Conditions Report
Report from November 4, 2023
Yesterday I hit Main Chute on 11,000′ Mt. Baldy at Alta, UT for the 3rd time in 4 days.
Yesterday was ski day #277 toward my “300” project.
I was worked…
I oozed uphill like a globular amoebic puddle.
Fatigue pain the entire hike.
I made it to the top in 2 hours and 5 minutes – very slow.
But I made it!
The issue I noticed on the way up was that everything was frozen hard.
Temps had been high the previous 2 days and a lot of snow melted then froze again.
Yesterday was on the cool side and I was a bit earlier than I had been on my previous 2 summits.
I dropped into a firm, refrozen Main Chute.
The upper dirty section was dirtier, icier, and more scrapped due to increased weekend traffic and the melt-freeze cycle.
The previous 2 times I skied Main Chute I thought it was pretty fun.
Yesterday, it wasn’t exactly fun…
I struggled to keep my skis in control.
Each ski wanted to do its own interpretive dance in an attempt to explain to me just how sh**ty the snow was.
Icy, skied-up hummocks dominated the landscape.
Many more rocks were exposed.
The snow was firmer and less penetrable.
Just kinda yucky overall…
I made it to the bottom of the chute without style, without grace, but in one piece so I was content.
From there it was a patchwork of snow, rock, and twig to get to the snowmaking zone.
Once in the snowmaking zone, it was icy gravy to the bottom.
I was happy to have checked the box, skied Main Chute, and slipped away unscathed.
I might be done with Main Chute for a while…
That thing needs a refresh.
Today, I plan on skiing the lower half of the mountain where Alta has done a great job creating a lot of coverage with the snow guns.
Tomorrow, I’m off to the Caribbean for 5 days, then I’ll be right back to it.
When I get back to skiing on November 11, I’ll have until December 8 to chalk up 22 ski days which hopefully feels very doable after some tropical rest.
Thanks, Utah!
