Sun Valley or Snowbasin are not normally on the way from Seattle to Tahoe, but in the realm of complex calculations known as SRTRM (Ski Road Trip Rationalization Mathematics) it made perfect sense. I left Seattle Feb 23 and made it to my AirBnB at Elkhorn Village that evening, with no inclement weather the entire drive.
Seattle Ridge viewed from the Lookout lodge.
The groomers were firm, perfect for my shiny new E Race Pros.
Not too many people going down Upper Broadway.
Just below the Roundhouse, looking into town.
Lower Flying Squirrel looking up
And looking down. Please note the crowds, they were awful.
Upper College. Again, crowds, crowds, crowds.
Limelight.
Top of Greyhawk at the end of the day. Wide open and you can go as fast as you want.
They’ve realigned the lifts at Warm Springs, the new Warm Spring 6 pack bottom terminal is where the old Greyhawk bottom terminal was, and a mid-station unloads where the Greyhawk top terminal was before heading to the top at Lookout. The new Flying Squirrel lift (replacing the old fixed grip version that had a fire a few years ago) bottom terminal is where the old Warm Springs was, and continues up a bit higher than Frenchman’s.
Also the new replacement for the old Cold Springs lift is called Broadway, and it’s further down the drainage. This results in the Broadway run being much longer, and an excellent low angle groomer (I like to think of it as a cleansing run). It also serves as a collector run for the expanded glades that are reached from the top of Seattle Ridge. That area needed more snow than there has been this year, though I did take a run through the trees there. But only one, because it really needs more snow.
I spent two days at Sun Valley, at the end of skiing the second day I drove to Eden/Wolf Creek for a 3 day camp at Snowbasin.
Snowbasin from the top of John Paul. The more I ski there the more I love this place, the views of the rocks and peaks from up close is amazing. The snow was much better at Snowbasin that Sun Valley; even though it had been warm for a day or two, after cooling overnight and being groomed, the snow was nice and chalky.
We did a lot of drills on speed control on Wildflower.
Clouds
And sun, moments later.
Needles run, with the Needle in the background.
From Strawberry, a short hike and a traverse and you’re looking down Lone Tree.
Clinic leader Herb and fellow student/client Gordon about to dive into Lone Tree. The snow was not as good as we hoped.
Start the same hike, go a bit higher, and you traverse around the back side of the same peak.
This is turning to the left of the last pic, looking out over Ogden, and at least two other states.
After traversing around the peak, Gavin, the owner of the school (Snow Performance) giving us pointers about dropping into the Cirque.
Don’t worry, I crushed it. You can see the Middle Bowl lift top terminal, and the Needles lodge at the left.
Somewhere on Strawberry.
In between sunny and beautiful groomer days, there was a very cold and windy day with 4” fresh powder. Nearly froze my face. Don’t care, it was awesome snow.
After the camp, in which many skills were refined, I had a free ski day, so met up with @AmyPJ, her Ski Diva friend Carol, and her local friend Becky.
Selfie, just to prove I was there,
I spent the night in Sandy, and then went toAlta Snowbird Brighton Solitude Deer Valley. Due to high winds, Empire and Lady Morgan were closed, and only Sultan was running on Bald Mt in the morning, after noon they opened Wasatch as well.
Stein’s
The lift line at Sultan got much bigger than this, and it wasn’t even a powder day.
I still got a lot of turns, and since I hadn’t been at the at the Mountaineer lift before, finished the day there, where there were no lift lines.
Seven days of skiing, most of it in sunny weather on groomers. Tools: E Race Pro, Blossom AM77, DPS Pagoda Piste 94C. I haven’t used my Billy Goats yet on this trip; that may change once I get to Tahoe.
There is a storm warning starting tonight, and of course I’m driving from SLC to Reno tomorrow. Let’s see how long it takes me to get there.
Seattle Ridge viewed from the Lookout lodge.
The groomers were firm, perfect for my shiny new E Race Pros.
Not too many people going down Upper Broadway.
Just below the Roundhouse, looking into town.
Lower Flying Squirrel looking up
And looking down. Please note the crowds, they were awful.
Upper College. Again, crowds, crowds, crowds.
Limelight.
Top of Greyhawk at the end of the day. Wide open and you can go as fast as you want.
They’ve realigned the lifts at Warm Springs, the new Warm Spring 6 pack bottom terminal is where the old Greyhawk bottom terminal was, and a mid-station unloads where the Greyhawk top terminal was before heading to the top at Lookout. The new Flying Squirrel lift (replacing the old fixed grip version that had a fire a few years ago) bottom terminal is where the old Warm Springs was, and continues up a bit higher than Frenchman’s.
Also the new replacement for the old Cold Springs lift is called Broadway, and it’s further down the drainage. This results in the Broadway run being much longer, and an excellent low angle groomer (I like to think of it as a cleansing run). It also serves as a collector run for the expanded glades that are reached from the top of Seattle Ridge. That area needed more snow than there has been this year, though I did take a run through the trees there. But only one, because it really needs more snow.
I spent two days at Sun Valley, at the end of skiing the second day I drove to Eden/Wolf Creek for a 3 day camp at Snowbasin.
Snowbasin from the top of John Paul. The more I ski there the more I love this place, the views of the rocks and peaks from up close is amazing. The snow was much better at Snowbasin that Sun Valley; even though it had been warm for a day or two, after cooling overnight and being groomed, the snow was nice and chalky.
We did a lot of drills on speed control on Wildflower.
Clouds
And sun, moments later.
Needles run, with the Needle in the background.
From Strawberry, a short hike and a traverse and you’re looking down Lone Tree.
Clinic leader Herb and fellow student/client Gordon about to dive into Lone Tree. The snow was not as good as we hoped.
Start the same hike, go a bit higher, and you traverse around the back side of the same peak.
This is turning to the left of the last pic, looking out over Ogden, and at least two other states.
After traversing around the peak, Gavin, the owner of the school (Snow Performance) giving us pointers about dropping into the Cirque.
Don’t worry, I crushed it. You can see the Middle Bowl lift top terminal, and the Needles lodge at the left.
Somewhere on Strawberry.
In between sunny and beautiful groomer days, there was a very cold and windy day with 4” fresh powder. Nearly froze my face. Don’t care, it was awesome snow.
After the camp, in which many skills were refined, I had a free ski day, so met up with @AmyPJ, her Ski Diva friend Carol, and her local friend Becky.
Selfie, just to prove I was there,
I spent the night in Sandy, and then went to
Stein’s
The lift line at Sultan got much bigger than this, and it wasn’t even a powder day.
I still got a lot of turns, and since I hadn’t been at the at the Mountaineer lift before, finished the day there, where there were no lift lines.
Seven days of skiing, most of it in sunny weather on groomers. Tools: E Race Pro, Blossom AM77, DPS Pagoda Piste 94C. I haven’t used my Billy Goats yet on this trip; that may change once I get to Tahoe.
There is a storm warning starting tonight, and of course I’m driving from SLC to Reno tomorrow. Let’s see how long it takes me to get there.
