Epic October @ Alta
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Posted 3 months ago ago by PeteObrien
This past month Little Cottonwood Canyon has gone through a micro mid winter cycle.
Alta’s winter began with 2 snowstorms in the first week of October that piled on a generous dose of wet snow. The high moisture content was perfect for sticking to rocks and covering up all the little obstacles. It was a case of “what you see is what you get”, and there wasn’t much hidden underneath.
Mid October brought a rain storm followed by a long stretch of high pressure, which ended up melting out the bottom third of the mountain. The top third became a baked, reflective sheet of hard snow from the cold October sun. Half of the cars in the parking lot were sporting Vermont license plates.
During the last week of October, Alta saw its first real winter snowstorm with deep snow, cold temps and high winds. By now everyone was getting after it and in some cases it was a race to get freshies. With confidence levels high, and deep cold pow, some of the skis and boards I saw at the end of the day looked like mountain lion and bear attack victims.
Only three more weeks until Snowbird and Alta open!!