Wasatch 22/23 - Gondolas, grooming highboy, and other comical anecdotes

[NBABUCKS1]

I'll pile on the super fun morning train.

Got to Snowbasin at 815ish - parked in B with like 40 other cars at the time - A still empty. I anticipated the march mid week pow day of last year of insanity but it was reserved. Nice. Got in line at JP and heard a half hour delay and I only had two hours to ski due to catching a 2 pm flight today. Jumped over to needles and skied down the 'needles face' or whatever it's called to 119 - deep, light (by snowbasin standards) and glorious. Did middle bowl a lap then timed heading to JP opening perfect. 3 laps on JP - mostly jungle > janis area. So much fun. Did JP face last and tweaked my back which was time to head to the airport. Good seeing tgapp and muted for two seconds Sweet blog!

vid of people hooting and hollering from one of the best lifts in the nation

[tBatt]

Snowbird Snotel at 212%. Neat.

[BobMc]

I ain’t gonna lie…

For the first time while sitting in this.



I started to think that maybe that gondola isn’t a bad idea.

D gate closed, pulled out of the preferred at 3:50. Made it to the above at…



Well over an hour to get down the canyon. The red snake is obviously not the answer.

[Yukonrider]

Got super bond by traffic today, 2 hours up, and 3 hours down. It was really good though..

[F#*k you cat]

I ain’t gonna lie…

For the first time while sitting in this.

I started to think that maybe that gondola isn’t a bad idea.

Well over an hour to get down the canyon. The red snake is obviously not the answer.

BobMC. I get it. But maybe, just maybe, if there were avalanche sheds ( like those in europe) the road wouldn't have to close and traffic would just flow...
Have a dedicated bus lane plus passing lanes up and down. Just saying. Let UDOT build it and they will come.

But who listens to a ordinary ski bum.

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[BobMc]

The road didn’t close, traffic wasn’t because of avalanche danger. It was from the sheer volume of vehicles up there and the necessary zippering of everyone leaving all the lots. When D gate is closed and all of Alta has to leave via the bypass it’s set up to be fucked.

Was D gate closed because of avalanche danger or lack of plowing resources? Couple all the afternoon snow today with the idiotic lifting of the #tractionlaw mid-day and we get what we get. I have no idea why they insist on inviting poorly equipped rental cars up into the canyons when they know weather is incoming.

[Trackhead]

Wasatch 2022/23 observation thread:

Used to be about buried depth hoar and avoiding getting choked out, now it’s about being buried in traffic and getting choked out by the red snake.

In all seriousness, coming down late January to visit family and take kid to Snowbird. For a guy that used to live 1/2 mile from LCC, but will now be coming from West Jordan, is skiing on a weekend a dumb ass move? I haven't skied LCC for nearly 10 years. I feel like there needs to be a guidebook published for just how to navigate the SLC shitstorm.

[NBABUCKS1]

Anyone have any more info on this?

https://twitter.com/solitudemtn/stat...mg2993R-FWbJDQ

Edit: overdue skier.

https://kutv.com/news/local/search-underway-for-overdue-skier-at-solitude-mountain-resort-search-and-rescue-unified-police-department-ski-patrol-units

[sfotex]

I was up there until 3am helping look for him. Rode Sunrise at noon and went missing..

[mc_roon]

I was up there until 3am helping look for him. Rode Sunrise at noon and went missing..

Damn, there is a lot of heavily wooded terrain in that area including everything that drops down to the nordic zone. Not a good place to go missing especially with all the new snow removing tracks and visual clues.

[new yabyum]

I was up there until 3am helping look for him. Rode Sunrise at noon and went missing..

Thanks (as always) for you and your team for getting after it. Good luck and be safe.

[tgapp]

Thank you sfotex for all the hard work you and your team do. Scary stuff.

Went up mill D for some evening laps and the skinner was torn to shit - couldn't figure out what was causing it until I came across this guy with a bunch of branches strapped to his skis.

At least he had an airbag, I guess?

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[jmedslc]

Hmmm looks like a 37 yo male to me.

Seriously though - thanks to all the patrollers and SAR folks who dig in for these events.

[Dantheman]

Well over an hour to get down the canyon. The red snake is obviously not the answer.

As proposed, the gondi will not slay the red snake.

In all seriousness, coming down late January to visit family and take kid to Snowbird. For a guy that used to live 1/2 mile from LCC, but will now be coming from West Jordan, is skiing on a weekend a dumb ass move? I haven't skied LCC for nearly 10 years. I feel like there needs to be a guidebook published for just how to navigate the SLC shitstorm.

Depends on which specific weekend and the weather. MLK weekend tends to be relatively uncrowded now since Ikon base is blacked out. If it's not a big storm day parking fills up on weekends but lift lines stay pretty reasonable. I had some outstanding days on snowless weekends last year skiing perfect buffed chalk in Great Scott, skiing right onto the lift, and enjoying hassle-free bus rides up and down.

[alias_rice]

Thank you sfotex for all the hard work you and your team do. Scary stuff.

Went up mill D for some evening laps and the skinner was torn to shit - couldn't figure out what was causing it until I came across this guy with a bunch of branches strapped to his skis.

At least he had an airbag, I guess?

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Maybe it was easier than regluing.

[Trackhead]

Thx Dan. My legs in January will still be weak and I’ll only ski groomers. Just want to show my kid all the high tech stuff at Snowbird.

[sfotex]

RIP

https://www.ksl.com/article/50538366...d-at-solitude-

[snowaddict91]

RIP

https://www.ksl.com/article/50538366...d-at-solitude-

Thanks for doing what you do, sfotex.

[byates1]

https://www.ksl.com/article/50537936...for-ski-season

Well no more parking on the road. 150$ bucks or tow. Get up early as fuck, or don't bother. Or hitch.

[Dshack89]

Not bad for 4th lap of the day. Some of the lightest powder I've skiied in years....choked on a lot of snow. 35" storm total and counting.



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[altabird92]

https://www.ksl.com/article/50537936...for-ski-season

Well no more parking on the road. 150$ bucks or tow. Get up early as fuck, or don't bother. Or hitch.

To be clear, I think this only applies to people parking over the white line, not the hundreds who manage to squeeze their cars into the shoulders. Good luck ticketing the hundreds who are over the line every weekend, this will accomplish nothing. Hope I’m wrong.

[jmedslc]

https://www.ksl.com/article/50537936...for-ski-season

Well no more parking on the road. 150$ bucks or tow. Get up early as fuck, or don't bother. Or hitch.

Locals are hopeful that this action will help begin to mitigate the anarchy we have going on here in bcc. Some beater (or his kid!) walking on the highway doesn’t have to die before they clean this shit up because the situation is atrocious right now.

And no, a fucking part time gondola to AltaBird is not a transportation solution.

On a related note, thinking to myself should I try to drive down to solitude to ski today and use my $350 parking pass? Prolly not since there are likely no spots available. What a ridiculous situation. It’s incredible.

[altabird92]

Locals are hopeful that this action will help begin to mitigate the anarchy we have going on here in bcc. Some beater (or his kid!) walking on the highway doesn’t have to die before they clean this shit up because the situation is atrocious right now.

And no, a fucking part time gondola to AltaBird is not a transportation solution.

On a related note, thinking to myself should I try to drive down to solitude to ski today and use my $350 parking pass? Prolly not since there are likely no spots available. What a ridiculous situation. It’s incredible.

Plenty of spots, not much skiing open.

[TheK12]

Canyons was not bad today…


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[tBatt]

Have a dedicated bus lane plus passing lanes up and down.

Didn't a bus get stuck and block traffic to a standstill for over an hour yesterday, again?
Aren't the merges from passing lanes often a choke point that slows down the traffic?