day to get some neglected work done
You missed the lodge crawl with the crew on Tuesday. They hit Lone Tree, while I watched. Report was the first few turns were scratchy nasty, but after that, it was pretty tasty. One of these days...
Tomorrow afternoon could be fun, and Sunday sounds promising. The Santa Anas have been neglected for almost 8 weeks now. Gonna slap a little bit of spring structure on them tonight because this storm, plus the slush, is prime for them.
With strong winds, thick grey clouds on the horizon, temps in the 50's this morning, I think it'll be a good day to get some neglected work done
Agreed. My family bailed out for the day. Most of the lifts at DV were on hold. I went out anyways, bumped into @Lorenzzo at one of the few lifts running (Quincy) and we shared a few runs, enjoyed each other's company on the lift, and before noon he went for a coffee and I went to join the family. The snow went from soft at opening to tracked up / crudfy in places, really quickly. Some plaxes like the top of Blue Bell has some lovely hero snow. Here is a quick stop we made on Peeler:
All things said, the worst skiing day since I arrived last Sunday. Hoping for tomorrow, day 7, and last day of this trip ...
Thread Starter
TS
Wasn't too excited about going out today. Temps really warm, windy as it gets and rain in the forecast. But I like watching storms roll in from the vantage point of the mountain so I grabbed both skis and my laptop.
The first couple of hours were fun, ran into @Mendieta and despite almost the entire mountain being closed due to wind we found a few good runs. Despite few skiers it didn't take long for those trails to deteriorate. So I began to head in.
But then they opened Sultan chair making it possible to get to advanced terrain. Despite the warm temps the trails were deserted, untouched and I was able to get in a half dozen runs on some steep faces in some pretty epic corn. I decided to stay as long as conditions held, but before long they closed all upper lifts due to wind.
Today had as many negative factors as you'll typically get in one day but despite that the skiing was really good.
The first couple of hours were fun, ran into @Mendieta and despite almost the entire mountain being closed due to wind we found a few good runs. Despite few skiers it didn't take long for those trails to deteriorate. So I began to head in.
But then they opened Sultan chair making it possible to get to advanced terrain. Despite the warm temps the trails were deserted, untouched and I was able to get in a half dozen runs on some steep faces in some pretty epic corn. I decided to stay as long as conditions held, but before long they closed all upper lifts due to wind.
Today had as many negative factors as you'll typically get in one day but despite that the skiing was really good.
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Yea, my ski buddy called me about 1:30 saying the skiing was pretty good even though only 1 main lift was open. Pretty hard to have a bad ski day!
60 degrees at my place right now, gonna follow Amy's lead & jump on my bike for a spin.
Have you got your retro outfit ready for this weekend?!
Thread Starter
TS
No...my ex threw all my old stuff away back when we were married.
It was very expensive but I've made sure something like that will never happen again.
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