USA 2021-22 snow conditions/reports/ramblings
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The buzz today on the American online forums is all about the Epic passes for 2022-23. Not really that much difference from 2021-22. Sun Valley and Snowbasin moved off Epic and went to Ikon and the MCP instead. The three western Pennsylvania ski areas/resorts were added to Northeast Epic as expected. Slight increase in prices but still less than the last pre-pandemic prices after the 20% decrease for 2021-22 that was a shock to the industry.
So Ikon, MCP, Epic, and Indy are all on sale for N. Americans wiling to commit early on for the lowest price(s). Epic has the first deadline, which is April 21 for people who want to get 10 Buddy Passes for Full Epic or Epic Local (excludes holidays). By then, most ski resorts will be closed for the season.Spent the morning riding all over the hill with @MarzNC ’s ski buddies this morning (had an appt at lunch time), and then met back up with them all for dinner this evening.
Fabulous humans, interesting lives and adventures - much enjoyment!
They’re the ski club identifiers so they can spot each other on the hill.
I'm starting a three week trip skiing around Salt Lake City. Will mostly be at Alta Lodge for a couple weeks in April, but first staying in a house in SLC with three friends. Three of us flew from North Carolina on Monday evening while my ski buddy Bill drove from Albuquerque, per usual. The main reason is to ski with a good friend's teen son during his spring break. Have been skiing with him since getting the family started on skis when he was six. He's been an advanced skier since age ten. Spring break trips to Alta included ski school since he likes taking lessons.
We warmed up at Brighton. The day was both spring and winter, depending on the hour. Started out warmish and then the cold front moved in with snow showers. At lunch time the sun was out. Snow at the base was starting to get sticky. An hour later thundersnow shut down the lifts for about 30 minutes. We were on a lift near the top when there was a very loud thunder clap. Lifts stopped loading people immediately. It was very windy and cold at the top of lifts for short periods in the afternoon, and comfortable at mid-mountain with cold snow in the trees, with soft snow at the base. Brighton has night skiing and turned on the lights around 3:00.
Trees had a few inches of fresh snow. Quite fun. Plenty of tracks but also places with no tracks in the afternoon. The snow off Great Western melted off quickly last week, according to a local Ski Diva who met up with us after lunch. She's done skiing that area as well as off Milly. Those areas get a lot of sun. The trees are off Snake Creek and Crest.
Brighton, March 29, 12:30pm
Same day, 3:30pm, snow near the parking lot was deep frozen slush
Yesterday was pretty good with a few inches of graupel but it snowed a few more inches of reasonably dense snow last night which livened up the tail end of the season.
Few more inches tomorrow. Then warming towards the weekend then another small unsettled period after.
The last couple weeks in the Cottonwoods have included days in the 50s and days where everything was frozen for a good part of the day. Alta got 11 inches last night and so far 15 inches total. Temps were quite cold today. Most of the new snow was relatively heavy. More snow expected the next few days. What's more unusual for mid-April is that the temps will stay well below freezing as well.
The line 15 minutes before Collins opened in the morning looked long. But only took about 10 minutes to clear apparently. The Wildcat parking lot filled up but locals didn't stay that long.
I opted to head over to Sunnyside to start with, partially because the Albion lift was run for a few hours for the last time. Vail Ridge was deep as a first run of the day. Albion is a center-pole double installed in 1962. Hasn't been run much in the last couple decades.
What are 50s? How long is 11 inches? I'm not American, Myanmarese or Liberian.The last couple weeks in the Cottonwoods have included days in the 50s and days where everything was frozen for a good part of the day. Alta got 11 inches last night and so far 15 inches total. Temps were quite cold today. Most of the new snow was relatively heavy. More snow expected the next few days. What's more unusual for mid-April is that the temps will stay well below freezing as well.
The line 15 minutes before Collins opened in the morning looked long. But only took about 10 minutes to clear apparently. The Wildcat parking lot filled up but locals didn't stay that long.
I opted to head over to Sunnyside to start with, partially because the Albion lift was run for a few hours for the last time. Vail Ridge was deep as a first run of the day. Albion is a center-pole double installed in 1962. Hasn't been run much in the last couple decades.
There was a lot of snow and it was cold after a long period of no snow and warm. Video from yesterday at Alta and surrounding side/backcountry
My friend from North Carolina doing her first stay at Alta Lodge without children had a very late flight on April 13. I borrowed my ski buddy's car to drive her into SLC for dinner before dropping her off at the airport. Took a while to dig out the car. Although not too bad since the snow came off in pretty big chunks. The snowstorm started the night of April 11.
Pics outside the Alta Lodge locker room on April 11, April 12, and April 14. The piles are from clearing the deck.
Car on April 13 after the lifts closed
Closing weekend for 7-day operations at Alta for 2022 meant spring skiing on more than enough good snow for people to ski High Rustler and other terrain off the High T. There is a bonus weekend April 22-24 but April 17 is the First Closing Day when locals and regulars are around to party perhaps more than ski. The Wildcat parking lot was full by 9:30am but there wasn't a lift line at Collins until closer to 10:30 even though there was 4-5 inches of fresh snow.
My airport shuttle was early enough that I didn't ski. But my ski buddy who drives for skiing in the Rockies skied until mid-afternoon. Probably because it was good spring skiing, which hasn't been the case since late March.
April 16, 6:30pm
April 17, 7:30am
Plenty of folks in costume and carrying coolers as they skied down to the Wildcat base because they had to park elsewhere
For someone with Ikon who stays in SLC for a week, taking a day or two to check out Brighton and/or Solitude can be good fun. Especially if with folks who enjoy blue/blue groomers and tree terrain that isn't that tight or steep. Personally I like Brighton better than Solitude.
Can use Ikon or the SLC SuperPass to explore all four ski resorts in LCC/BCC. The SuperPass cost per day isn't necessarily the lowest but there is no need to commit to a particular date. Also works as a UTA bus pass.
Mellow Brighton trees, late March 2022, MarzNC with the red helmet
Snowstorms are causing a buzz in more than one region in the USA this week. The northeast (PA, NY, VT) got buried in enough snow to cause power outages for hundreds of thousands of people. A few ski areas chose to open for bonus days. It's worth it for some people to book flights to SLC to catch the storm predicted for the coming weekend.
Greek Peak in central New York State got 18 inches in less than 48 hours. It's one of the independent ski areas on the Indy Pass.
How much snow will occur across central New York? Expect a big difference across the area!
Rain showers switched to snow early this morning across the area. A few inches of accumulation has already fallen on the trees and grassy surfaces across Onondaga county with up to 6" expected before changing to rain this afternoon. Keep in mind,melting at the surface is occurring so high...
cnycentral.com
If you mean a service that helps get ski luggage from an airport to a resort . . . I don't think think exists in the USA. People who fly domestically and don't want to deal with a ski bag/hardcase in an airport either rent skis or using a shipping service specifically for skis.
Alta and Brighton went out with a bang this weekend. The snowstorm that started on Friday led to two deep powder days. The Alta parking lot filled up by late morning on Sat and Sun. Unlike other weekends this season, parking was free so it was totally first-come, first-served until the lots and road parking were full.
April 24, 2022 (USA)
Storm Wrap-Up | Utah Daily Snow | Snow Forecast & Ski Report | OpenSnow
What a storm for the Central Wasatch! Not only the water content and snow amounts, but the ski conditions as well. Probably t...opensnow.com
Skiing the last few days has been great with a return to winter. Photos are from today in utah. But temps get warm again tomorrow, plus clouds and winds and maybe some rain to 11000’ on Wednesday night.
There was (very wet with no refreezes) spring skiing for most of the week after Monday. But back to winter for the day today with 4" new and a bunch of wind up in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Gets back to above freezing at 11000' tomorrow so thinking of getting the mountain bike out for a ride tomorrow and see what happens with the possible snowfall Sunday and Monday nights.
The last gasps of the ski season over here continues to be better than the peak season ever was. Going on a road trip without plans to ski the next 10 days or so. Hopefully, there is still some decent skiing when I return back to Utah.
May 9, 2022
Cams at A basin look mid season worthy. Very jealous of everyone in the US getting late may pow
