Alta/Snowbird March 30-April 1, 2019

Why wait until after the trip to begin a TR when planning is most of the work?!

So, trip is on.  No fatal wounds when the grenade was finally tossed, and I’m flying out tomorrow (Friday) night, taking the red eye home Monday night, total of three days skiing.

Thought about pulling the plug yesterday (would have cost $150 to redeposit the FF miles) because a couple warm days this week surely have things quite a bit variable.  At Alta, The Shoulder, Baldy, Ballroom, and Devil’s Castle were open Monday but have been closed the past three days.  A weak disturbance was forecast to come through today but only drop maybe 3-6, leaving me with just hope that the storm might overperform and give LCC more, which is not unusual.  Bottom line is I didn’t want to go for the first time and get skunked, miss a lot of stuff, and ski variable junk.  Last night that changed as the forecast is now much better, with a series of disturbances coming through now through Saturday that will drop upwards of a foot.  That should be an adequate refresh I figured, hopefully get more stuff back in play.

Not sure what days I’m skiing where, I guess I’ll kind of play it by ear.  Still have to figure out my backcountry exploits.  Reluctant to go with a private guide, just don’t want to spend the dough.  One outfit has a two day Backcountry and Avalanche Skill group that would be more reasonable (in a per day basis), but given I’ve never been to LCC I’m not sure if I want to dedicate 2 of 3 days to the backcountry and miss either Alta or Snowbird.  Perhaps I’ll just head out to Grizzly Gulch for some easy low angle close in BC one day, or just drop some conservative side country lines while skiing the resorts.  Either way, there should be some powder to be found Sat, cold leftovers Sun am, and Sun pm and Mon with spring conditions.

For lodging I’ll spend Friday night in Murray, then get an early start up the canyon Sat am.  Booked a dorm bed at the Rustler Lodge for Sat and Sun nights.  That should be interesting.  $150 plus tax per night includes buffet breakfast and gourmet dinner.  Going dorm saved $425 over a private room.  Ski, bar, nice dinner, hot tub, bar, sleep.....I don’t really care where I crash.

So that’s what I got.  I know lots of you have been, so any tips you have, things I should consider, will be appreciated!

If there is fresh snow , locals on the High T or any of Alta's traverses can be down right pricks..Like standing in front of hungry pit bull and his food..

Check the forecast for Power Mt and Snowbasin..A bit less aggressive..

That said, I'm kind of jealous..

Thems lodge kids don’t get a lot of action all winter long if you know what I’m saying. They get downright lord of the flies at times.

JTG4eva! wrote

Why wait until after the trip to begin a TR when planning is most of the work?!

So, trip is on.  No fatal wounds when the grenade was finally tossed, and I’m flying out tomorrow (Friday) night, taking the red eye home Monday night, total of three days skiing.

. . .

For lodging I’ll spend Friday night in Murray, then get an early start up the canyon Sat am.  Booked a dorm bed at the Rustler Lodge for Sat and Sun nights.  That should be interesting.  $150 plus tax per night includes buffet breakfast and gourmet dinner.  Going dorm saved $425 over a private room.  Ski, bar, nice dinner, hot tub, bar, sleep.....I don’t really care where I crash.

So that’s what I got.  I know lots of you have been, so any tips you have, things I should consider, will be appreciated!

One advantage of staying at any lodge at Alta is the opportunity to meet like minded skiers in terms of interest and ability.  Although I wouldn't expect folks at the Rustler to be the BC type.  The Rustler and the recently rebuilt Snowpine are the "luxury" lodges, at least in comparison to GMD, Alta Lodge, and the Peruvian.  Dorm beds are about the same price at all the lodges.  All come with breakfast and a fantastic dinner.  One spring I spent some time talking to a group of 4 lawyers from NJ (law school buddies) who usually stay in regular rooms at the Rustler.  They were "slumming" at Alta Lodge because the Rustler didn't have the room types available that they wanted.  They quite enjoyed the Sitzmark bar in Alta Lodge though.  Essentially reverted to having fun like college students.

You might spend a little time at the GMD bar for apres drinks.  That's where the locals hang out.  Especially if they skied until last chair and are waiting for the traffic down the canyon road to clear.

Rustler has an April 20% off deal I could grab (even though I’m not staying in April, just checking out in April), so it was $150 a night plus tax vs. $186.  I went with the cheaper rate.  The dorm rooms at Rustler also look much nicer than at GMD.  I’m ok with luxury, and the pool and hot tubs (plural) look nicer at the Rustler.  Perhaps anyone I come across in a dorm environment will be focused more on skiing than the luxury, but who knows?  Hope I don’t regret the call, but I’ll definitely do some apres at Goldminer’s, thanks.

I can generally hold my own on a traverse, but I’ll sharpen my boney elbows just in case!  Forecast for Powder Mt. and Snowbasin are half that of Alta/Bird, and nothing over delivers like LCC.  So, I thought about other spots but how could I pass up Alta?

Definitely easier finding lodging at Alta in late March into April than the other times I’ve looked, so hopefully it won’t be as much of a shit show as earlier in the season, but perhaps not....

JTG4eva! wrote

 I’ll definitely do some apres at Goldminer’s, thanks.

Yeah, seemed like Goldminer's Bar -> Peruvian Bar was the local pub crawl of choice.

Apparently a thing to do at the end of a long day is to ski "Highboy" (High Rustler) without stopping, in full view of the GMD bar. I never wanted to do this (because I was far too tired), but tBatt pushed for it.

Have a good time. I love the terrain at Alta.

JTG4eva! wrote

Definitely easier finding lodging at Alta in late March into April than the other times I’ve looked, so hopefully it won’t be as much of a shit show as earlier in the season, but perhaps not....

Difference in late season is that local powder hounds show up at 8:45 instead of 8:00 and are gone by 11:00.  The line waiting for the anticipated opening for Devil's Castle is usually a bit shorter too.  Meaning fewer people are willing to wait for 30+ minutes.

The area I'm willing to hike for during late season is Castle Apron.  It stays in the shade.  Can access from Devil's Castle or from Rock 'N Roll off Supreme.  Catherine's access is worth considering.  A short hike or side-step.  Note that it's possible to get cliffed out so better to go with someone who has experience initially.  The farther out you go, the easier the terrain.

For an organized introduction to Alta terrain:
https://www.snowpak.com/utah/salt-lake-city/alta/ski-and-terrain

Thank you!

Alta offers a 2.5 hour (1:30 to 4:00) Advanced or Expert Off-Trail Workshop.  $95 for two and a half hours, which isn’t crazy money as guides/lessons go, and they basically take you to the stashes with some pointers along the way.  Anybody know anything about these?  Worth it, especially if I don’t spend on a BC guide this trip?

Dude, just look for the Penguin:


Then say "Hey Ted"

I guess everyone there kinda looks like Ted, though, so... good luck!

JTG4eva! wrote

Why wait until after the trip to begin a TR

https://forum.nyskiblog.com/Posting-Trip-Reports-mtn-day-mo-yr-td2305817.html

Got to admit some pretty good information came out of it. I thought at first kinda jumping the gun but after reading the responses I changed my tune.

Harvey wrote

JTG4eva! wrote

Why wait until after the trip to begin a TR

https://forum.nyskiblog.com/Posting-Trip-Reports-mtn-day-mo-yr-td2305817.html

Sorry, my bad.  

Harvey, do me a favor and stick it, the thread so far, somewhere else.  Planning is a huge part of any trip, we can all learn something from how others plan, and a lot of good info can be shared that will make trips better.  So, just shove it, the thread so far, somewhere, cause I’d rather not delete the info.

Sorry

Good, bad, indifferent.....rules is rules!

Maybe there should be a Trip Planning board?  This way, when someone wants to go somewhere they can easily find relevant info on a location, and find tips and planning ideas.

Alta forecast now up to 20 inches thru Sat.  

JTG4eva! wrote

Harvey, do me a favor and stick it, ...  So, just shove it,...

I get it you aren't happy. I don't have a lot of rules, maybe you could go along on this.

There is a ton of valuable information in this thread, but it is not a TR.

The way to do it is start a thread call something like "Alta/Snowbird Planning Advice Needed".  

Then it's far easier to find it through search. The way the search function works what matters the most is the thread title.

Another (admittedly minor) point is that it's harder to share it on social media. Almost every TR gets shared on FB, and it drives a lot of views.  Linking to the middle of a thread is certainly possible but not ideal.

I'm going to leave it here, and when you post your TR, I'll break it apart. Leaving the TR here and moving the planning thread to The Woodstove.

No worries Harvey, I’m not upset.  I feel bad I broke the rules.  Your reasoning is sound.  I was just messing with you with the stick it stuff.

I’m fine if you move this somewhere else.

I do think a Trip Planning board could be a good idea.  If someone needs trip planning info on Alta or wherever, they may need to sort through a lot of other results to find the useful planning info that might be out there.  Maybe not, I don’t know.

Anyway, sorry.

JTG4eva! wrote

Alta offers a 2.5 hour (1:30 to 4:00) Advanced or Expert Off-Trail Workshop.  $95 for two and a half hours, which isn’t crazy money as guides/lessons go, and they basically take you to the stashes with some pointers along the way.  Anybody know anything about these?  Worth it, especially if I don’t spend on a BC guide this trip?

I think the Adult Mountain Workshop is a good deal for a first timer who doesn't have time to waste figuring out how to get to the good stuff, especially if it's low visibility.  They do a quick "ski off" to split people who show up into groups by ability.  There can be up to 3 groups.  The instructors who are the guides are all very experienced, as in L3 and 20+ years at Alta.  It's not a lesson.  But if you ask a question related to technique or want tips, you can get good answers.

When my friend did it a while back, it was his first day ever at Alta.  He was in the middle group.  His group skied off the High T most of the afternoon.  There was fog/clouds on the upper mountain and there was powder from a storm a day or two before.  He did a heck of a lot more skiing than if he'd been exploring on his own.  The two guys in the top group didn't do the ski off and just took off with their instructor/guide.

Last year I did the Mountain Workshop during late season.  But it was a special case.  I knew my regular instructor for semi-private lessons was one of the instructors that afternoon, which was my last ski day (2-week stay).  I didn't pay until I knew it would be okay for me to go with him.  It was quite a warm day.  No one else showed up.  I essentially got a private lesson for 2.5 hours for under $100 plus tip.

There is a ski school desk open in the mornings at the Wildcat base.  Then the ski school desk at Watson's (Collins mid-mountain) is open at lunch time.  No need to sign up in advance for the Mountain Workshop.  Just get to Watson's by 1:15.

Thanks for the info, good chance I’ll check it out.

Forecast of 4-8 inches overnight dropped 13 inches at mid, with another 6-12 inches in the forecast through midnight!

Yer gonna have FUN