I think it is safe to say that winter has finally hit Utah!
WIth 32 inches blanketing the mountains and 22 inches burying cars and homes in Park City, things are starting to look a lot more like christmas.
My day started at 7:30am when my phone started going off with friends eager to share the powder stoke. Thank god for those calls, because I had forgotten to set my alarm and was in bed sleeping the morning away.
I was a little tired from a late night, but the minute I opened my eyes and saw the snow piled over the porch, my lack of sleep was no match for my insane excitement.
I pulled on my clothes, went outside and started digging out of the house.
Whitney pulled up at 8am and we took off heading towards Little Cottonwood. We had survived the sketchy drive down Parley’s and up Little Cottonwood.
It was about 9:30 by the time we pulled up and to my surprise and excitement they weren’t loading the lifts yet. It seemed as though mother nature was trying to see how messed up she could make our snow pack and with a fully upside down pack every rollover was cracking. So we got our rightful place in line for the Wildcat lift and waited till they opened the lift at 11am.
It was well worth the wait! The snow was bottomless and not your typical Utah blower. It was a little firmer, which allowed it to feel as though you were getting a ton of energy out of each turn.
Everyone was popping off little hits, some were biting it. others were stomping everything.
It was a rad day to be on the hill! Can’t wait to do it all over today.
(Sorry for the lack of photos, I lost my camera but will have another one soon to keep the B log interesting)
Posted 2 years, 1 month ago at 2:23 pm. 1 comment
Well, as it usually does, Halloween week has brought a significant storm to the Wasatch and most of the Utah mtns.
I am about to head over to Little Cottonwood to see for my self, but I’m expecting to find snow totally of around a foot. Stay tune for fun photos and much more…
National Weather Service
Watches, Warnings & Advisories
Local weather forecast by “City, St” or zip code
2 products issued by NWS for: Alta UT
Winter Storm Warning
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
332 AM MDT WED OCT 28 2009
...COLD AND WET STORM ACROSS THE REGION...
.A STRONG EARLY SEASON STORM WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT THE REGION
INTO TONIGHT. SNOW WILL PERSIST IN MAINLY THE MOUNTAIN AREAS AND
ACROSS EASTERN CENTRAL UTAH THROUGH THIS EVENING BEFORE TAPERING
OFF.
UTZ008>010-517-281800-
/O.CON.KSLC.WS.W.0013.000000T0000Z-091029T0500Z/
WASATCH MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF I-80-WESTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS-
WASATCH PLATEAU/BOOK CLIFFS-CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-
332 AM MDT WED OCT 28 2009
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM MDT THIS
EVENING...
A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS REMAINS IN
EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM MDT THIS EVENING.
THIS WARNING IS FOR THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF I-80...THE
WESTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS...THE WASATCH PLATEAU AND BOOK CLIFFS...
AND THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF UTAH.
ONE TO TWO FEET OF SNOW IS EXPECTED IN THESE AREAS BY THIS
EVENING...WITH GREATER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE IN AREAS FAVORED BY
NORTHERLY FLOW.
SNOW IS BECOMING WIDESPREAD AGAIN TODAY AS ADDITIONAL MOISTURE
SPREADS INTO THE AREA. THIS SNOW WILL LIKELY CONTINUE INTO THE
EVENING BEFORE TAPERING OFF LATE.
IN ADDITION TO THE SNOWFALL...STRONG NORTH WINDS WILL CONTINUE
CREATING AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS A MIXTURE OF HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG
WIND IS EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. DRIVING CONDITIONS MAY BE
HAZARDOUS. USE CAUTION. BE PREPARED FOR SUDDEN RESTRICTIONS IN
VISIBILITY DUE TO BLOWING SNOW. KEEP A WINTER STORM SURVIVAL KIT
IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.
FOR WINTER ROAD CONDITIONS FROM THE UTAH DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION VISIT...HTTP://WWW.COMMUTERLINK.UTAH.GOV OR DIAL
511.
&&
$$
Hazardous Weather Outlook
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
412 AM MDT WED OCT 28 2009
UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-291200-
CACHE VALLEY/UTAH PORTION-NORTHERN WASATCH FRONT-
SALT LAKE AND TOOELE VALLEYS-SOUTHERN WASATCH FRONT-
GREAT SALT LAKE DESERT AND MOUNTAINS-WASATCH MOUNTAIN VALLEYS-
WASATCH MOUNTAINS I-80 NORTH-WASATCH MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF I-80-
WESTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS-WASATCH PLATEAU/BOOK CLIFFS-
WESTERN UINTA BASIN-CASTLE COUNTRY-SAN RAFAEL SWELL-
SANPETE/SEVIER VALLEYS-WEST CENTRAL UTAH-SOUTHWEST UTAH-
UTAHS DIXIE AND ZION NATIONAL PARK-SOUTH CENTRAL UTAH-
GLEN CANYON RECREATION AREA/LAKE POWELL-CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-
SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS-SOUTHWEST WYOMING-
412 AM MDT WED OCT 28 2009
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF
UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING.
.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT
A WET AND COLD STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE REGION THROUGH
TONIGHT. MOISTURE WRAPPING WESTWARD ACROSS CENTRAL UTAH WILL
PROVIDE THE GREATEST SNOW TOTALS IN THE UINTA MOUNTAINS...BOOK
CLIFFS...AND THE MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN UTAH. VALLEYS
FROM THE UINTA BASIN SOUTHWEST TO CEDAR CITY WILL ALSO BE AFFECTED
BY ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL. SEE THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER STATEMENT
FOR INFORMATION ON WARNINGS...ADVISORIES...AND FORECAST SNOWFALL
AMOUNTS.
GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS WILL REDEVELOP TODAY ACROSS WESTERN AND
PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN UTAH...LIKELY AFFECTING WIND SENSITIVE
OPERATIONS.
COLD OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
MORNINGS. FREEZING TEMPERATURES MAY AFFECT OUTDOOR PLANTS ACROSS
ALL OF SOUTHERN UTAH INCLUDING THE ST GEORGE AND LAKE POWELL
AREAS.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
A WARMING TREND IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN THIS WEEKEND WITH A RIDGE OF
HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING BACK INTO THE REGION.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
$$
ROGOWSKI
FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VISIT...
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SALTLAKECITY (ALL LOWER CASE)
Posted 2 years, 3 months ago at 3:51 pm. Add a comment
Here it is, October Fifth and I can proudly say I got my first face shot of the season. My morning started early… 5:30am early. I had a huge day ahead of me. The kind of day that you love before the season really hits. It’s a day when you get to run all over working on the season at hand.
First, on the agenda was taking advantage of the rare early October Dump. That was what got me going at 5:30am. I love the feeling of those first snows, when the alarm goes off and you are startled into remembering that it is a powder day, or (as it were) the first ski day of the season. Nothing else quite gets the blood pumping like the anticipation of putting those boots on, stepping into those bindings, and dropping into that first turn. So, it was with that type of anticipation I hurried through my morning routine, jumped into my Tacoma and hit the road to Little Cotton Wood Canyon.
The road was slick, and with no sand bags in the back of the truck and my very bald, too many long highway road trips, summer tires on, my truck was wiggling like a fish out of water. But that slight tense feeling of gripping the wheel extra tight only added to the fullness of the first snow experience. As I veered off on 6200 south all of last seasons epic memories came flooding back. How many times had I been up Little Cotton Wood Canyon before dawn? It was far too many to count and way to early to get any deeper into thought about it.
As I pulled into the Wildcat parking lot at Alta it was all I could do to contain myself. There were about five other cars there and I was working hard to distinguish which ones were the vehicles of dawn patrolers and which were the ones of the Alta staff. At any rate, I was stoked to see others up there getting after it.
As I got out of my truck, I turned around to retrieve my skies from the back,and was suddenly faced with the most welcoming image I could ever imagine. There, gracefully hanging above a snow dusted Superior was a full moon. As if to illuminate the path of the season to come. It was at this very moment that I took a huge breath in as if to taste the energy of the winter ahead.
Breaking trail
The next two hours was filled with skinning, boot packing, and in general huffing and puffing to get the best of every last vertical foot I could gain before my 8:15am turn around time. The time when I would get to slash my first turns and make my way down to the office to meet up with Tyler and Connie to discuss the up coming season and find out whether I would, yet again get to be part of the Alta athlete program.
Not Bad for October
8:15 hit just as I had reached the top of one of the many shoots around the Eagles Nest. Looking around it was hard to believe that it was only October 5th, but then again we do live in Utah. So I hopped into my skis threw on my goggles, thanked my new friend Nate (who I met at the base) for breaking trail and took my first turns, and that’s when it happened. The snow was light and deep. It swirled around me as I entered the steeper choke of the chute and just as I dropped my knee the white fluff enveloped my face and kissed it, as if to say “welcome back, Shaun”.
With about 700 vertical feet of powder skiing behind me I headed into the Alta office to meet up with Connie and Tyler. Then it was off to Ogden and Snow Basin to meet up with Chad Spector to work on this last minute photo shoot for Mountain Sports & Living Magazine.
The tracks
The afternoon was spectacular. Meeting new people, running around in the mountains, laughing through cheesy photos and remembering why we all live the lives we do, was an incredible way to start the season.
As I headed home, exhausted from a fun day of play and a little bit of productive work, I began to think about all that lay in the season ahead… I can’t wait!
Posted 2 years, 4 months ago at 6:26 am. 2 comments
