It's been a fun season! It's not over yet, but as the Powderhound, I tend to lose a bit of my die-hard powder passion as soon as the snow stops flying. I'll still be around to catch the next late-spring storm before Snowbird closes, or touring in the Uintas in June, but for the most part, my season is winding down.
What a season it was in the Wasatch. Even though our snowfall totals were slightly below average, I can honestly say it never felt that way at all. February was a little dry for my liking but the faucet was turned on for the rest of winter. For a more in-depth recap check out Evan's post at Wasatch Snow Forecast.
I have already started the transition from skiing to biking along with most of us in Utah. Heck, I'm writing this as I am driving to Gooseberry Mesa to do some camping and biking for the next week. With warm temps in the forecast, my ski season is all but over.
Luckily, I know a guy that lives for these late-spring ski days. Someone who never misses an opportunity to ski in shorts and sunglasses while drinking a couple of beers. Meet Adam; aka Bagel Boy aka Apres Adam aka the guy hamming it up in most of my ski photos. With work life more demanding than ever and my August wedding to plan for, I've recruited Adam to help me out with the blog.
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Thanks Matt, for the excellent "work" this season, but I'll take it from here.
My name is Adam and I like to ski pow. I made the decision early in life to move to Utah for skiing and college (in that order) and 15 years later, I'm still here. I turned the college degree into two bagel shops in Park City and I ski as much as my work schedule allows. Which is a lot, but never enough.
Matt and I enjoy a similar passion for skiing deep pow and chasing storms, however, our non-powder day activities are pretty different. When it doesn't snow, Matt can be found working, or more likely, waiting for the latest run of the forecast models. Meanwhile, you can find me on the slopes, or more likely, at the slopeside apres-ski spot. At no time is this idealogical divide more evident than spring. Matt's latest spring skiing Instagram caption probably contains a quote like, "Spring is a constant battle between winter and summer." I'm more likely to quote the late Robin Williams, when he said "spring is nature's way of saying, let's party!"
That being said, my first love will always be skiing, and how can you not love spring skiing? April and May are some of the best months to ski in Utah. Don't believe me? Check out some of Matt's latest blog posts about Closing Day at Alta, when it snowed 13" and then the sun came out. I skied pow all morning, threw on a costume, cracked a beer and was skiing and partying with friends on top of High Boy until 7pm. Try that in the middle of winter and you'll have a search party looking for you by the time you get back to the parking lot.
A recent storm delivered 16" of creamy pow on a Tuesday, followed by 7" of blower on Wednesday night. Sure, the snow doesn't hold up as long as it does in the winter, but after a few hours of skiing pow in the morning, do you really need another lap? No. You need a cold beer and fish tacos from Lonestar because skiing pow was only half the day's activities. You still have a mountain bike calling your name and some food to throw on the grill after that.
It's not just the pow days that I love about spring. It's the spring slush and corn, hot sun and goggle tans, spread eagles and Pit Vipers, backcountry tours and pond skims, zinc and snowblades, onesies and bro tanks, jorts and bikinis, costumes and cocktails, shot skis and apres-ski.
This past Saturday was the 8th annual JortSki celebration at Snowbird. And despite some uncooperative weather for a full day of skiing/boarding in only jean shorts, a good time was had by everyone, especially myself.
Snowbird is now closed Monday-Thursday, but will reopen Friday the 13th, and will stay open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until at least Memorial Day. Some of the mountain is currently closed due to the tram cable replacement project, but the good news is they're hooking us all up. From now until the end of the season, present a season pass to any other resort and Snowbird will give you a day pass for just $50.
If you don't have a season pass to another resort, the 'Bird is selling an unlimited Spring Pass for $329. Closing day at Snowbird is a must for any die-hard skier/boarder/apres-skier.
So, don't be like Matt and declare the season over because the flakes stop falling. Get out and ski until the last of the snow has melted. Take a little extra time to celebrate with a cold beverage in the sun, and cheers to the days getting longer and being one-day closer to the start of next season.
To get you stoked for spring skiing, here's a handful of my favorite videos to get you stoked on spring skiing:
