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Yesterday morning as skier and snowboarders were sliding through the 6-13″ of new snow that fell around the Wasatch, Alta and Brighton surpassed that oh so wonderful mark of 500 inches of snowfall for the 2007-08 season.
For Brighton this came around 6am when their snow total reached 503” of fluffy white goodness. They currently have a base depth of 132” and boasting 32 amazing powder days so far this season. Yea, it’s been an amazing year.
In the past 28 years reaching 500 inches of snowfall has only come 4 times in the month of February, this year being one of those four. Their base depth is 154″. Lines I’m used to skiing at Alta are completely filled in this year. Options abound.
I didn’t realize how stellar the base depths here in Utah were until earlier this morning when I was looking at a friend’s Facebook page where he has a feed with all the Colorado resorts listed with their base depths. There were only 3 resorts in Colorado with depths over 100″ while in Utah there are only 3 with base depths under 100″. Hmmm…where to ski, where to ski?
Saturday dawned somewhat gloomy in the valley with lightly falling snow and foggy conditions and as I headed up to Brighton I anticipated it to much of the same. But to my surprise it was sunny with a few puffy clouds. It’s amazing what 30 minutes of driving will do.
As I was hopping off the Magestic lift for a spin through the park I noticed that the sides of the runs had more powder on them than I had thought. The report said 7″ but it looked and felt more like 12. While the morning was spent in the park helping out with a rail jam put on by Bluehouse Skis I couldn’t help but look at Millicent Peak and see all the lines being dropped and the various cliff hucks lower down.
So following the comp I hopped on my freshly mounted Rossignol Scratch Brigades (which I think I mounted too far forward - the jury is still out) and headed up the Millicent Lift with a sizable posse. We rallied skiers right from the lift and into the various zones littered with cliffs and rollovers.
He kindly offered the line to me and after some reluctance, party because of being on new skis with a mount that I’m not sure of, I backed off. (Thanks Dave). He sent it…with express shipping.
As with any large posse it didn’t survive the third lap and I found myself with Elias Green and his cousin Caitlin Morgan, both Alta locals who had come over for the rail jam. We took a few more laps as they tee’d up a nice little 20′ drop by spinning 3’s.
After the fun on Millicent we headed back to the park for a few more laps…and some carnage on my part. I’m not blaming it on the skis this time. Learning rails and boxes which comes with a price.
Either way you look at it, with man made or natural features, Brighton is one giant terrain park worth sessioning.
With a 120-inch mid-mountain base, 412-inch total snowfall to date and 7-inches of pow in the past 24 hours, Solitude Resort was primed for the picking. Driving up Big Cottonwood Canyon, the road was fairly clear as this storm was a tad warmer than other recent storms have been. The sloppy-wet snow in Salt Lake City translated into some well-needed snow in the Wasatch. While it’s really only been a little more than a week since the last snowfall, it seems like a month.
In the parking lot, the decision begins… super-fat Black Diamond Zealot skis or only sorta-fat Scott Mission skis? Hmmm… I opt for the Scott Missions with their 90mm waist and shapely profile to not only float in the powder, but also lay down perfect railroad tracks on the groomers. These have a similar profile to the Ski Utah-approved Rossignol Scratch Brigade or Brigade Pro skis.
Though Solitude is well-known for it’s hidden powder stashes, the groomers turned out to be impeccable, thus paving the trail back to the lift. Our first ride up Sunrise Chair was completely solo–nobody in sight. We were anxious to hit the Summit lift and see the conditions in Honeycomb Canyon. After one lap in Honeycomb, we decided to maximize our powder time by lapping the Summit Chair.
Our mission turned into one of traversing further and further into the Northeast-facing Evergreen area. A relatively quick traverse into this area pays back in spades as we continued to find untracked stashes weaving in and out of the pines. Evergreen can be steep and tight in spots and the traverse unforgiving, so staying on top of your game is the best option. Luckily, we were typically the only ones on the traverse, so the bumper cars scenario that often characterizes short and sketchy traverses was avoided.
Traverses weed out the weak and reward the diligent and the Traverse into Evergreen is one that not many take, but those who do can enjoy some of the best turns on the mountain. We were rewarded with mostly untracked turns lap-after-lap. That is why I like to call Solitude’s Evergreen Area, Everwhite.
It’s no doubt that there have been many people who “scored” big this year by booking a trip to Utah. Late December through the first week of February were absolutely epic by every standard. That said, it still continued to snow on a regular basis with 2 more storms on tap for this weekend.
People who had never skied deep Utah powder before were amazed at the experience. For some it was a life altering experience. Even those of us that call Utah home have been blown away at how good it’s been, day in and day out.
The video below comes to us from Jim McCalsky who was here in Utah Januar 25-February 4 when Utah received 10 feet of snowfall. Jim said:
I really enjoyed my trip this year as the footage shows….10 feet of snow!!! It was the best trip of my life.
He skied Snowbasin, Powder Mountain, Alta, Solitude, Brighton and Deer Valley.
(the ski footage ends at the 3:45 mark although the music continues for a couple of minutes)
Aside from the Christmas Holiday the next busiest day of the year is likely Presidents Day.
So it was that this past Monday found me headed to ski the afternoon at Park City Mountain Resort with my wife. Since she was already on the mountain skiing with her brother and sister, I weighed my options of how to meet up with them. They were skiing Thaynes and McConkeys and said that Payday was quite busy in addition to the parking lots looking full.
Driving into Park City on Highway 248 (otherwise known as the “back door” to Park City) there were signs confirming that indeed the lots were full and to park at the High School. It was then that I had the idea to try the Town Lift, the only lift of any of the three Park City area resorts (The Canyons, Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort) that I had not ridden. Another first for the day was a chance to test my new Eider jacket which I think I’ve fallen in love with - but more on that in my next post.
Despite the many parking options with buses that can drop you at the town lift, I scored a great parking spot on Park Avenue just a block from the lift and walked up to the lower main street plaza. There were a handful of skiers and snowboarders there with a few more skiing across the bridge from the mountain. It felt like a private ski resort and the afternoon sun had many sitting on decks enjoying a respite from the skiing.
The Town Lift starts from lower Main Street, rises above streets and houses of Old Town and terminates near the bottom of the Bonanza Lift. It’s a “short cut” to the upper mountain for those in the know. A bridge over the street connects the lift terminal to the mountain with runs like Creole and Quit N’ Time which descend from Payday. The ride took about 10 minutes.
The Skiing
Even with the apparent “crowds” it didn’t feel all that crowded to me. Bonanza was a 1 minute wait, McConkeys was about a 1 minute wait, Pioneer was ski on, Silverload was without lines. Even Payday had but a 1 min wait at 4pm when we made some of our final laps.
We spent most of the afternoon hiking the shoulder of Jupiter Peak (Pinyon Ridge) from McConkeys lift. The hike was only 2-4 minutes and although a bumped and icy Sunrise run was a mere 50 yards to our skiers right we found “styrofoam” carveable snow just off the ridge and some untouched pockets of powder in the nicely spaced pines below. Add to that the views and it was worth repeating…3 times.
A couple of laps on Pioneer, Silverload and then farming powder in various tree shots off of PayDay and we were ready to call it a day. Since I had arrived after lunch we skied until 5 and then we skied down Creole, over the town bridge to the lower main town plaza where many were enjoying the après ski in the various bars and restaurants of lower main street Park City.
Taking it all in I had to smile as I clicked out of my skis as I knew that being in the know paid off again. The road less traveled was the right call for a busy holiday.
I’ve never done the Alta-Bird connect before. The closest I’ve come is hitting Keyhole from the Wildcat lift at Alta a couple of years ago when there was about 16″ of new. We lapped Keyhole 6 times until people finally caught on that it was open and the bus that took us from Snowbird back to the Wildcat base filled up faster than the Sitz after the lifts close.
But that’s not the true connect. Like many of you I’ve been at Alta coming off the Sugarloaf Lift and skied past the turn stalls. But I’ve never experienced the joy of crossing the border.
Unfortunately today wasn’t going to be my first. But my buddy Chris has a season pass at Snowbird and another buddy had an extra Ski Utah Gold pass which gives access to all the resorts. So we decided to meet at the Baldy gate. After spinning a lap through the Glory Hole from the Germania lift I rode Sugarloaf with a couple of gals who were headed back to Snowbird. They couldn’t say enough about how fun it was to go back and forth between the two resorts.
Bidding goodbye to the ladies I met up with Chris who was waiting at the gate. I gave him the Ski Utah pass and with a “beep” of the gate he had crossed the border into Alta.
The Bat Cave
Taking the Secret Saddle if you stay high and skiers right traversing under the big cliff and around the lake you’ll end up near what locals call the Bat Cave. The Bat Cave is a tight chute on the far skiers right of this zone that is just wide enough to straight-line at the top and then with whipping speed you exit onto a wide open apron. Adrenaline rush at its finest.
There is a tree that at the time if you were not careful it’d take your head off about half way down. Since this photo there have been a couple of storms and the tree is gone - either buried or removed.
There are other options to drop into this area but this entrance known as the Bat Cave is spicy and worth checking out. Since I didn’t have my camera along with me the above camera phone image of Chris half way down will have to work.
While Chris said that Snowbird was a bit scratchy today we found snow falling early on and untracked stashes amid cut up powder from the previous storm. We hit Glory Hole a couple of times and since visibility was a bit limited in the morning we headed for the tree zones of Supreme. It was the right call. A couple more laps here and we had an appetite for whatever the Watson Shelter was cooking up.
Watson Shelter
The prices at the Watson Shelter are roughly the same as the other offerings at Alta but the views can’t be beat. There are two options at Watson Shelter; the first is the Collins Grill which is sit down restaurant style. The menu for the Collins Grill can be found online. They have daily specials in addition to the menu.
The other option at Watson Shelter is the cafeteria style which despite the visual “cafeteria” may create this is a pretty good option. I had the Baldy Burger which is one of the biggest burgers I’ve ever eaten. Think everything on it, everything. Add to that a bucket of fries which can easily be split between a few people and you’re set. Two Baldy Burgers and a med bucket of fries set me back $21.
After the late lunch we made a couple more laps and called it. The Baldy Burger was talking its toll and I had to call an audible. I’ll consider splitting a burger next time and getting a med bucket of fries to top it off. My wallet will thank me and unless you’ve got a bottomless stomach you’ll be better suited for a full afternoon of skiing.
I remember one year I made it my goal to ski every run that The Canyons has. It was pretty cool actually to tick off runs that I wouldn’t normally have skied. Well this mroning the Deseret News posted an article written by Tim Hussin that lists the top 10 runs at The Canyons.
Conditions vary so often at every resort that it’s hard to say what is my favorite at The Canyons. They named Boa, off the Condor Lift, as the #1 run at The Canyons. I’ve got to disagree. Best conditions, powder day with a base like we’ve got this year and it’s untracked (I know, a lot of variables in there) my favorite run at The Canyons has to be Badlands. It didn’t even make their top 10.
It starts out from the ridge and heads fall line. As it kicks up in pitch it starts to dogleg right. The double fall line turns on this section can be face shots with 8-10″ reported overnight. The bottom section before you come out at the Condor lift is steep and fun. If Badlands is tracked out, head right at the top into the aspens for one of the best kept secrets at The Canyons. Oh my, just thinking about that little slice of paradise makes me happy.
While I’ve got my favorites at The Canyons a few of my favorite runs aren’t really runs…at least according to the trail map. Here’s another one of them that was opened this year for hiking only.
“Back in the day” before the 9990 lift was in we used to hike Peak 9350 for access to 9990 or to just enjoy the cold dry powder on the north facing slope that leads to Red Pine Road. If you get off of Tombstone and you see this little stash open for hiking, forget wherever you were heading and don’t miss the untracked goodness this peak can hide.
While you don’t need to reveal any of your favorite canyons stashs but I’d be interested to see what your favorite run is at The Canyons. Comment below (click the comment button)
In my last post, Learning, Part 1, we looked at learning to ski, and the obstacles that you have to overcome in learning. In this post, I want to look into what it takes to step it up a notch, and maybe ski like you didn’t think was possible.
I would like to introduce all of the readers to my dad, Ken Spurlock. Ken is a good guy, he has six boys, and works hard every day. He is a principal at Hillcrest High, and is in good favor with the students there, (unless you are in trouble). A few times every winter, he likes to get on the hill with the boys and take a few runs. This year we have had a lot of fun cat skiing at Powder Mountain, ripping groomers at Deer Valley and spending time with his kids at PCMR. Last Saturday, we headed up to PCMR for a day of ripping, little did he know, he was going to be stepping it up.
After cruising all over the mountain, we headed down to Pick and Shovel park. Now, I often describe Pick and Shovel as the “beginner” park, with Jonesey as the intermediate, and Kings Crown as the super park. With Park City being hailed as the best park for four years in a row now by Transworld, a beginner park is still offering some big ups to normal parks elsewhere.
As we side stepped up into the park, I pointed at a few boxes and offered advice to hit them straight, and that he would be fine. He dropped in, without my lead, and hammered through the top part of the park nailing every feature that he could set his eyes on. At the top of the mini pipe (btw, since when do mini pipes have 15 foot walls?) there is a nice little booter with about a six foot transition. I showed him the jump, and the little groms that were boosting off of it, and he dropped it. With really no consequences, he hit it with ease, and even offered a little tweaking as he sailed through the air.
To the right of the mini pipe, there are a few long flat boxes, and a flat-down, which my dad didn’t think twice about before hitting it. The video is posted below, and if you look closely after nailing the flat-down, he throws a thumbs up, and offers a big grin.
We hit everything the park could offer. As we looked to the kickers, and I could tell that my dad had the confidence, and was ready to drop in. We scoped the jump, and I offered the simple advice to drop in, give a simple speed check, and a nice jump and he would own the jump. The first time, he needed a little more speed, and came down on the knuckle. Not being content with the results, we tried again. We dropped in again, and this time he had the speed, he had the pop, and this time rode out clean. He came up to me, and with a big smile, “That was awesome!… I am never going to do that again!.”
It was great, he was happy, and did things that he never thought would be possible. A lot like Spencer in the last post, he was empowered, and experienced joy from skiing.
What is it that you never thought you would be able to do? What obstacle stands in your way. My dad is 50 years old, but was hanging at a world class terrain park riding some amazing terrain, having the time of his life.
Park City Mountain Resort is hosting many of the world’s best skiers and snowboarders, including Shaun White, Torah Bright and Simon Dumont, in the sixth annual World Superpipe Championships on Saturday, March 8. This year, the invited skiers and snowboarders will all compete on the same day for a piece of the $90,000 prize purse in Park City Mountain Resort’s Eagle Superpipe, North America’s largest superpipe and the site for the 2002 Winter Games.
“The 2008 World Superpipe Championships is going to be the biggest single-day snow event of the year with both skiing and riding taking place in one day,” said Jim Mangan, director of action sports marketing for Park City Mountain Resort. “You’ll see the best athletes in the world like Tanner and Shaun going huge in the pipe all on the same day.”
The 2008 World Superpipe Championships is free to the public and will include live music, food, and giveaways. The event is held in Park City Mountain Resort’s Eagle Superpipe, which is located just above the First Time and Three Kings Lifts. Park City Mountain Resort’s World Superpipe Championships is a Swatch TTR FIVE(5)STAR Event. For more information visit www.worldsuperpipe.com
A lot of times we take skiing for granted. We may live in Utah, close to a resort, own a quiver of skis, and enjoy a lot of powder days. Some people on the other hand, and I say this carefully, could care less. They look at the mountains and view beauty and grandeur, but when the snow starts falling, confine themselves to the shelter that their homes and work offer.
Last week, my friend Spencer decided to change his personal status quo.
Spencer King is a good friend of mine, and was raised in the “Lone Star State”. After being in Utah for school for a few years now, he decided to take the powder plunge and try skiing with me last Friday.
He was eager, he was anxious, and Brighton was the perfect place to learn to slide the slippery slope. The Explorer lift at Brighton was where I learned to ski many years ago during a youth activity with my church. I remember being cold and wet, wearing my dad’s oversized gloves and ski jacket. After making thousands of turns at Brighton over the years, I wanted to share that same joy with Spencer this snowy February day.
This is a post that is a good deal longer then anything I have written here so far. The full article is after the break, and contains a story of a day of skiing. If you take the time to read it, I applaud you, there a lot of words there. Tuesday, I will post part two, which takes me to Park City, and chronicles my Dad, a Principal at Hillcrest High School, conquering the terrain park.
In my 
A lot of times we take skiing for granted. We may live in Utah, close to a resort, own a quiver of skis, and enjoy a lot of powder days. Some people on the other hand, and I say this carefully, could care less. They look at the mountains and view beauty and grandeur, but when the snow starts falling, confine themselves to the shelter that their homes and work offer. 
