Part one of two.
So I've had a week to reflect on it. I've posted photos at several places on the web, but here is a coherent (hopefully) recap of the best week of powder skiing in my life. To set the story, I flew into SLC at about 4PM on Jan 21, 2017 and flew out about the same time on Jan 28. Snowbird and much of the US West was already enjoying a very snowy ski season. My son, who lives in SLC, told me that after a slow start the Wasatch had received steady doses of snow every week since Thanksgiving. He was skiing the Saturday I arrived at the airport (Jan 21) and reported that from Friday evening into Saturday Snowbird was expecting to receive 5" of snow. Instead they got 27". Talk about an over-producing storm!
I would ski Snowbird five out of the next seven days and basically it didn't stop snowing until Thursday afternoon. I saw a statistic that Snowbird received 81" of snow from Jan 20 to 27. It was like one foot refills every day for a week. And it was good dry snow with fairly cool temps never surpassing about 15 or 20 degs F on the slopes all week so that even after it got chopped up the snow remained in big 2-3 foot puffs all over the place for days.
Maybe for those of you who live in western ski towns or commute every weekend to snowy locations a week like this isn't so extraordinary? But I've lived in Virginia my entire ski career - the last 50 consecutive ski seasons. I've perhaps averaged close to 20 ski days per season over the years and maybe have a 1000 ski days lifetime. There have been a bunch of sweet 8-12" powder days. I skied Aspen one time in 1991 when they got 30" of snow in 30 hours. Just last year I skied in 28" of snow over a two day period in West Virginia and an 18" day at Snowbird. But in these instances the snow was either heavier, or the sun came out the next day and fried things, or in the case of WV the terrain wasn't the best for supporting deep powder skiing.
What I experienced at Snowbird skiing on Jan 22, 24, 25, 26, and 28 was a whole other level. I used a pair of Volkl One skis (186cm x 116mm) borrowed from my son all days except the 28th and I was glad to have them. I flailed in the deep pow and was pretty sore after my first day, Jan 22. Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC) was closed on Jan 23 due to avalanche danger and that proved to be a very useful rest day for me. Over the week my stamina and enjoyment factor improved as I adjusted to the altitude and the deep snow conditions. My son and his buddies took me to all kinds of places on the mountain I would never have found on my own or wouldn't have the nerve to try without guidance. With the abundant snowfall many of Snowbird's double black diamond runs were about as user-friendly as they ever get and it was a great opportunity to ski parts of the mountain that might normally be beyond my skill level.
Here is a photographic tale in about 40 pictures of the week that was. I apologize that I am a bush league photographer. I don't have the gear or skills to do a good job catching the deepest snow that my friends and I skied. Usually I was too busy surviving the conditions to capture photos of the steepest and deepest situations. No doubt, it was a rugged week with low visibility for days at a time and sometimes high winds on the upper mountain. But here is what I've got and it will have to suffice as the record of the best week of powder skiing in my life.
January 22, 2017
The dark side with LCC when it receives this much new snow is that road closures are a big issue. We went up at 545am on Sunday Jan 22 ahead of a two hour road closure and killed some time soaking in Cliff Lodge hot tub before lifts open. Tram was on wind hold most/all day.
I skied with a friend of my son’s all day and this is him on, I think this is STH area under Gad 2 Chair
We skied a lot off Gadzoom and Gad 2 chairs and I think this is in the trees somewhere off Gad 2
STH
Gad 2
We did three runs in the Lower Cirque area, visibility was bad, but the snow was great here
A wipeout meant you were up to your neck
January 24, 2017
Awesome day. Possibly the deepest/best snow I've ever skied in a single day. By this point they had more than 5’ since 1/20. It took patience this day. I skied with my son from bell to bell, but only Gadzoom was open early. As the day went on other chairs and the tram came online. Each new opening created a rush to pillage virgin territory. What an experience.
Waiting for Gadzoom to open, six feet of snow on top of lift terminal
These shots are of my son Vince in the trees off Mach Schnell I think.
He was on a pair of Volkl Two skis, 186cm x 124mm.
Great Scott skied like Big Emma it was so full of snow
Lower Down on the Peruvian side
PugSki was here
and here
January 25, 2017
Another sick day at Snowbird when all the locals take sick from work. My son's buddy in yellow rides a ski on these days that is 141mm underfoot:
Surfing on the 141s in Wilbere Bowl
They opened Baldy for the first time in several days. I joined the ascending hordes. No friends, no family, no pictures on the descent
So I've had a week to reflect on it. I've posted photos at several places on the web, but here is a coherent (hopefully) recap of the best week of powder skiing in my life. To set the story, I flew into SLC at about 4PM on Jan 21, 2017 and flew out about the same time on Jan 28. Snowbird and much of the US West was already enjoying a very snowy ski season. My son, who lives in SLC, told me that after a slow start the Wasatch had received steady doses of snow every week since Thanksgiving. He was skiing the Saturday I arrived at the airport (Jan 21) and reported that from Friday evening into Saturday Snowbird was expecting to receive 5" of snow. Instead they got 27". Talk about an over-producing storm!
I would ski Snowbird five out of the next seven days and basically it didn't stop snowing until Thursday afternoon. I saw a statistic that Snowbird received 81" of snow from Jan 20 to 27. It was like one foot refills every day for a week. And it was good dry snow with fairly cool temps never surpassing about 15 or 20 degs F on the slopes all week so that even after it got chopped up the snow remained in big 2-3 foot puffs all over the place for days.
Maybe for those of you who live in western ski towns or commute every weekend to snowy locations a week like this isn't so extraordinary? But I've lived in Virginia my entire ski career - the last 50 consecutive ski seasons. I've perhaps averaged close to 20 ski days per season over the years and maybe have a 1000 ski days lifetime. There have been a bunch of sweet 8-12" powder days. I skied Aspen one time in 1991 when they got 30" of snow in 30 hours. Just last year I skied in 28" of snow over a two day period in West Virginia and an 18" day at Snowbird. But in these instances the snow was either heavier, or the sun came out the next day and fried things, or in the case of WV the terrain wasn't the best for supporting deep powder skiing.
What I experienced at Snowbird skiing on Jan 22, 24, 25, 26, and 28 was a whole other level. I used a pair of Volkl One skis (186cm x 116mm) borrowed from my son all days except the 28th and I was glad to have them. I flailed in the deep pow and was pretty sore after my first day, Jan 22. Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC) was closed on Jan 23 due to avalanche danger and that proved to be a very useful rest day for me. Over the week my stamina and enjoyment factor improved as I adjusted to the altitude and the deep snow conditions. My son and his buddies took me to all kinds of places on the mountain I would never have found on my own or wouldn't have the nerve to try without guidance. With the abundant snowfall many of Snowbird's double black diamond runs were about as user-friendly as they ever get and it was a great opportunity to ski parts of the mountain that might normally be beyond my skill level.
Here is a photographic tale in about 40 pictures of the week that was. I apologize that I am a bush league photographer. I don't have the gear or skills to do a good job catching the deepest snow that my friends and I skied. Usually I was too busy surviving the conditions to capture photos of the steepest and deepest situations. No doubt, it was a rugged week with low visibility for days at a time and sometimes high winds on the upper mountain. But here is what I've got and it will have to suffice as the record of the best week of powder skiing in my life.
January 22, 2017
The dark side with LCC when it receives this much new snow is that road closures are a big issue. We went up at 545am on Sunday Jan 22 ahead of a two hour road closure and killed some time soaking in Cliff Lodge hot tub before lifts open. Tram was on wind hold most/all day.
I skied with a friend of my son’s all day and this is him on, I think this is STH area under Gad 2 Chair
We skied a lot off Gadzoom and Gad 2 chairs and I think this is in the trees somewhere off Gad 2
STH
Gad 2
We did three runs in the Lower Cirque area, visibility was bad, but the snow was great here
A wipeout meant you were up to your neck
January 24, 2017
Awesome day. Possibly the deepest/best snow I've ever skied in a single day. By this point they had more than 5’ since 1/20. It took patience this day. I skied with my son from bell to bell, but only Gadzoom was open early. As the day went on other chairs and the tram came online. Each new opening created a rush to pillage virgin territory. What an experience.
Waiting for Gadzoom to open, six feet of snow on top of lift terminal
These shots are of my son Vince in the trees off Mach Schnell I think.
He was on a pair of Volkl Two skis, 186cm x 124mm.
Great Scott skied like Big Emma it was so full of snow
Lower Down on the Peruvian side
PugSki was here
and here
January 25, 2017
Another sick day at Snowbird when all the locals take sick from work. My son's buddy in yellow rides a ski on these days that is 141mm underfoot:
Surfing on the 141s in Wilbere Bowl
They opened Baldy for the first time in several days. I joined the ascending hordes. No friends, no family, no pictures on the descent
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