Utah Little Cottonwood Canyon 2017-2018, Reports, Pics, and Banter

[BobMc]

I hope you made it up Wade.

We scored a lot of powder today, it was a steep admittance price though, I got up at 4:50 this morning. Travis drove this morning, we hadn't seen any notifications of road closures until we got into the canyon and saw they had a 6:00 closure at B gate. We passed by B gate in a long line of cars at 6:04, counting our lucky stars.

We parked in the pond lot and headed to the tram building knowing interlodge would be in effect. We got to the tram line about 6:30, joining about 4-5 other people, all regulars. One of the tram ops even brought us a couple chairs and I scored a seat for the next 2 1/2 hours. The line built behind us as it got closer to 9:00, it was a three boat wait when we lifted off promptly at 9:00. We all figured we'd be handcuffed to Regulator but when atop we were informed everything but Baldy, Road to Provo, and Mineral were in play. The Cirque Traverse and the Peruvian side were open from the get go.

Travis got a place by the door, I was a bit deeper inside and he headed off to Great Scott, I made a rookie move in attempting a run on the Cirque and went too low and missed the traverse, my consolation was an untracked Puckerbrush. We'd planned to meet at Wilbur and proceeded to milk some of the low hanging fruit off that lift for a couple laps. We bounced around the mountain for the rest of the day skiing till 2:00. Saw another Pugski sticker again, saw VinceK as well, another of the callers in sick.

We kept wondering when the crowds were going to show up yet they never did. It wasn't till later we learned the road had closed back down again soon after opening. Several accidents and a bus off the road gummed things up enough they had to shut it down. Our last lift ride I told the liftie, "Gotta give a shout out to all the people that turned around and went home when they shut the canyon down again!"

The snowcam looked good at 3:30 this morning, (hard to sleep when big powder is coming.)



Line of cars at 6:00.



The tram line was heinous first thing.



It built a little bit by opener.



Jer Bears.



The snow was good. (Photo of me by @travieb801)



Ride homes are always interesting.



A little video of @travieb801 getting some much needed powder. (language alert)

 

[Michael R.]

I left the house at 5:30AM as well. I was wondering where the crowds were... Didn't find out until near the end of the day. A guy was telling me he got on the 7:45 bus and didn't arrive until 12:30.....yikes!

Snow was a little denser that I expected but beggars can't be choosers at this point.

Was lucky enough to snag both first tram and catch the rope drop for mineral. I think mid-baldy was the best spot of the day though as the snow underneath was softer, and that area just seemed deeper.

 

[Phelmut]

Nice score. I played the last video a half dozen times listening to Travis' cry of elation. It almost felt like i was there

 

[Shawn C.]

Nice score. I played the last video a half dozen times listening to Travis' cry of elation. It almost felt like i was there

The hands over the head while yelling did it for me!

Powder Mountain was really nice today. Very cold with the windchill but that just kept more people in the lodge. Free refills all day too! It got deeeeep by mid afternoon. First face shots of the year!

 

[Wade]

I hope you made it up Wade.

We scored a lot of powder today, it was a steep admittance price though, I got up at 4:50 this morning. Travis drove this morning, we hadn't seen any notifications of road closures until we got into the canyon and saw they had a 6:00 closure at B gate. We passed by B gate in a long line of cars at 6:04, counting our lucky stars.

We parked in the pond lot and headed to the tram building knowing interlodge would be in effect. We got to the tram line about 6:30, joining about 4-5 other people, all regulars. One of the tram ops even brought us a couple chairs and I scored a seat for the next 2 1/2 hours. The line built behind us as it got closer to 9:00, it was a three boat wait when we lifted off promptly at 9:00. We all figured we'd be handcuffed to Regulator but when atop we were informed everything but Baldy, Road to Provo, and Mineral were in play. The Cirque Traverse and the Peruvian side were open from the get go.

Travis got a place by the door, I was a bit deeper inside and he headed off to Great Scott, I made a rookie move in attempting a run on the Cirque and went too low and missed the traverse, my consolation was an untracked Puckerbrush. We'd planned to meet at Wilbur and proceeded to milk some of the low hanging fruit off that lift for a couple laps. We bounced around the mountain for the rest of the day skiing till 2:00. Saw another Pugski sticker again, saw VinceK as well, another of the callers in sick.

We kept wondering when the crowds were going to show up yet they never did. It wasn't till later we learned the road had closed back down again soon after opening. Several accidents and a bus off the road gummed things up enough they had to shut it down. Our last lift ride I told the liftie, "Gotta give a shout out to all the people that turned around and went home when they shut the canyon down again!"

The snowcam looked good at 3:30 this morning, (hard to sleep when big powder is coming.)

View attachment 39829

Line of cars at 6:00.

View attachment 39828

The tram line was heinous first thing.

View attachment 39830

It built a little bit by opener.

View attachment 39832

Jer Bears.

View attachment 39831

The snow was good. (Photo of me by @travieb801)

View attachment 39834

Ride homes are always interesting.

View attachment 39833

A little video of @travieb801 getting some much needed powder. (language alert)

Thanks Bob. We did indeed make it up.

We’re staying at a house just off Wasatch Boulevard, and wound up leaving the house about 7.35. We slowly went maybe a quarter of a mile before the traffic stopped, and we were officially in line about a mile and a quarter from the entrance to LCC.

Traffic started moving just after 8, and we were into the canyon around 8.20 or so. It wound up taking 40 minutes from there thanks to a red pick up truck with no traction about 10 cars ahead of us that eventually slid backwards and off the road. The rest of the ride was uneventful.

Put the kids in ski school, and got on Peruvian around 9.30. First run of the day was on Silver Fox and it was DEEP in sections. Took the tram up after that and caught the rope drop for Mineral and got in a couple of largely untracked laps. Spent the rest of the day between Mineral and Gad Valley and before finishing up with Rats Nest and some more Silver Fox around 4pm.

Solid day, and one of the deeper days I’ve skied anywhere. I need to luck into powder on vacation ski trips, and I certainly got lucky this time!

Can’t wait to get out and do it agin tomorrow! (hopefully without the road closure).

 

[blackke17]

hit the road at 740, got hung-up on S Little Cottonwood until about 1115 and went home once U-dot website said the canyon would reopen about 2pm .
We were so mad - first time i have been unable to make it up there! gonna try again on wednesday . save some for the rest of us!

 

[blackke17]

Alta finally skied like Alta yesterday! Gorgeous blue bird day with plenty of soft stuff left over.

only bummer on the day was we heard someone had a possible heart attack in Devils castle. Sugarloaf was shut down while the Emergency chopper came in and picked him up . hope hes alright

 

[BobMc]

Only bummer on the day was we heard someone had a possible heart attack in Devils castle. Sugarloaf was shut down while the Emergency chopper came in and picked him up . hope hes alright

Unfortunately he passed away. By the sounds of it he lead a good life and I can think of worse places to die.

 

[blackke17]

Unfortunately he passed away. By the sounds of it he lead a good life and I can think of worse places to die.

dang, thats too bad

 

[BobMc]

Last night didn't go so well for me. I figured I'd load up my skis and poles in the car so I wouldn't have to do it this morning. I gathered up my stuff and opened the front door, the first step down my porch was complete ice, it was dark and I didn't see it. Down I went, poles and skis flying. I dinged the crap out of my hand, arm and my tailbone as I slid down the three concrete steps on my ass. After that happened I figured I'd get in my hot tub to ease the pain. After pulling the cover I noticed it was at the low water mark. So, I grabbed our biggest stock pot and made a few trips out to it with pots full of hot water. On my last trip a bit of water sloshed out of the pot just as I was approaching the stairs to my family room, sure enough it landed right as I stepped, my foot slid out and I went down the two hardwood steps to the hardwood. With a pot of close to scalding water.

I woke up today with a pretty good sized bruise on one arm, a jacked hand, and a tailbone that doesn't want to sit on anything. My wife tried to convince me to stay home but if you want to ski over 50 days a season as a weekend warrior you can't let a little not being able to sit down slow you up.

I left my house about 8:00, as I passed by the BCC it was backed up almost to the rental place near the gravel quarry. I don't think I'd ever seen it that backed up. Even though there wasn't a canyon closure today I hit traffic right where Wasatch Blvd splits off to head to La Caille. It was bumper to bumper from then on till I hit the passing lane up high. I cruised by entry 1 at 9:00, the Zoom lots were full and people were just about parking on the road. I parked at the preferred area on the Bypass, thankfully I have the parking pass cause the Bypass was full almost all the way to Powderbirds.

I opted for the tram today, tried one run on Zoom and my ass hurt the whole way up, heh. It got pretty busy fairly quickly today, the ticket line was pretty big all morning. We left at noon when the tram was a three boat wait. Hit up the Cirque a few time, it was nice and soft. Travis got there earlier than me and was on first tram, he hit Baldy first run and reported variable conditions, a bit wind jacked on certain aspects.

10-14 forecasted for tonight, it should be good tomorrow. It's going to be a morning call as to whether a canyon closure occurs. I didn't sleep real well last night and don't feel like beating the closure. If the canyon closes I may take a journey to Solitude or Deer Valley. I still have one Deer Valley day left on my pass and two Solitude days.

Didn't take too many pics, kinda flat light today.

It was crispy down in the valley this morning.



The Big backed up big time.




They finally have enough snow to run a groomer down Anderson's. Travis with a high speed pass.

 

[SnowbirdDevotee]

I skied Snowbasin yesterday. We left Midavle at 7:30 and had our first run at 10:30. There was a Very Slow lineup for about 2 miles before the resort access road.
The good news was there was only a small John Paul line and all the chairs lines all day were minimal considering. The skiing of course was quite good with some one foot powder scattered lines to be had.

 

[BobMc]

Conflicted night last night. I had plans to ski with my buddy Mike today, last night we couldn't decide where to go. We were afeared of an LCC canyon closure, which never happened. We were between Snowbird, Solitude, and Deer Valley.

I woke up several times last night and checked the UDOT twitter alerts, last night a friend that works for UDOT said the chance of a canyon closure was slim. Got up and found Snowbird claiming 10 inches and Deer Valley 5. I was leaning towards a Snowbird day with the possibility of Solitude if the Little did close. I picked up my buddy Mike at 7:20, once in the car we decided on Snowbird for the day. As we passed the digital board on I-215 it claimed the Big was closed. I called a friend and found out a truck had gone off the road and it was indeed closed. That changed our whole decision process, we knew that if the Big was closed most of the tourist (non-pass) people would be headed up the Little. Both of us still possessed one Deer Valley day and the decision was made.

It was a pretty easy drive up to Park City, Parley's was in fine shape. Last time we went up there we parked at the Jordanelle side, but that made us ride three lifts before we were actually skiing anything decent. It's an easy in and out from there and a nice run down to end the day, but the three lift rides suck. This time we parked at Snow Park, we were there early enough to be in lot 2, a short walk to the ticket office and lifts. They opened up the Silver Lake lift at 8:45, which allowed us to get at the rope drop for the traverse to the Wasatch Express.

Deer Valley skis best on it's peripherals, most of the crowds seem to converge on the middle of the resort. We spun four laps on Mayflower first thing this morning, the snow seemed deepest on that side of the mountain and the competition for it was slim to none. After that we moved across the resort over to Lady Morgan and even though it was fairly late in the morning we still found soft semi-molested snow. Ended up doing 22 lift rides, they don't have much vertical on most of the lifts over there, but the lack of standing in line makes up for it.

We briefly considered eating lunch, possibly getting some of that turkey chili, but my cheapness won out. If it wasn't a bit further away on a normal day and an expensive pass I'd consider driving to Deer Valley on a regular basis. If the Cottonwoods continue to get busier on non normal days I may consider it was well.

Sunshine first thing this morning, gave way to a squall that relinquished a few inches.



They call this place Deer Valley? Didn't see any deer, although we did have a moose come over the trail first run of the morning.



Lift lines were terrible.

 

[SnowbirdDevotee]

We skied Alta yesterday. There was a backup at the bottom, but it wasn't too bad and we were able to gear up right before opening. Of course, it was a great day skiing with 10" overnight = perfect, soft conditions all day on the mtn. Right to closing the snow had that perfect noisy crunch that guarantees good skiing on the "right stuff". The sun even came out giving us a bluebird day after 10am. And the wind wasn't much of a factor except in selected spots. Not sure why, but there was hardly a line at the new Supreme lift all day. Not nearly as crowded as in the past with the old lift. Of to PowMow this morning which got 51" the past 7 days and more to come today.

 

[blackke17]

hit the bird with a group of 8 yesterday - we didn't take any chances and hit it super early- we were grilling breakfast burritos in lower gad lot by 7am. reports of 10 fresh on the birds site had us fired up. line for first chair at Gadzoom was huge , but that was quickly forgotten once we started floating in the white goodness! we lapped gad2 for a few hours and then the sun came out . made our way over to the cirque after that. the traverse was pretty dicy with Rocks ready to ruin your day but the cirque itself skied really well. - really enjoyed a rare bluebird powder day. such a gorgeous day!

 

[Jim Kenney]

NICE Blackke, If we could get about 90 Gatherees to form a bucket brigade on the Cirque Traverse we could get that thing covered with snow in about 15 minutes.

 

[Shawn C.]

No pics but a ridiculous day at Powder Mountain yesterday (Sun 25 Feb.) They opened up the Paradise lift and Cobabe Canyon today. Finally! Me and my ski buddy caught the rope drop into Cobabe Canyon and skied Sanctuary. I skied over the nylon cord as the patroller was reeling it in. It was damned deep after not being touched all season! To top everything off, the sun came out late morning, making for a truly perfect bluebird day. Days like that are why I live in Utah.

 

[SnowbirdDevotee]

No pics but a ridiculous day at Powder Mountain

I skied there yesterday and I also called it "ridiculous", but since were there the day before, my day was ridiculous minus one. My partner called the skiing somewhere between ridiculous and fabulous. I'm wasn'ta huge fan of PowMow, but I've only skied there a couple times and on the wrong days - wishing I was back at the LCC. It is lower elevation, has slow lifts (except for one det/quad which wasn't there years ago), south facing slopes, lack of high alpine scenery, and in general doesn't have the all over steep skiing of AltaBird. But I can see why it has its' fans on the right day, count me in the club. We skied on a Monday and it was crazy how even after 10" new on Sat night and Sunday skiing there was literally tons of untracked or lightly tracked all over place. Sadly, I was with my not too great buddy who couldn't handle the powder but I got my shots in.

We didn't find Mary until after lunch but after we did, we stuck with her. There was better powder skiing there 2 days after a storm than I had with the same storm 45 minutes after opening at Alta on my first Wildcat run! The tree skiing there is phenomenal with very minimal rocks, perfectly spaced trees. Most of the pitches we skied were modest, but know with a little experience you could find anything you wanted.

What was really ridiculous was about 3pm we went right off lift, traversed and walked a bit to next drainage over and looked down to a bowl with no tracks. We were worried that if we went down we would be off property and get stuck, then we saw a sign. We had the whole bowl of powder to ourselves, for just a short walk.

 

[BobMc]

They've been hyping this weekend's storm as the "biggest of the season" all week long. Tonight I got a text from my buddy Mike, "I've got a room at the Cliff this weekend if you're interested?" He's got a room Friday and Saturday nights, no fighting traffic for me, praying for a road closure!

 

[Shawn C.]

Pow Mow announced they will not be opening until noon tomorrow (2 Mar) due to forecasted high winds and lightning.

/que "Jaws" soundtracks/

 

[BobMc]

They completely blew the forecast...

Stayed up here at the Cliff last night, the storm is still coming but it's coming slow. It was windy today but no snow (so far). I woke up a bit before 7 and made it down to the tram about 7:30, I was third in line at that point. With no snow my buddy Mike slept in but Travis and son made it up for first tram. Mineral was on hold first thing so we spun a couple tram laps and then dropped into Powder Paradise. The Baldy lift never opened so the Mineral Express had a bit of a line, we only spun one lap over there.

The mountain is in fine skiing shape, everywhere we went today we found good snow. There are a few scoured areas from the high winds we've had lately but they're easily avoidable. If you pay attention you can find plenty of smooth wind buff.

The storm is supposed to move in around 10:00 tonight. The forecast has been downgraded to 6-10 inches overnight with plenty more tomorrow and tomorrow night. Snowbird ski patrol is holding a fundraiser tonight at the Tram Club called the Baldy Bash, we're headed over there in a few.

Hot tub last night.



Very little pressure for first tram.



It was world telemark day today, Travis has his 9yo on teles.





The sun was still shining over the valley at 6:00 this evening, c'mon storm!