Snowbird/Alta

[SkiDork]

Het G-Smashed - good luck at the 3rd annual Snowbird spring fling... Should be fun..


Question for all AltaBird skiers - I never realized LC road is East West and the mountains are on the south side of the road. I just google mapped it and was surprised... So the skiing basically faces North huh? Sorta like K basin? I guess thats why they last late spring...

Comments?

[sLoPeS]

you would be correct..........the 500"+ a season help a lot too.

[KMartman]

Well this year Alta was more like over 700"...this morning on the news I heard...58feet....3 snowiest in past 28 years..

A LOT of the bird faces north so it holds snow well...Alta holds its snow better since its higher, but closes earlier...you can still ski over the top of the bird into alta though....

Mmmmmm corn.

M

[Geoff]

Pretty much all ski areas are laid out on the north face of the mountain since keeping it in the winter shadows is how you stop all the snow from melting away. At Killington, you can look off the back side and see north-facing Stratton and north-facing Mount Snow behind it. Bromley is kind of strange since it sits baking in the sun. Okemo faces East-Northeast. The parts of Killington with that aspect like Devils Fiddle and Jug Handle are always the first things to soften in March.

Everything in Utah faces north. AltaBird is the southernmost in Little Cottonwood Canyon. One canyon to the north, you have Brighton and Solitude. The next mountains to the north before it flattens are Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, and The Canyons.

[sLoPeS]

Well this year Alta was more like over 700"...this morning on the news I heard...58feet....3 snowiest in past 28 years..

you guys should be set unitl july......id say a solid 9 month season this year, im sure u can always find "some" snow. September is the tough month, whatcha gon do?

[SkiDork]

Hey KMartman - what kind of skis do you use in the pow over there? I'm eventually gonna need to replace the ships with something longer (mistake getting them so short)

And Geoff - sorry I didn't get to demo any of your extras - maybe next season. Thanks for the offer.

[KMartman]

Hey KMartman - what kind of skis do you use in the pow over there? I'm eventually gonna need to replace the ships with something longer (mistake getting them so short)

And Geoff - sorry I didn't get to demo any of your extras - maybe next season. Thanks for the offer.

190 Gotamas for everyday.......up to pretty much waist deep....anything deeper I might pull out the spatulas. Since I bought the gotamas I have seriously thought of getting rid of the Spats...the gotamas really perform THAT WELL...Im really not surprised that a lot of people consider them a 1 ski quiver...

M

[SkiDork]

Hey KMartman - what kind of skis do you use in the pow over there? I'm eventually gonna need to replace the ships with something longer (mistake getting them so short)

And Geoff - sorry I didn't get to demo any of your extras - maybe next season. Thanks for the offer.

190 Gotamas for everyday.......up to pretty much waist deep....anything deeper I might pull out the spatulas. Since I bought the gotamas I have seriously thought of getting rid of the Spats...the gotamas really perform THAT WELL...Im really not surprised that a lot of people consider them a 1 ski quiver...

M

wow - thanks. I'll have to check them out.

[Geoff]

Hey KMartman - what kind of skis do you use in the pow over there? I'm eventually gonna need to replace the ships with something longer (mistake getting them so short)

And Geoff - sorry I didn't get to demo any of your extras - maybe next season. Thanks for the offer.

190 Gotamas for everyday.......up to pretty much waist deep....anything deeper I might pull out the spatulas. Since I bought the gotamas I have seriously thought of getting rid of the Spats...the gotamas really perform THAT WELL...Im really not surprised that a lot of people consider them a 1 ski quiver...

M

wow - thanks. I'll have to check them out.

That might be a 1 ski quiver in Utah. A 105mm waist is probably a bit much for Killington. 85mm is likely the upper limit for an everyday ski on the ice coast.

[KMartman]

Hey KMartman - what kind of skis do you use in the pow over there? I'm eventually gonna need to replace the ships with something longer (mistake getting them so short)

And Geoff - sorry I didn't get to demo any of your extras - maybe next season. Thanks for the offer.

190 Gotamas for everyday.......up to pretty much waist deep....anything deeper I might pull out the spatulas. Since I bought the gotamas I have seriously thought of getting rid of the Spats...the gotamas really perform THAT WELL...Im really not surprised that a lot of people consider them a 1 ski quiver...

M

wow - thanks. I'll have to check them out.

That might be a 1 ski quiver in Utah. A 105mm waist is probably a bit much for Killington. 85mm is likely the upper limit for an everyday ski on the ice coast.

give them a try.......trust me...the 105 ISNT TOO MUCH...

When I left Killington I was skiing a 90mm EVERYDAY....the Gotama 105 performs much better than even the 90mm I was using when I was back east..

Just give them a shot...they really are a good all arounder...if not..the MANTRA is definitely the go to ski for mostly east and the occassional west trip.

M

[G-smashed]

Kmartman - I'd love to see you for a run or 2 on this trip.
It's only D.T.E. and me this time but we'll wear our refugee shirts on the plaza if it's warm enough. Is it OK if I have a beer or 2?

[KMartman]

Kmartman - I'd love to see you for a run or 2 on this trip.
It's only D.T.E. and me this time but we'll wear our refugee shirts on the plaza if it's warm enough. Is it OK if I have a beer or 2?

YES but only 2..wait..maybe 4 since its half beer.... ;-)

When you coming out?

Shoot me a pm ill give you my contact info.

M

[Powdr]

Het G-Smashed - good luck at the 3rd annual Snowbird spring fling... Should be fun..


Question for all AltaBird skiers - I never realized LC road is East West and the mountains are on the south side of the road. I just google mapped it and was surprised... So the skiing basically faces North huh? Sorta like K basin? I guess thats why they last late spring...

Comments?

What direction did you think LCC faced? SLC sits in a valley that runs N-S. LCC, BCC & Parleys all run E-W (the same direction the roads run). All the Wasatch resorts *sorta* face N. The Canyons, another total ASC fu*kup, has a base area that faces more E than anything else, and not coincedentally looses its snow earlier eary spring than any other Utah resort. I am amazed when ever I ski a non-North facing resort. What were the orignal developers thinking? Snow management and preservation has *got* to be #1 on the list of items a someone building a resort ought to be thinking about. Only a few rare instances can a non-N facing resort be pulled off. I can think of a few in the West:

- JHMR (SE), so damn cold it doesn't matter as much.
- Grand Targhee (W), so damn much snow it doesn't matter.
- Brian Head (W), high base elevation helps.
- Breckenridge (E), high base elevation.
- Mammoth (E), tons of snow.
- Mt Hood Meadows (S), harsh exposed conditions actually need a sunnier exposure.
- Timberline (S), same as above.
- Big Sky (E), Northerly lattitude.
- Big Mountain (W), Northerly lattitude.

Prolly more, but those are the ones I remember.

-Tele

[KMartman]

Het G-Smashed - good luck at the 3rd annual Snowbird spring fling... Should be fun..


Question for all AltaBird skiers - I never realized LC road is East West and the mountains are on the south side of the road. I just google mapped it and was surprised... So the skiing basically faces North huh? Sorta like K basin? I guess thats why they last late spring...

Comments?

What direction did you think LCC faced? SLC sits in a valley that runs N-S. LCC, BCC & Parleys all run E-W (the same direction the roads run). All the Wasatch resorts *sorta* face N. The Canyons, another total ASC fu*kup, has a base area that faces more E than anything else, and not coincedentally looses its snow earlier eary spring than any other Utah resort. I am amazed when ever I ski a non-North facing resort. What were the orignal developers thinking? Snow management and preservation has *got* to be #1 on the list of items a someone building a resort ought to be thinking about. Only a few rare instances can a non-N facing resort be pulled off. I can think of a few in the West:

- JHMR (SE), so damn cold it doesn't matter as much.
- Grand Targhee (W), so damn much snow it doesn't matter.
- Brian Head (W), high base elevation helps.
- Breckenridge (E), high base elevation.
- Mammoth (E), tons of snow.
- Mt Hood Meadows (S), harsh exposed conditions actually need a sunnier exposure.
- Timberline (S), same as above.
- Big Sky (E), Northerly lattitude.
- Big Mountain (W), Northerly lattitude.

Prolly more, but those are the ones I remember.

-Tele

If the sun comes out at Jackson Hole...no matter how cold it bakes that place out sooo fast..

[Mister Moose]

I am amazed when ever I ski a non-North facing resort. What were the orignal developers thinking? Snow management and preservation has *got* to be #1 on the list of items a someone building a resort ought to be thinking about. Only a few rare instances can a non-N facing resort be pulled off. I can think of a few in the West:

- JHMR (SE), so damn cold it doesn't matter as much.
- Grand Targhee (W), so damn much snow it doesn't matter.
- Brian Head (W), high base elevation helps.
- Breckenridge (E), high base elevation.
- Mammoth (E), tons of snow.
- Mt Hood Meadows (S), harsh exposed conditions actually need a sunnier exposure.
- Timberline (S), same as above.
- Big Sky (E), Northerly lattitude.
- Big Mountain (W), Northerly lattitude.

Prolly more, but those are the ones I remember.

-Tele

A Basin is sort of east/west around a north facing ravine, and Loveland also faces east. As I remember, Lake Louise is south.

Isn't Sunday River easterly? Magic faces west. Jay is east. And of course we all know about Bromley.

Back before snowmaking, back before they were called 'resorts', ski areas were concerned about operating Christmas to Easter. It was a limited seasonal business where you harvested what natural snow fell, sort of like a longer version of maple sugar season. We knew it was snowfall dependent. Northern exposure was not a singleminded criteria, as here in the east all the land was divided up already. You frequently had to develop what you could acquire and afford, not necessarily what was ideal with perfect futurevision.

Bromely still follows its ancient formula of a shorter season with an accent on families, and a marketing plug towards being the warmer mountain in December, January and February.