Conditions Report
Weather
Skiers and snowboarders racing through the mid-mountain tunnel towards Mineral Basin PC: Martin Kuprianowicz
Report from May 24th, 2019
The Wasatch allowed winter to creep back in for a solid storm that hit Snowbird early Thursday and continued on through early Saturday morning. The winter-like storm left ‘the Bird’ with a total of 18″ of that light, fluffy stuff. I skied every day last weekend and bear witness that winter wasn’t through with Snowbird just yet.
9″ of new snow at Snowbird on May 24th PC: SnowBrains
- Related: Snowbird, UT Just Passed 700″ Total Snowfall for the Season | Unofficially Snowiest Year EVER!
On Friday morning 9 inches of new snow was reported at 6 am by Snowbird’s snow forecasting department and I hit the road for the mountain. I arrived at 8 am sharp and it was much colder than the springtime conditions I had been skiing there only last week. The mountain had a delayed opening because I guess no one had expected this fat of a dump on May 24th! I was not the only one that morning with the same brilliant idea of skiing some powder as the line at Peruvian was one of the gnarliest I have ever seen.
What felt like a lifetime passed as we waited for the lift to open. Then, all of a sudden, hoots and hollers erupted from the anxious line of riders as the rope dropped on Peruvian. The snow at the top was well worth the wait and I managed to get my fair share of face shots and powder slashes at the top of Peruvian Gultch where the snow was light and dry.
The tram remained closed on Friday so the only way to access Mineral Basin when it opened was through the tunnel that runs through the middle of the mountain. As soon as the liftys got the clear to open up the tunnel, an assault of powder-charged skiers and snowboarders stormed the gates. About 70 of us took off down the tunnel as fast as we could, rat-race style. I threw my skis on as quickly as possible and shredded down the lift-line of Mineral Basin for one of the best powder laps I’ve skied all month. The powder was still existentially good and it was definitely deeper than 9″ inches in Mineral Basin.
It snowed throughout the day into Saturday morning which gave us another 5″ of new snow that made for a soft, spring Saturday and beautiful rest of the holiday weekend. God bless the troops!
