To much of a good thing? Not if you’re talking about snow… unless that snow shuts down ski resorts. Salt Lake area resorts in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon are in clean-up mode after a massive winter storm blew in with wet snow measured in feet, 100-per-mile-an-hour winds, and high avalanche danger. But while Solitude and Alta are closed for all or part of the day Monday, this too much of a good thing will provide a much needed base for the next storm arriving by Christmas.
According to the Utah Avalanche Center, the upper Cottonwood Canyons got hammered with 1-2 feet of very heavy, dense snow on Sunday, with a water equivalent between 2 and 4 inches. In addition, wind blasted the mountaintops at 60 mph with gusts around 100 mph. The Monday morning aftermath includes very high avalanche danger with natural slides likely, downed trees at ski areas, and power outages. The result: Little to no lifts running while crews get resort operations back to normal.
Alta had a delayed opening until 11 a.m. but finally got Wildcat, Collins and Sunnyside up and running for the rest of the day. After this storm, they say there is now enough snowpack for all Alta lifts will be open for the remainder of the season.
Over at Snowbird, mountain operations delayed opening any terrain other than Chickadee. The unstable snowpack and fallen trees made the entire mountain unsafe and crews needed the day to clean up and dig out.
In Big Cottonwood Canyon, Brighton had delayed lift openings with only the Explorer lift and Majestic Quad running.
Solitude flat out closed for the day due to the high winds and downed trees.
Other lifts hold were reported on the Park City side of the Wasatch as well.
The good news is that all this snow will set us up for an epic Christmas ski holiday and set the stage for a good, deep snowpack for the remainder of the season, so keep it coming!
For more information and to stay updated on current conditions and lift openings at al Utah ski resorts, check out SkiUtah.com