Alta, UT 12/30/2007

[FirstTracks]

Day 18: Oh. My. God.

A good old-fashioned Wasatch dump started right as I left the house for the hill this morning. I have no idea what it accumulated to during the day, but let's just say that it absolutely puked -- 2 to 3 inches per hour -- right up to about 2:30 p.m. when it started slowing up. The wind absolutely howled, creating whiteout blizzard conditions. The Canyon road closed at 1:15 until 3 p.m. for avalanche control and unencumbered plowing. Those visitors who weren't hiding in the lodge all day high-tailed it down canyon at lunch time to beat the closure, leaving the hill as the exclusive domain of those of us willing to brave the conditions.

The result? Free refills all day. Literally. Skidog was enjoying his first day on his perverse-camber Spatulas, but I still think it's a gimmick.

It's the first time I ever spent all day at Alta riding only one lift (Wildcat), as we had amazing snow and excellent visibility in the trees. Everywhere in the open was pure white room.

I only shot one still all day but used it as the intro to the video, so I'll let the video do the talking:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/...ctid1351432875

[FirstTracks]

I actually forgot that I took a photo with my cell phone driving through Hellgate this morning (like that cracked windshield?):

[James_B_Wads2000]

Nice video!

Looks like some good clean fun in the snow.


James

[Jaxx]

Beautiful.

[accadacca]

You guys are friggin' ANIMALS!