Here is a good one from Salomon Freeski TV. It’s about five minutes long, featuring some LCC local shredders who have been Alta pass holders since they were very small children. Fluid, natural, powder skiing…worth a watch.
I keep saying that one of these years I am going to come out of ski bum retirement, and get back to more LCC powder. Keep in mind 8″ of low density snow at Alta after a dry spell is “dust on crust”. I am talking about plentiful deep or storm ride days……..
At the risk of too much rambling, I should get to the point. My friends Matt and Rick started building skis in the last year (or two?), and I was fortunate enough to get my pair this season. Must admit I was a bit intimidated at first, just by looking at them… but not anymore. I do not know their dimensions, but these things I do know:
So although I am not getting as many big storm rider days…when I do get them, I am locked and loaded with skis conceptualized, designed and built from friends that collectively have 1000s of days skiing in the Wasatch (and far beyond). Incredible insight and workmanship on these, and the word is out. Just about every time I am @Alta lately someone asks me if they are Garage Skis.
Let me give you an idea of what we’ve been up to in Little Cottonwood since the last post. BIG GRIN 
This is Johnny B on The Daily POW…and you can tell just how cold it was that day by the silence, and the cold smoke.
Met up with Jesse and Johnny for skiing and lunch on opening day. The skiing was surprisingly good, although it was difficult to get to the good skiing. Just had to turn yourself into a bag of feathers in a few places on the high T is all. Although the light wasn’t good, here are a couple of clips from AltaCam’s YouTube channel and The Daily Pow…that first one there is Jesse butttering the top of Highboy (with of course Johnny narrating).
I have been watching this short YouTube clip go viral around the web over the past four days. It’s an episode that played out on the Alta transfer tow.
When I first saw it less than a week ago, there were 80 views. And as I type this post it’s closing in on 100,000 views, Google is serving ads while it plays and apparently it was on Anderson Cooper/CNN last night.
I must say it’s a pretty athletic move he does…what with balancing off the ground like that All I can say is that dude is probably glad no one can see his face. I wonder if he’s seen it yet? Glad you weren’t hurt my friend, and thanks for the laugh. Enjoy:
That’s what Ellie kept yelling at the top of her lungs on her first day skiing from the chair lift, last Tues February, 16th 2010. She rode up Sunnyside lift at Alta three times. She was between my legs for each run, and the last one we went top to bottom without stopping. On the steeper sections I just stayed hard in the wedge and she kept forward leaning into my hands. When on the flats, she stood straight up and held all her weight, just holding on to my fingers.
Was a special day for me, and a big thanks to Dobber and team at Peak Photo for getting this shot for us!
Here is the caption from the Twitpic where I posted a high resolution version…
Ellie at 2.5 years old skiing off Sunnyside Lift at Alta on February 15th 2010. She took three runs, stands up on her own on the flats and yells “Go Fasssstttttt” the whole time.
How about a gasp for the current Little Cottonwood Canyon snowpak? The first photo below is courtesy of Spencer Wheatley on Facebook… although he points out that he didn’t take the photo. Here is his caption, and the photo:
“Natural avalanche in Cardiac Bowl -Fracture wraps into Little Superior Buttress.”
From the same cycle, check this next photo from High Greeley in the Alta Ski Area boundaries…this photo taken by Carvn Chip Robinson. Jesse posted a quote on an article at The Daily POW about this, yikes…
“An Alta ski patrol worker was briefly buried during avalanche-control work at the resort Sunday morning. About 9 a.m., he was helping with routine avalanche control when he was caught in a larger-than-expected slide near Greeley Bowl, said Alta General Manager Onno Wieringa. He was buried with only a hand sticking out, but his fellow patrollers pulled him out within about two minutes.”
Man, scary stuff. Stay safe out there hippies.
I’ve paid the price two times in two days on high boy. It’s been good exploring on low snowpak. That’s important at Alta. When the powder comes you can take all you want, but always be willing to pay the price when there’s none.
People who read Ski Bum Poet generally know all about Alta and Little Cottonwood Canyon. Yep. But some don’t. And for you folks, here’s a cool little write up on the area quoted direct from the Town of Alta website. It’s pretty much my dream to live up there full time one day…not own a place to only enjoy a few times a year. <--For those in that category.. That there's a shame.
The Town of Alta is a small mountain community located at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest.
Little Cottonwood Canyon is a west-facing break in the Wasatch mountain range which rises from an elevation of 5,000 feet above sea level at the mouth of the canyon to over 11,000 feet at the top of the watershed.
State Highway 210, a designated Scenic Byway, provides access to Alta from the Salt Lake Valley. The Town itself ranges in elevation from 7,500 ft to 9,500 ft. above sea level.
The Town harbors aspen, spruce, high alpine meadows and lakes, long-lasting snowfields and rocky tundra on granite cliffs. The vast display of over 170 varieties of wildflowers offer a colorful sight between July and September. There are over 40 varieties of birds in the canyon. Deer, moose, coyotes, and a rare mountain lion are the largest of the animals that roam the high country during the year.
An annual average of 500 inches snowfall provides for enthusiastic powder pigs and spectacular downhill skiing extending from November into May. Cross country skiers enjoy an even longer season. Hikers and bikers use the extensive network of trails, snowfields, mountaintops and over passes.
When I first got to know my wife I was introduced to a world of rocks and ages that I never even considered up until that point. Danette studied Geology at USU and her passion for that science was contagious. I still always bug her with silly questions about Geologic time scales and rock formations. So anyways I was checking out the Alta Historical Society website earlier, and how freakin’ cool is this…
During the Wisconsin Glaciation the Wasatch Mountains trapped precipitation in such quantities in the winter that snow remained throughout the year and glaciers formed. These glaciers carved Alta’s distinctive terrain, broad U-shaped valleys, dramatic headwalls, hanging valleys, and steep gulleys. Today the Wasatch Mountains are the first major barrier to storms east of the Sierra Nevada Range. As Pacific storms cross the high desert of Nevada they grow colder and release their moisture as light, fluffy powder on the glacier-groomed slopes of Alta Ski Area, producing some of the finest skiing in the world. The geometry of Little Cottonwood Canyon with Alta at the mountain divide captures every possible flake of snow from passing storms and the “lake effect” of the Great Salt Lake adds to snow totals. The steep north-facing glacial headwalls of Mt. Baldy, Devils Castle and Sugarloaf Peak shade much of the area from sunshine preserving snow quality through much of the winter. All of these features combine to make the foundation of the totally unique Alta experience.
Read more from “Geology & Skiing Experience” and “A Geologist Describes 20 Favorite Runs at Alta” for cool tidbits like…
As you stand above the limestone outcrops at the top of Alf’s High Rustler, take a minute to imagine this place 16,000 years ago. The ice was 1500’ thick, almost up to your skis, two miles across, fifteen miles long and moving an average of about 10’/day.
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