WASATCH STOKE, CONDITIONS, OBSERVATIONS and ASSORTED DRIVAL 19-20

[PowerWhore7]

Thought it would be a good idea for my crew & I to roll into town from CA for the storm cycle and add to your horrible traffic in the Canyons

[mall walker]

^ sick!! hey come anytime if you’re bringing the stoke

[byates1]

Know it sounds kinda wack, but.

After cruising Brighton I saw a Raven.

Same progeny. At 30 mph. Literally, go into a dihedral, flip 180, maintain 30, then land in a tree like nothing.

That is some shit.

I might be buying a Brighton season pass. Them birds can fly.

[Phall]

Alta just ticked over 300" for the season. should be a great weekend.

[byates1]

D a y u m.

[byates1]

I'm skiing Medusa chute or emigration. Fuck them canyons on the weekends.

[Mudfoot]

Know it sounds kinda wack, but.

After cruising Brighton I saw a Raven.

Same progeny. At 30 mph. Literally, go into a dihedral, flip 180, maintain 30, then land in a tree like nothing.

That is some shit.

I might be buying a Brighton season pass. Them birds can fly.

One time on my last run in Montana I stopped in the narrow gap at the bottom of a bowl and looked up just as a raven came sailing out 15 feet over my head. It closed its wings, flipped upside-down, opened them and flew a ways, and then did the same thing in reverse, flip right side up and continued cruising. There is absolutely no explanation other than it was just fucking around. Very cool birds.

https://www.amazon.com/Ravenmaster-L.../dp/0374113343

[byates1]

Yeah^ pretty much.

[byates1]

Comment.

[byates1]

Watchmen.

[tBatt]

UT210 road closure 10 am. Giddy up folks!


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[byates1]

You can play Tetris while you freeze to death

[mall walker]

this morning was something. hardly a flurry in the sky when I left my car; just under 3 hours later it had a wind drift I needed a shovel to get off, and there was a fresh maybe 5-6” in the road, below 6k’. I guess I picked a good day in yesterday to get new tires. the snow around 8500-9000 (as high as I went) was blindingly heavy with very strong winds. I also had snow freeze solid on my shell, gloves, buff, eyebrows, and so on. heads up out there, there will be wind slabs up high for sure. I would guess up to 40mph at 9k. that said, a stellar day, maybe a tiny density inversion in the upper 2” of snow, but blower over-the-head skiing in protected terrain (though the wind was ripping even up the porter fork road)



e: also props to the UAC for getting the forecasts out super early a lot more often this season. I never end up seeing it til I’m back but it’s nice to see those early timestamps.

[brutah]

Know it sounds kinda wack, but.

After cruising Brighton I saw a Raven.

Same progeny. At 30 mph. Literally, go into a dihedral, flip 180, maintain 30, then land in a tree like nothing.

That is some shit.

I might be buying a Brighton season pass. Them birds can fly.

I'll have what he's smoking.....

[brutah]

this morning was something. hardly a flurry in the sky when I left my car; just under 3 hours later it had a wind drift I needed a shovel to get off, and there was a fresh maybe 5-6” in the road, below 6k’. I guess I picked a good day in yesterday to get new tires. the snow around 8500-9000 (as high as I went) was blindingly heavy with very strong winds. I also had snow freeze solid on my shell, gloves, buff, eyebrows, and so on. heads up out there, there will be wind slabs up high for sure. I would guess up to 40mph at 9k. that said, a stellar day, maybe a tiny density inversion in the upper 2” of snow, but blower over-the-head skiing in protected terrain (though the wind was ripping even up the porter fork road)



e: also props to the UAC for getting the forecasts out super early a lot more often this season. I never end up seeing it til I’m back but it’s nice to see those early timestamps.

Sounds sketchy AF. Nothing like skiing avy terrain in the dark during a storm by yourself....

[mall walker]

Sounds sketchy AF. Nothing like skiing avy terrain in the dark during a storm by yourself....

yeah, I took my time and did some digging, but nothing had slabbed up (e: yet) where I was, and the new/old interface was pretty decent. to each his own...

[cpj.slc]

Snowbird isn’t running any lifts. Patrol said they wouldn’t be running anything until the storm breaks and they re-check everything. I can’t remember a time they have done this before, seems like they are always able to get at least the lower mountain open.

[snowaddict91]

Snowbird isn’t running any lifts. Patrol said they wouldn’t be running anything until the storm breaks and they re-check everything. I can’t remember a time they have done this before, seems like they are always able to get at least the lower mountain open.

A quick look shows ~.75" of water at 9700 feet since 4am with a buttload of wind. I can recall a few days in the last few years that the Bird didn't spin lifts till the afternoon.

[brutah]

yeah, I took my time and did some digging, but nothing had slabbed up (e: yet) where I was, and the new/old interface was pretty decent. to each his own...

I don't care how you want to justify it. General avalanche wisdom says you ignored a lot of red flags and made some pretty dumb decisions earlier this morning, and as your friend, I think its best to call you out on it. Overall, I'd care a lot less if you weren't by yourself and skiing in the dark. The deck is stacked against ya. You can take that how you'd like to.

Snowbird isn’t running any lifts. Patrol said they wouldn’t be running anything until the storm breaks and they re-check everything. I can’t remember a time they have done this before, seems like they are always able to get at least the lower mountain open.

Damn, a ski resort isn't opening this morning and they employ many avalanche professionals to mitigate the avalanche hazard for their guests

[cpj.slc]

Just calm down. I was expressing surprise that is all. As in, this storm is wild, nothing is open. Can’t remember that happening before.

[brutah]

Just calm down. I was expressing surprise that is all. As in, this storm is wild, nothing is open. Can’t remember that happening before.

your example helped emphasize my point that is all. And it's happened many times before.

[jtran10]

mall walker and brutah - appreciate the discussion and call out. everyone has different risk tolerances but I like seeing it discussed.

[mall walker]

hey I appreciate the call out too, I certainly am most vulnerable to the Familiarity heuristic trap (this line in question I ski a lot, including yesterday, and often bail/fallback to it, despite it being up to 35 degrees at one point). never hurts to rethink yourself, and I respect the willingness to say something to me a lot.

[tBatt]

And it's happened many times before.

I feel like this happened at least once last year and in 16/17. Alta, too. I remember a quote to the tune of "This is my second year skiing Alta an it's going to be my last. Can't open on a powder day? I'm going back to PCMR."

Keep 'em.

[monkeywrenchMoose]

^^^ Just wanted to chime in and say that the world would be a much better place if more people could take criticism, absorb it and move forward like this. Rare.

In other news, today was a pretty fun day at Alta. Cold though.