http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4AzRcIsiYg&feature=youtu.be
Going to start doing some micro video clips for realtime action. Here’s my first go at it. Took 3 Laps on High Boy over at Alta. The sun came out as we ascended the first ridge and just kept shining all day.
As the season was winding down there were a couple days I sure want to note. One in particular was a day that started off with some sunny pow with friends and ended up with a solo stormy sketch hike that turned into one of those gratifying moments I’ll never forget. With laps in between at Brighton I was able to hit Clayton’s, Pioneer and Sunset Peaks all in a day.
Clayton’s was sunny. Pioneer an hour later was a blizzard. And then I dropped, The sun sneaked through and I got my last glory turns for the year. Oh I forgot to mention the baby moose. He’s in the video…
Me scoping the zone
Photo: Dimitri Littig
Testing out the new Zeal Slate Goggles. Dig em.
Sending in Brighton backcountry.
Photo: Jake Deboard
December 2012 proved to be a great month to start the winter in terms of snowfall. With 196 inches of snow fallen at Alta before January 1st, things appeared just about on par with yet another epic Utah winter. Unfortunately Ullr had other plans from then on out. We really didn’t see much in terms of storm cycles for quite some time. 3 to 6 inch storms were pretty much the norm for January and February. What a tease…
It has been a fairly calm storm day on February 22. Enough new snow for fun conditions but still not a serious powder day. Friends and cohorts were inside downing pints of beer and munching on on slices of pepperoni when things started to turn furious outside the window. The wind picked up in the snow started coming. I dialed in a few more laps on the Wildcat chair with my friend Sam from New Zealand as we decided we would let the traffic make its way down the canyon.
Après-ski then began.
This would be the après-ski I would never forget. Generally traffic dies down by 5 or 6 PM and it’s smooth sailing back to the valley. We had crushed about three pitchers by 8 o’clock and cars still hadn’t left the parking lot. It was really snowing. The visibility must have been 20 or 30 feet. There was glow outside in the darkness from the red lights lined up trying to exit the lot. Faces were plastered against the window trying to discern whether or not the cars were actually moving. One group of my friends actually went into their car for an hour, turned it on, never left the lot and decided to come back in and drink some more beer. Unfortunately others had the same plan and even the kitchen ran out of food, it was down to PBJ’s and french fries. This is really great fuel for the following day which turned to be one of the best pow days I’ve ever had Alta. We finally left and made it home by 11 PM so rest wasn’t a concern for the shred to come.
After the Snowfall 