Had a most pleasant flight from LA to Brisbane. I managed 5 or 6 hours sleep. The Bose noise cancelling headphones will be a necessity for all future flights.
Sitting in Brisbane Airport for a couple of hours waiting for connecting flight to Perth provides the ideal opportunity to recap and reflect on US Ski 2015.
It goes without saying it was an absolutely awesome trip. A little more of the deep stuff would have been good, and it is somewhat ironic that we caught Colorado and Utah in one of their driest Januarys on record. But that's ski vacations. You pay your money you take your chance. We got terrific packed and groomed winter snow everywhere we went.
One of the most striking things about this trip is that each resort had its own special flavour and unique points of difference.
I skied 20 of a possible 24 days on snow in the US. Not a bad result given the mileage covered travelling between resorts and the body management requirements.
It's great to read the Niseko blog and see the team has been getting some quality pow. You've gotta love Japan for the way it can consistently turn it on. Snowbird is renowned for its consistent deep snow in much the same way as is Niseko, so I feel there is an itch that may need some scratching in the future.
Niseko or Snowbird in 2016....that's gonna be a tough call.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Monday, February 9, 2015
Day 24 Snowbird - A mixed bag
Last day in Snowbird dawned dark and gloomy and windy, so I took that as a good excuse to have a lie in. I also needed to pack and check out of the hotel. Got up around 8:30am, had a long leisurely breakfast, sorted out me gear and checked out.
Hit the Peruvian Express at 10:30am. The tram wasn't running. Half way up Peruvian it started snowing hard. Big hail like flakes called Graupel. Caused by turbulence in the cloud that swirls the snow flake around, the Graupel flake gets layered with more and more ice until it becomes too heavy and falls from the sky.
Graupel is like polystyrene pellets and when it accumulates in reasonable depth its like skiing through a big bean bag. It was snowing so hard today that within a couple of hours there was about 2 - 3cm accumulation. More than enough for the bean bag effect.
So the sensation under foot (ski) was very nice indeed. Unfortunately it wasn't matched by the visibility which was appalling. Overall sensation was like skiing through a bean bag with your eyes closed.
Not entirely conducive to relaxing, last day, wind down skiing. I broke for lunch at 1:30pm, keeping an eye on the accumulation because I didn't want to get snowed in and miss my flight.
Lunch was great, I dined at the Fork Lift restaurant which is one of the more posh restaurants in the Snowbird centre...although you wouldn't get that from the name.
I thought what the hell it's me last day....let's splash out. Most the other restaurants were closed so there wasn't a whole lot of options. But lunch was great, and not overly expensive, given it was silver service, and I even had a glass of chardonnay.
It had stopped snowing when I returned to the slopes after lunch. But the visibility was still terrible on top, and the warm temperatures on the bottom meant the snow lower down was very, very heavy and sticky. Elephant snot we call it. A very mixed bag of conditions.
So I called it a day at 3:45pm and returned to the Inn to shower, change, repack my ski gear, and await the shuttle departure at 4:45pm.
Sorry no pics today 'cos me iphone decided it was out of memory, and I'd packed me vid cam. The weather was horrendous anyway.
All in all a fantastic trip. Snowbird is awesome and the perfect epilog to the skiing extravaganza.
Would love to come back sometime, especially if I could get the timing right and hit it with some POW.
Hit the Peruvian Express at 10:30am. The tram wasn't running. Half way up Peruvian it started snowing hard. Big hail like flakes called Graupel. Caused by turbulence in the cloud that swirls the snow flake around, the Graupel flake gets layered with more and more ice until it becomes too heavy and falls from the sky.
Graupel is like polystyrene pellets and when it accumulates in reasonable depth its like skiing through a big bean bag. It was snowing so hard today that within a couple of hours there was about 2 - 3cm accumulation. More than enough for the bean bag effect.
So the sensation under foot (ski) was very nice indeed. Unfortunately it wasn't matched by the visibility which was appalling. Overall sensation was like skiing through a bean bag with your eyes closed.
Not entirely conducive to relaxing, last day, wind down skiing. I broke for lunch at 1:30pm, keeping an eye on the accumulation because I didn't want to get snowed in and miss my flight.
Lunch was great, I dined at the Fork Lift restaurant which is one of the more posh restaurants in the Snowbird centre...although you wouldn't get that from the name.
I thought what the hell it's me last day....let's splash out. Most the other restaurants were closed so there wasn't a whole lot of options. But lunch was great, and not overly expensive, given it was silver service, and I even had a glass of chardonnay.
It had stopped snowing when I returned to the slopes after lunch. But the visibility was still terrible on top, and the warm temperatures on the bottom meant the snow lower down was very, very heavy and sticky. Elephant snot we call it. A very mixed bag of conditions.
So I called it a day at 3:45pm and returned to the Inn to shower, change, repack my ski gear, and await the shuttle departure at 4:45pm.
Sorry no pics today 'cos me iphone decided it was out of memory, and I'd packed me vid cam. The weather was horrendous anyway.
All in all a fantastic trip. Snowbird is awesome and the perfect epilog to the skiing extravaganza.
Would love to come back sometime, especially if I could get the timing right and hit it with some POW.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Day 23 Snowbird - Boogying in the bumps
Another late start today. Hit the tram at 10am. It dawned another blue bird day but I got engrossed watching Eddie Murphy - Coming to America on TV while I was stretching. You know you're getting skied out when re-runs of 25 year old movies take precedence to hitting the slopes.
I have to say though, this condo is damned luxurious. It's almost a shame to leave it.
The day warmed up and was hot hot hot. The snow that had melted down low yesterday had frozen overnight, so the lower slopes were glass. Even the groomed ones. Surprisingly I seemed to enjoy skidding around on the lower groomed runs doing little short flick flick turns with no hope of holding an edge. It was an achievement just to remain upright. One thing about slick snow, it's extremely easy to turn the skis, so I was enjoying that aspect. And the back was feeling better today, so I could actually get a bit of angulation happening without feeling like I should book a session with the chiropractor.
Stopped off for hot chocolate with whipped cream at Creekside Restaurant at the bottom of the Gadzoom Express. The girl must've misunderstood me 'cos she gave me whipped cream with hot chocolate. Out on the deck a lady enquired why I was having dessert at 11am.
Found a deck chair and stretched out, relaxed for 30 minutes or so. An absolutely stunning day...it's a hard life in the mountains. :-)
Skidded around on the hard snow for a few more runs and then broke for lunch around 1pm. Checked my emails and found I had an email from Bankwest credit card fraud section. Apparently they'd noticed a couple of suspicious transactions on my credit card and they needed me to call them. So called BW for a chat and we ended up putting a hold on my card because the transactions were not me. So someone, somewhere has phished my card. I've been pretty careful where I've been using it....Symo did warn me. My guess is that it was probably at Denver airport.
Anyway it appears someone has been spending up large at Walmart in Carterville (where ever the f*** that is) on my dime. From what BW says, Walmart will cop it because they didn't verify the card. The sooner the US gets with the program and ditches signing for PINs the better.
I have to say I'm most impressed with BW's attention in spotting the potentially fraudulent transactions, putting a hold on the card, and promptly alerting me. Given I'm only in the US for another 24 hours and my ATM card is still good, I should be OK, but the BW rep said he would keep the card active (but on hold) and if I need to use it in an emergency I can call them and they will release the hold for the time it takes for me to pay for whatever. Pretty dialled in I reckon.
That problem solved, I mysteriously had a burst of late afternoon energy, and skied a couple of the steep shady faces off Cirque Traverse in Peruvian Gulch beneath the tram. The snow was fabulous...still. I followed some local chicks down one chute (showing off) and it got seriously narrow. Luckily I was able to cut out and ski a much more open face.
The turns really were feeling good...way more flexibility in the torso than I've had for the past week or so.
Deciding I might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb I took a run down the shirt front bumps - ie black diamond bumps beneath Peruvian Express. A run called Silver Fox. The bumps were big, steep and crusty...slushy snow just starting to harden as the sun descended in the afternoon sky.
It wasn't so much boogying in the bumps as doing the zimmer frame shuffle in the bumps, but I really enjoyed it. It's very satisfying to be able to navigate such a challenging bump run in total control and with style if not athleticism. To any of the Niseko crew that may read this, I was squashing the bug all the way down.
I was feeling so exuberant I jumped on Peruvian Express at 3:55pm for one last run. Hit the steep shady slopes again, gave the bumps a miss in favour of a groomed cool down and pulled into the base area at 4:20pm.
A day that started in ho hum fashion turning into a classic.
I have to say though, this condo is damned luxurious. It's almost a shame to leave it.
The day warmed up and was hot hot hot. The snow that had melted down low yesterday had frozen overnight, so the lower slopes were glass. Even the groomed ones. Surprisingly I seemed to enjoy skidding around on the lower groomed runs doing little short flick flick turns with no hope of holding an edge. It was an achievement just to remain upright. One thing about slick snow, it's extremely easy to turn the skis, so I was enjoying that aspect. And the back was feeling better today, so I could actually get a bit of angulation happening without feeling like I should book a session with the chiropractor.
Stopped off for hot chocolate with whipped cream at Creekside Restaurant at the bottom of the Gadzoom Express. The girl must've misunderstood me 'cos she gave me whipped cream with hot chocolate. Out on the deck a lady enquired why I was having dessert at 11am.
Found a deck chair and stretched out, relaxed for 30 minutes or so. An absolutely stunning day...it's a hard life in the mountains. :-)
 |
| Gad Valley |
Anyway it appears someone has been spending up large at Walmart in Carterville (where ever the f*** that is) on my dime. From what BW says, Walmart will cop it because they didn't verify the card. The sooner the US gets with the program and ditches signing for PINs the better.
I have to say I'm most impressed with BW's attention in spotting the potentially fraudulent transactions, putting a hold on the card, and promptly alerting me. Given I'm only in the US for another 24 hours and my ATM card is still good, I should be OK, but the BW rep said he would keep the card active (but on hold) and if I need to use it in an emergency I can call them and they will release the hold for the time it takes for me to pay for whatever. Pretty dialled in I reckon.
That problem solved, I mysteriously had a burst of late afternoon energy, and skied a couple of the steep shady faces off Cirque Traverse in Peruvian Gulch beneath the tram. The snow was fabulous...still. I followed some local chicks down one chute (showing off) and it got seriously narrow. Luckily I was able to cut out and ski a much more open face.
The turns really were feeling good...way more flexibility in the torso than I've had for the past week or so.
 |
| The open face in the middle, narrow chute to left |
Deciding I might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb I took a run down the shirt front bumps - ie black diamond bumps beneath Peruvian Express. A run called Silver Fox. The bumps were big, steep and crusty...slushy snow just starting to harden as the sun descended in the afternoon sky.
It wasn't so much boogying in the bumps as doing the zimmer frame shuffle in the bumps, but I really enjoyed it. It's very satisfying to be able to navigate such a challenging bump run in total control and with style if not athleticism. To any of the Niseko crew that may read this, I was squashing the bug all the way down.
I was feeling so exuberant I jumped on Peruvian Express at 3:55pm for one last run. Hit the steep shady slopes again, gave the bumps a miss in favour of a groomed cool down and pulled into the base area at 4:20pm.
A day that started in ho hum fashion turning into a classic.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Day 22 Snowbird - The Aerial Flyer
I made it to the Peruvian Express by 9:45am. No excuses just found it a bit hard to get motivated. The day was kinda overcast, flat light, and I've done a lot of skiing. Before leaving on this trip I wasn't sure if the body would hold up for 20 odd days skiing but it's done pretty well. Today was my 18th day on snow.
The tram was closed again, although it didn't feel very windy. Fifty metres up the hill we heard an unmistakeable noise. The sleeping giant was being awoken from its slumber. They were firing up the Aerial Flyer.
The tag line for today could have been Double Black Diamond, or Off Piste Heaven, or Chuting up in Snowbird, because I skied off piste double black faces and chutes all day. It was a very full day. But the Aerial Flyer was pretty special.
So we'll skip the first three or four runs down the steep walls of Baldy's Bowl, the next bowl over from Peruvian Bowl, kinda like having two Mt Hutts side by side. I had started the day off content to do ski instructor type turns on the groomed, flat light, sore body and all that. My turns took me down to Creekside at the far right of the area because I hadn't yet been there. I rode the Gadzoom High Speed Quad into Gad Valley (Breckenridge could learn a few things from Snowbird) with a very nice local girl who responded to my praise of her ski resort by saying I should ride Little Cloud Lift to the top because there would be great soft snow on the shady faces of Baldys Bowl. I did and there was.
The snow was sublime. It was like skiing the Towers at Mt Hutt a few days after a storm when the snow has packed down but is still soft and you just sink into it. Ego snow.
Snowbird has some really amazing terrain, and the best thing about it....no bumps. There are bumps but there's a ton of smooth, steep off piste terrain. Something we couldn't seem to find at any of the other places we visited.
So that was the first three or four runs that I wasn't gonna tell you about. After those three of four, or five or six runs I headed to the bottom to take a fun ride on the tram.
And what an experience it was.
The Snowbird tram has a capacity of 125 skiers. It is massive.
One of the most striking things about it is that it travels above the resort. The towers are so high you're looking down on the resort the whole time. It's like being in a helicopter. The tram runs above Peruvian Gulch. As you're gliding to the top you can look across at the Peruvian Gulch ridge line and watch people dropping off the ridge into the chutes below. When the tram blasts past the towers it dips and sways gently like a cruise liner ploughing through a swell.
The most striking thing about riding the tram however, is the din from 125 skiers all talking at the same time...as only Americans can.
In addition to being a pretty spectacular way to access the top of the mountain the tram opens up some amazing terrain along the walls of Peruvian Gulch.
It took me a while to pluck up the courage to drop into one of the chutes off Cirque Traverse (the ridge above Peruvian Gulch) but once in, the snow was superb and the slope comfortably steep. It was such an adrenalin rush, I rode the tram back up and skied it again.
As you can probably tell from the pics it didn't stay grey and overcast for too long. Turned out to be a very nice day. Overall I'm very impressed with Snowbird. It's got it all, amazing terrain, terrific snow given the drought conditions, and a functional no frills base area. Terrain and snow wise it would be my pick of all the resorts we've visited.
The tram was closed again, although it didn't feel very windy. Fifty metres up the hill we heard an unmistakeable noise. The sleeping giant was being awoken from its slumber. They were firing up the Aerial Flyer.
The tag line for today could have been Double Black Diamond, or Off Piste Heaven, or Chuting up in Snowbird, because I skied off piste double black faces and chutes all day. It was a very full day. But the Aerial Flyer was pretty special.
 |
| Alta customs and immigration at top of Mineral Basin |
So we'll skip the first three or four runs down the steep walls of Baldy's Bowl, the next bowl over from Peruvian Bowl, kinda like having two Mt Hutts side by side. I had started the day off content to do ski instructor type turns on the groomed, flat light, sore body and all that. My turns took me down to Creekside at the far right of the area because I hadn't yet been there. I rode the Gadzoom High Speed Quad into Gad Valley (Breckenridge could learn a few things from Snowbird) with a very nice local girl who responded to my praise of her ski resort by saying I should ride Little Cloud Lift to the top because there would be great soft snow on the shady faces of Baldys Bowl. I did and there was.
 |
| Baldys Bowl. Nice pitch, awesome snow. |
 |
| Baldys Bowl |
The snow was sublime. It was like skiing the Towers at Mt Hutt a few days after a storm when the snow has packed down but is still soft and you just sink into it. Ego snow.
 |
| Hamilton Cliffs in Mineral Basin |
 |
| Satisfied got down Hamilton in one piece. |
Snowbird has some really amazing terrain, and the best thing about it....no bumps. There are bumps but there's a ton of smooth, steep off piste terrain. Something we couldn't seem to find at any of the other places we visited.
So that was the first three or four runs that I wasn't gonna tell you about. After those three of four, or five or six runs I headed to the bottom to take a fun ride on the tram.
And what an experience it was.
The Snowbird tram has a capacity of 125 skiers. It is massive.
One of the most striking things about it is that it travels above the resort. The towers are so high you're looking down on the resort the whole time. It's like being in a helicopter. The tram runs above Peruvian Gulch. As you're gliding to the top you can look across at the Peruvian Gulch ridge line and watch people dropping off the ridge into the chutes below. When the tram blasts past the towers it dips and sways gently like a cruise liner ploughing through a swell.
The most striking thing about riding the tram however, is the din from 125 skiers all talking at the same time...as only Americans can.
In addition to being a pretty spectacular way to access the top of the mountain the tram opens up some amazing terrain along the walls of Peruvian Gulch.
It took me a while to pluck up the courage to drop into one of the chutes off Cirque Traverse (the ridge above Peruvian Gulch) but once in, the snow was superb and the slope comfortably steep. It was such an adrenalin rush, I rode the tram back up and skied it again.
 |
| Middle Cirque accessed from the tram. I skied this baby twice. |
 |
| Looking down from Baldys Bowl. |
As you can probably tell from the pics it didn't stay grey and overcast for too long. Turned out to be a very nice day. Overall I'm very impressed with Snowbird. It's got it all, amazing terrain, terrific snow given the drought conditions, and a functional no frills base area. Terrain and snow wise it would be my pick of all the resorts we've visited.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Day 21 Snowbird - Mount Hutt on steroids
The pull down bed provided a remarkably comfortable sleep. I awoke just before 8am fully intending to get to the tram by 9am. An hour to cook and eat pancakes, roll, stretch, get into the ski kit and walk the 100m to the lift should be plenty of time yeah?
Trouble is the pancakes took way longer than expected to cook. The stupid electric element just wouldn't heat up. I so prefer cooking with gas, it's instant heat. I had the element on medium but out of frustration I turned it up to high. In the meantime I burnt 3 rounds of toast because I was getting so distracted by the pancakes and the element that refused to heat up. Eventually I put me specs on and it all became clear. I'd turned the element down to low, not up to high. :-)
The mystery of the reluctant element solved I finally tucked into my pancakes and peanut butter on toast. No coffee though, I'd forgotten to get it at the supermarket so had to settle for mountain dew.
I got to the tram at 9:45am, not acceptable by Mason standards but what can you do. The tram wasn't running... too windy, so I boarded the nearest high speed quad, Peruvian Express, and headed up. My chairlift buddy was a very friendly snowboarder chap who told me this was the windiest day of the season and every other time he'd ridden Snowbird there'd been at least a foot of fresh powder....spewing.
We crested the ridge that towers above the 'village' and entered a massive bowl called Peruvian Gulch, which was quite reminiscent of Mt Hutt...only bigger (naturally this is America), and with lots of trees. The wind picked up and the chair was getting buffeted around quite a bit...the similarities with Mount Hutt continued. This particular chair terminated at the base of a cliff about 30m from the top of the bowl. I got off the chair and slid past a hole in the cliff face...a tunnel with a magic carpet that people were entering and being whisked away into the darkness. I'll have to check that out I thought, but first things first, warm up run. The wind was blowing snow around and it became immediately evident that there were some fabulous pockets of wind drifted powder.
I started on a blue called Chip's Run but got drawn into a black called Primrose Path, a natural half pipe that was loaded with wind drifted snow. Not sure why it's rated black, it was awesome. The snow was so soft, the next best thing to actual powder.
I rode Peruvian Express again, the howling wind, appeared to be getting stronger. Mt Hutt probably would be closed under similar conditions. Exiting Peruvian I lined up the magic carpet for a run through the tunnel. The tunnel, about 100m long, cuts through the mountain and comes out the other side in a bowl called Mineral Basin. In contrast to the blustery conditions of Peruvian Gulch, Mineral was completely calm.
More stunning scenery and terrific snow. I got a couple of runs in Mineral Basin before the wind got up. Somehow it went from calm to gale in 15 minutes. They kept the Mineral Express running to allow people to get back to the other side. By the time I got to the other side the wind was raging like Mt Hutt on steroids. I took a couple of runs on lower lifts but visibility was getting pretty tough, horizontal blowing snow will do that. By 1:30pm they'd closed the whole mountain. Apparently a first for Snowbird this season.
All in all I didn't get a whole lot of skiing in today. But what skiing I got was pretty good. Snowbird is an amazing mountain with a ton of wicked terrain, and the snow condition is as good as anywhere. Compared to other places we've been the runs are quite narrow, and quite crowded given Snowbird's close proximity to Salt Lake City. Didn't see too many decent skiers....none in fact. Lots of kids on stunt skis blasting around out of control.
Wasn't that bothered about early finish. Hit the gym for a workout, then hot tub. Soaking in the hot tub surrounded by the mountains was pretty special.
Bought some groceries and gonna have a cook up at home tonight. Will definately hit the tram by 9am tomorrow.
Trouble is the pancakes took way longer than expected to cook. The stupid electric element just wouldn't heat up. I so prefer cooking with gas, it's instant heat. I had the element on medium but out of frustration I turned it up to high. In the meantime I burnt 3 rounds of toast because I was getting so distracted by the pancakes and the element that refused to heat up. Eventually I put me specs on and it all became clear. I'd turned the element down to low, not up to high. :-)
The mystery of the reluctant element solved I finally tucked into my pancakes and peanut butter on toast. No coffee though, I'd forgotten to get it at the supermarket so had to settle for mountain dew.
I got to the tram at 9:45am, not acceptable by Mason standards but what can you do. The tram wasn't running... too windy, so I boarded the nearest high speed quad, Peruvian Express, and headed up. My chairlift buddy was a very friendly snowboarder chap who told me this was the windiest day of the season and every other time he'd ridden Snowbird there'd been at least a foot of fresh powder....spewing.
 |
| Peruvian Express quad and the Cliffs complex beyond. Not sure how it got it's name. |
We crested the ridge that towers above the 'village' and entered a massive bowl called Peruvian Gulch, which was quite reminiscent of Mt Hutt...only bigger (naturally this is America), and with lots of trees. The wind picked up and the chair was getting buffeted around quite a bit...the similarities with Mount Hutt continued. This particular chair terminated at the base of a cliff about 30m from the top of the bowl. I got off the chair and slid past a hole in the cliff face...a tunnel with a magic carpet that people were entering and being whisked away into the darkness. I'll have to check that out I thought, but first things first, warm up run. The wind was blowing snow around and it became immediately evident that there were some fabulous pockets of wind drifted powder.
I started on a blue called Chip's Run but got drawn into a black called Primrose Path, a natural half pipe that was loaded with wind drifted snow. Not sure why it's rated black, it was awesome. The snow was so soft, the next best thing to actual powder.
I rode Peruvian Express again, the howling wind, appeared to be getting stronger. Mt Hutt probably would be closed under similar conditions. Exiting Peruvian I lined up the magic carpet for a run through the tunnel. The tunnel, about 100m long, cuts through the mountain and comes out the other side in a bowl called Mineral Basin. In contrast to the blustery conditions of Peruvian Gulch, Mineral was completely calm.
 |
| Mineral Basin |
All in all I didn't get a whole lot of skiing in today. But what skiing I got was pretty good. Snowbird is an amazing mountain with a ton of wicked terrain, and the snow condition is as good as anywhere. Compared to other places we've been the runs are quite narrow, and quite crowded given Snowbird's close proximity to Salt Lake City. Didn't see too many decent skiers....none in fact. Lots of kids on stunt skis blasting around out of control.
 |
| Snowbird base area the Inn is right foreground. |
Bought some groceries and gonna have a cook up at home tonight. Will definately hit the tram by 9am tomorrow.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Day 20 Snowbird - The bird is the word
Another down day today. Slept in until 9:00am. Had a surprisingly good sleep given the Airport Inn is one of the noisiest hotels I've ever stayed in. Being located right next to SLC International Airport there were planes coming and going all night.
Breakfasted at the hotel and caught the hotel shuttle back to the airport to catch the Alta Shuttle to Snowbird...comprendez?
The ride out of town was unique. It's not every day you find yourself bombing along a six lane freeway in the outer suburbs of a major city with towering mountain ranges on three sides.
The conversation of my fellow shuttleites was a little on the gloomy side...much more snow in previous years, the snow should be thick on the ground in the valley this time of year, global warming etc.
It was a beautiful and warm day. A great day to be taking a ride into the mountains.
Snowbird is only 26 miles from down town SLC, so it only took 40 odd minutes to get there. Unlike Telluride where once we left the plains and hit the snow we seemed to drive for miles before reaching the resort, with Snowbird it's a sudden steep climb just before the resort, so one minute there's very little snow and the next minute you're surrounded by it.
Snowbird is another fascinating place and entirely different from all the other resorts we've visited. It comprises two distinct ski areas (Snowbird and Alta) that are interconnected but that don't share the same lift pass. If I wish to ski across to Alta I have to pay a $32 upgrade on my lift pass.
The resorts are owned and operated by two different companies.
When approaching from SLC you hit Snowbird first, Alta is only another 500m up the road. For all intents and purposes they appear to be the one resort.
The Bird is a purpose build resort. There is no town as such. There are resort complexes sprinkled along the extremely narrow valley floor. I'm staying in a complex called The Inn. It's a seven story apartment building equipped with a gym and outdoor heated pool, and hot tubs. The Snowbird base area complex is situated a short walk from the Inn.
The Snowbird Centre is a multi story building that contains several restaurants, ski shops, resort offices, the aerial tram (yes SB has an aerial tram), and a decent sized supermarket.
The Snowbird company owns and operates everything. I was given a guest card which allows me to book up all my purchases to my room. But I keep forgetting to use it and so far have been paying with my credit card.
The whole operation is really slick. I popped into the supermarket to get some breakfast supplies, and the nice young checkout girl asked me if I would like her to call a shuttle to take me back to my apartment. I said thanks but I think I can manage the 5 minute walk with my groceries. Basically they've got shuttles on demand for guests.
And now to my apartment. It's awesome. I'm on the 3rd floor but I took the elevator down from reception. There's a massive balcony that opens out onto the panoramic mountain vista. It's got a well equipped kitchen, fire place, powder room...that's right powder room, and a wall bed. I have to pull the wall bed out, it doesn't have a remote, but you can't have everything I guess.
The weather was very warm today, and it got quite windy in the afternoon. That warm norwester type wind, so I expect the snow will be spring conditions down low tomorrow. The plan is to hit the tram early-ish...I haven't ridden a tram since Kitzbuhel in 1984, so that's gonna be another little piece of novelty.
Mason called to have a chat and tell me their flight out of Denver had been cancelled so they're overnighting in Denver.
Breakfasted at the hotel and caught the hotel shuttle back to the airport to catch the Alta Shuttle to Snowbird...comprendez?
The ride out of town was unique. It's not every day you find yourself bombing along a six lane freeway in the outer suburbs of a major city with towering mountain ranges on three sides.
The conversation of my fellow shuttleites was a little on the gloomy side...much more snow in previous years, the snow should be thick on the ground in the valley this time of year, global warming etc.
It was a beautiful and warm day. A great day to be taking a ride into the mountains.
Snowbird is only 26 miles from down town SLC, so it only took 40 odd minutes to get there. Unlike Telluride where once we left the plains and hit the snow we seemed to drive for miles before reaching the resort, with Snowbird it's a sudden steep climb just before the resort, so one minute there's very little snow and the next minute you're surrounded by it.
Snowbird is another fascinating place and entirely different from all the other resorts we've visited. It comprises two distinct ski areas (Snowbird and Alta) that are interconnected but that don't share the same lift pass. If I wish to ski across to Alta I have to pay a $32 upgrade on my lift pass.
The resorts are owned and operated by two different companies.
 |
| Snowbird from my balcony |
When approaching from SLC you hit Snowbird first, Alta is only another 500m up the road. For all intents and purposes they appear to be the one resort.
The Bird is a purpose build resort. There is no town as such. There are resort complexes sprinkled along the extremely narrow valley floor. I'm staying in a complex called The Inn. It's a seven story apartment building equipped with a gym and outdoor heated pool, and hot tubs. The Snowbird base area complex is situated a short walk from the Inn.
The Snowbird Centre is a multi story building that contains several restaurants, ski shops, resort offices, the aerial tram (yes SB has an aerial tram), and a decent sized supermarket.
The Snowbird company owns and operates everything. I was given a guest card which allows me to book up all my purchases to my room. But I keep forgetting to use it and so far have been paying with my credit card.
 |
| The Bird from inside my apartment |
 |
| The Bird is the word |
The whole operation is really slick. I popped into the supermarket to get some breakfast supplies, and the nice young checkout girl asked me if I would like her to call a shuttle to take me back to my apartment. I said thanks but I think I can manage the 5 minute walk with my groceries. Basically they've got shuttles on demand for guests.
And now to my apartment. It's awesome. I'm on the 3rd floor but I took the elevator down from reception. There's a massive balcony that opens out onto the panoramic mountain vista. It's got a well equipped kitchen, fire place, powder room...that's right powder room, and a wall bed. I have to pull the wall bed out, it doesn't have a remote, but you can't have everything I guess.
The weather was very warm today, and it got quite windy in the afternoon. That warm norwester type wind, so I expect the snow will be spring conditions down low tomorrow. The plan is to hit the tram early-ish...I haven't ridden a tram since Kitzbuhel in 1984, so that's gonna be another little piece of novelty.
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| That's the other side of the valley behind me |
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| Looking towards Snowbird from the same place as above. See how narrow the valley is. |
Mason called to have a chat and tell me their flight out of Denver had been cancelled so they're overnighting in Denver.
Day 19 Aspen - Stuck in Aspen and all that jazz
I was up early on Aspen departure day. Mason and Claire dropped me off at Aspen airport at 7:50am well ahead of the 9:20am departure time.
It was snowing lightly as has been the norm for the past few days, but I'd checked the Aspen airport channel before leaving and all flights were on time.
And there were three planes on the ground. Joanie Valentine had assured me last night that as long as the planes were on the ground they would be able to get them away even if the weather was dodgy. Landing in bad weather was the problem. So I felt confident as I sipped my coffee.
At 8:15am we were informed the 9:20 flight had been delayed until 10:00am due to a snow storm over Denver airport. No big drama I would still have time to make my connecting flight in Denver.
At 9:50am the delay was bumped out to 10:30am. Starting to get worried now because that would make it extremely tight for the connecting flight. Ground staff assured me that the connecting flight out of Denver to Salt Lake City was delayed also and I should be fine. And in any case there was a 3.30pm Denver to SLC flight in the event I missed my connecting flight.
Finally at 10:30 the flight was cleared to go, however a minor maintenance issue would delay departure until 10:45. At 10:45 another announcement informed us that the maintenance issue was taking longer than expected and there would be a further delay of 1 1/2 hours. Expected departure 12:30pm.
I called a United customer service number and was told I'd missed my original connecting flight, and the 3.30pm flight was full but they could get me on a 6:55pm flight. Not much good to me, the ball game was due to tip off at 7pm.
I resigned myself to getting into SLC around 8:30pm and missing the ball game.
Eventually the maintenance issue was resolved, we were allowed to board and were away by 12:40pm. The flight was brief...35 minutes, so I was into Denver by 1:15pm. Raced to the United customer service desk, and the very nice man confirmed me on the 6:55pm flight and also gave me a standby boarding pass for the 3:30pm flight. He said it was full, but you never know your luck and he had put me near the top of the standby list. It appeared there were quite a few people wanting to get on the 3:30 flight.
I grabbed a coffee and sandwich and headed over to gate B92 to wait for boarding. Eventually the boarding announcement was made, the gate attendant said there was one spare seat and they would see if there were any other no shows after final boarding.
Finally all confirmed passengers had boarded and there were about 10 people hovering hopefully around the gate. The standby competition.
The attendant announced that there was one empty seat only and would Mark Power please come to the gate. I could not believe my luck. It was like winning lotto. I could feel the daggers in my back as I collected my boarding pass, thanked the attendant profusely and bounded down the air bridge.
The flight was fabulous. The descent into Salt Lake City was particularly impressive. SLC is nestled in the foothills of some pretty spectacular mountains, so as you lose altitude you're glancing across at jagged peaks that you feel like you could touch.
Got the shuttle to the hotel, dumped my stuff, quick change and legged it a couple hundred metres down the road to the light rail station. Bought a ticket for $2.50 which got me to the station right outside the arena.
The teams were still going through their warm up drills as I settled into my seat. The seat was awesome. Five rows back directly behind the Utah Jazz bench. The atmosphere was amazing. It was a great game although the Jazz trailed for most the game and ended up losing by 10 points. The size, speed and agility of the players was impressive.
I really enjoyed the game and was stoked that I got there in the end.
I caught the light rail after the game and was back at the hotel by 10:00pm.
Gonna have a bit of a lie in tomorrow, breakfast in the hotel and then back to the airport to catch the shuttle to Snowbird at 11am.
It was snowing lightly as has been the norm for the past few days, but I'd checked the Aspen airport channel before leaving and all flights were on time.
And there were three planes on the ground. Joanie Valentine had assured me last night that as long as the planes were on the ground they would be able to get them away even if the weather was dodgy. Landing in bad weather was the problem. So I felt confident as I sipped my coffee.
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| Limelight L-R: Harry, Andrew, Jamie, Joan, Mason, Claire, Me |
At 8:15am we were informed the 9:20 flight had been delayed until 10:00am due to a snow storm over Denver airport. No big drama I would still have time to make my connecting flight in Denver.
At 9:50am the delay was bumped out to 10:30am. Starting to get worried now because that would make it extremely tight for the connecting flight. Ground staff assured me that the connecting flight out of Denver to Salt Lake City was delayed also and I should be fine. And in any case there was a 3.30pm Denver to SLC flight in the event I missed my connecting flight.
Finally at 10:30 the flight was cleared to go, however a minor maintenance issue would delay departure until 10:45. At 10:45 another announcement informed us that the maintenance issue was taking longer than expected and there would be a further delay of 1 1/2 hours. Expected departure 12:30pm.
I called a United customer service number and was told I'd missed my original connecting flight, and the 3.30pm flight was full but they could get me on a 6:55pm flight. Not much good to me, the ball game was due to tip off at 7pm.
I resigned myself to getting into SLC around 8:30pm and missing the ball game.
Eventually the maintenance issue was resolved, we were allowed to board and were away by 12:40pm. The flight was brief...35 minutes, so I was into Denver by 1:15pm. Raced to the United customer service desk, and the very nice man confirmed me on the 6:55pm flight and also gave me a standby boarding pass for the 3:30pm flight. He said it was full, but you never know your luck and he had put me near the top of the standby list. It appeared there were quite a few people wanting to get on the 3:30 flight.
I grabbed a coffee and sandwich and headed over to gate B92 to wait for boarding. Eventually the boarding announcement was made, the gate attendant said there was one spare seat and they would see if there were any other no shows after final boarding.
Finally all confirmed passengers had boarded and there were about 10 people hovering hopefully around the gate. The standby competition.
The attendant announced that there was one empty seat only and would Mark Power please come to the gate. I could not believe my luck. It was like winning lotto. I could feel the daggers in my back as I collected my boarding pass, thanked the attendant profusely and bounded down the air bridge.
The flight was fabulous. The descent into Salt Lake City was particularly impressive. SLC is nestled in the foothills of some pretty spectacular mountains, so as you lose altitude you're glancing across at jagged peaks that you feel like you could touch.
Got the shuttle to the hotel, dumped my stuff, quick change and legged it a couple hundred metres down the road to the light rail station. Bought a ticket for $2.50 which got me to the station right outside the arena.
The teams were still going through their warm up drills as I settled into my seat. The seat was awesome. Five rows back directly behind the Utah Jazz bench. The atmosphere was amazing. It was a great game although the Jazz trailed for most the game and ended up losing by 10 points. The size, speed and agility of the players was impressive.
I really enjoyed the game and was stoked that I got there in the end.
I caught the light rail after the game and was back at the hotel by 10:00pm.
Gonna have a bit of a lie in tomorrow, breakfast in the hotel and then back to the airport to catch the shuttle to Snowbird at 11am.
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