Utah ski trip

View from Alta

Despite all the fun trips I get to go on for work i still take some of my own.

My brother and I planned a ski trip to Utah a couple of months ago. The plan was to fly out early Thursday morning - take advantage of the quick start ski pass - which gives you free skiing on your day of arrival - and then ski Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We stayed with Adam and his roommates down in Salt Lake City.

Riding the lift at Alta

Of course great plans never go as planned. On our way out an ice storm hit salt lake and our flight was diverted to Denver where we waited for several hours. Eventually we made it to salt lake around 5 or 6ish. Managed to rent a ford focus and head to Adam's. We contemplated night skiing but were both exhausted after our 445 am est wake up. We went to the red iguana - an awesome Mexican place and called it a night.

Friday Stephen and I drove up to alta. We skied there all day with a brief stop for some lunch. It was great. No crazy powder but nice snow ( especially for nc natives). Friday night we hit up a local Thai place and crashed early.

Adam in the backcountry

Saturday Adam was off and the avalanche forecast looked promising ( for no avalanches) so we headed to Mill D in big cotton wood canyon. We skinned up a summer road past multiple cabins and eventually entered the groves of tree and made our way up to an open peak. It took about 3 hours to make it up. We saw several other groups out as well. We dug a snow pit and used compasses and a cline meter to determine the best way down. It had just started snowing as we headed down.

Going down we cut through fresh powder with a few tracks and then cut through the groves of aspen trees. It was awesome!!

Fried Twinkies

We sorta skipped lunch - so hit the bayou for dinner and beers. Plus fried twinkles for dessert :)

Today ( Sunday) we hit snowbird for a couple hours of skiing prior to flying home. For the first time you could see blue sky when we left salt lake. By the time we made it to snowbird the snow was beginning to fall. It became heavier as the day progressed. To the point all the ski tracks were covered up by the time you rode the lift to the top. It was a bit windy too.
We made it back down to salt lake as planned to catch the plane. The trip to the airport was a little sketchy as the roads were completely covered in snow. I drove pretty slowly as the ford focus isn't a great snow vehicle. We made it through security and grabbed a bite to eat prior to heading to the gate. The snow continued to come down and our plane was diverted elsewhere. Not a good travel trip for e. after over a 4 hour delay we are headed home with a 3 am arrival time. Ugh!

The trip was well worth it. Two great days of resort skiing and a day in the backcountry!