Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:35 pm
The last snowfall of at least 6" or more in Park City happened on December 12th & 13th. Over a month later, I awoke this morning to 11" at Deer Valley and still snowing hard. I had the day off, and caught a ride to DV. Most of the time I will go elsewhere on powder-days when I'm off, but my car is currently having the engine replaced and my options were limited. When I free-ski DV and it's 100% open, there are three main areas I will usually be found, Empire Canyon, Lady Morgan, or the east face of Bald Mountain.
Riding the lift and pondering where to go:
Decided on the Lady Morgan area as the western side of DV always has more snow, and as it's only been there for three seasons, I haven't skied it extensively on powder days. Some marshmellow moguls enroute. I would later be glad I warmed up on these:
Looking up at Lady M:
A good sign, maybe. No tracks coming out of the bottom of Centennial Trees as I'm on the lift. Either I'm going to get the goods or it's closed:
My gamble pays off big. I have never been able to get first tracks in here. Today is my day:
Centennial Trees at the top:
A little deeper in, dedicated to 2slickstix (the trees, not the deeper-in part):
Looking down into an old mine shaft. Some guy stopped right on top of this last year with a deeper snowpack, and then he fell through into it. He was ok, but no one knew it was there:
Now 10:30 and I'm getting fresh:
11:00 and still finding the goods:
Nearly noon and plenty to be had if you know where to look:
Much of the trees on Lady Morgan had large and firm bumps under the snow. We picked up several more inches during the morning which made for some nice padding. I still didn't charge it hard and ski full speed because the snowpack is not very deep out here right now. Went down to Empire Lodge to treat myself to some good DV chow. Unfortunately in my haste to get out, I left my wallet at home. But I found a pair of freebie Nature Valley granola bars picked up at the recent Freestyle World Cup. My luck had continued. The snow stopped, the sun came out and after a quick water and restroom break, it was onto Empire Canyon, specifically the Daly Bowl and Chutes:
Looking at the entrance to Chutes 8-10. I would entertain myself with a few hucks here and there:
Still some fresh turns to be had here and there, looking off the Empire lift:
But I didn't bother with that, because I was headed to the X-File Trees, DV's most remote hike-to skiing:
Looking from DV's border towards some of the Brighton backcountry:
X-Files at about 2:00. Still finding the fresh:
The winds were strong all day, and after three trips to the X-Files, I opted to jump back into the Chutes, which were getting refilled quickly from the wind. An interesting visual happend about then, watching a windslab crack under me when launching a small cornice:
View of the cornices from X-Files entrance:
With the thin, crappy snow pack and the sudden added weight of the new snow, avalanche danger is spiking upward. Observed this in a small out-of-bounds area on my way back in. Guessing that snowplows on the road just above triggered this. Couldn't get in close, but the slab was over 1' foot tall. Right above our easiest green run too:
On my last run, headed to my locker, I found yet more freshies. Gotta love Deer Valley sometimes. Little less snow over here though. Had to ski this real careful. It's about time Utah started to get theirs:
Enjoy...
Riding the lift and pondering where to go:
Decided on the Lady Morgan area as the western side of DV always has more snow, and as it's only been there for three seasons, I haven't skied it extensively on powder days. Some marshmellow moguls enroute. I would later be glad I warmed up on these:
Looking up at Lady M:
A good sign, maybe. No tracks coming out of the bottom of Centennial Trees as I'm on the lift. Either I'm going to get the goods or it's closed:
My gamble pays off big. I have never been able to get first tracks in here. Today is my day:
Centennial Trees at the top:
A little deeper in, dedicated to 2slickstix (the trees, not the deeper-in part):
Looking down into an old mine shaft. Some guy stopped right on top of this last year with a deeper snowpack, and then he fell through into it. He was ok, but no one knew it was there:
Now 10:30 and I'm getting fresh:
11:00 and still finding the goods:
Nearly noon and plenty to be had if you know where to look:
Much of the trees on Lady Morgan had large and firm bumps under the snow. We picked up several more inches during the morning which made for some nice padding. I still didn't charge it hard and ski full speed because the snowpack is not very deep out here right now. Went down to Empire Lodge to treat myself to some good DV chow. Unfortunately in my haste to get out, I left my wallet at home. But I found a pair of freebie Nature Valley granola bars picked up at the recent Freestyle World Cup. My luck had continued. The snow stopped, the sun came out and after a quick water and restroom break, it was onto Empire Canyon, specifically the Daly Bowl and Chutes:
Looking at the entrance to Chutes 8-10. I would entertain myself with a few hucks here and there:
Still some fresh turns to be had here and there, looking off the Empire lift:
But I didn't bother with that, because I was headed to the X-File Trees, DV's most remote hike-to skiing:
Looking from DV's border towards some of the Brighton backcountry:
X-Files at about 2:00. Still finding the fresh:
The winds were strong all day, and after three trips to the X-Files, I opted to jump back into the Chutes, which were getting refilled quickly from the wind. An interesting visual happend about then, watching a windslab crack under me when launching a small cornice:
View of the cornices from X-Files entrance:
With the thin, crappy snow pack and the sudden added weight of the new snow, avalanche danger is spiking upward. Observed this in a small out-of-bounds area on my way back in. Guessing that snowplows on the road just above triggered this. Couldn't get in close, but the slab was over 1' foot tall. Right above our easiest green run too:
On my last run, headed to my locker, I found yet more freshies. Gotta love Deer Valley sometimes. Little less snow over here though. Had to ski this real careful. It's about time Utah started to get theirs:
Enjoy...
