June Melt 2009

Dirty Snow

From Ski all Year

From Ski all Year

About midday I was in the area of Alta ski resort so I took a quick run. Snow almost to the bottom of the resort. The snow was soft enough to spay shush on my turns. Found a little bump to catch a bit of air. The snow is getting thinner and dirtier, soon it will only be dirt.

Concrete Washboard

From Ski all Year

From Ski all Year

Early morning hike up the concrete snow. I should have waited later in the day to let the snow soften up. Two hours of hiking up Alta. On top of Wildcat ridge I began my decent. The snow didn't give at all. Hard as cement with lots of ridges. Not very enjoyable. It was a work out trying to turn instead of gliding down the snow it was more like mogul skiing but the bumps were too small to turn around so it ended up feeling like I was skiing over a washboard. One jump at the bottom and I was out. Exhausting.
7. Alta (.5s 2h)

Meltdown

From Ski all Year

From Ski all Year

From Ski all Year

The snow is melting fast. It still feels good to slip and slide on the snow even though the snow is basically slush. Hiked up to the half pipe at Snowbird again. Dropped in and shot up the walls to catch some air. I could spend the whole day up here but the clouds were rolling in fast so I skied down just in time to make it out of the rain.
6. Snowbird (.5s 1h)

Snow Patches

From Ski all Year

From Ski all Year

From Ski all Year

There is no longer a direct path of snow all the way down to the base of the resort. Hiked up Snowbird, sometimes I was on the snow and other times I was walking through mud and rocks. Hiked up to the small half pipe to drop in. Good slushy snow that was fast enough to drop in and catch some air coming out of the pipe. Dropped in five times in the pipe and tried a pair of 360's. Didn't really land them because I was turning the wrong way, but it was fun. Skied down on a path that was only 10 feet wide, then had to walk the rest of the way down. It was good to ski snow in June.
5. Snowbird (.5s 1h)