Snowbasin, January 31, 2009

Yesterday I skied at Brighton under blue skies and followed the sun from Mt. Milli to the Great Western. Groomers were best until the snow softened. Packed powder skied the best but there was lots of mashed up crud and hard wind packed slopes. Did one out of bounds run to the left of Wrens Hollow with light, fluffy tree protected powder for about 75 yards.

Today I went to Snowbasin. This is an impressive place. A day here just scratches the surface... Bluebird day but lots of hard, chopped up snow off-piste. Spent most of the day Strawberry Express. Did find some powder in Moonshine Basin. The skiing was much better as the snow softened. Big winds on the ridge line. Some pics below...

Tomorrow I'm going to Powder Mountain and then leaving Utah and heading for Driggs, ID.

Sweet! Glad you made it to Basin! I love that place. Were they letting people hike the upper bowls and chutes? When I was there about a month ago they were not letting anyone go above the area, which IMO is the sickness at basin. Is there a more lavish lodge? PowMow holds promise for you. I reccomend going out to Cobabe and skiing the more obscure little pocket shots, they seem to hold snow for a long time. Also take the cat or skin Lightning Ridge to the saddle below James Peak and traverse all the way out skier's left until you see the objective, it'll be obvious, there will probably be a travers put in already, but if not thats just fine too. Jealously runs rampant in me right now!!

to the tune of neil young's "sugar mountain": "i'd rather on/ powder mountain..."

i would have liked to have ridden snowbasin in better conditions... it is an impressive mountain...

Sweet! Glad you made it to Basin! I love that place. Were they letting people hike the upper bowls and chutes? When I was there about a month ago they were not letting anyone go above the area, which IMO is the sickness at basin. Is there a more lavish lodge? PowMow holds promise for you. I reccomend going out to Cobabe and skiing the more obscure little pocket shots, they seem to hold snow for a long time. Also take the cat or skin Lightning Ridge to the saddle below James Peak and traverse all the way out skier's left until you see the objective, it'll be obvious, there will probably be a traverse put in already, but if not that's just fine too. Jealously runs rampant in me right now!!

Didn't see people skiing the chutes which looked fantastic but did see some people booting up some ridges. Many of the gates were closed. The big windstorm on Wednesday impacted the slopes significantly.

The lodge: most impressive were the restrooms. No stalls here. Each person going to the "weight reduction center" goes into a little private room to take care of business.

Also, parked less than 50 yards from the lodge. Padded leather benches upon which to dress. A person who opens the door for you when you enter the lodge. High speed weather protected gondolas...

You get alot for $52 in Utah.

Here's a photo of the restroom I found on the internet. The wood doors to the commodes are behind the guy on the left.

Talk about psychedelic....that place would be fun for a recreational chemistry experiment. Seems so outta place to begin with anyhow. It didn't even feel like I was supposed to be in there, it seems more like the kinda place where your bracing yourself for the the tab....but i like it.

Oh yeah.....wheres the PowMow TR....Lightning Ridge?Cobabe??