The winter of 2014/15 will long go down as the worst season ever. But you won’t hear any skiers complaining today as the Wasatch has been pounded with the biggest storm in four years. April 15, 2015 will now be a day long remembered as Alta and Snowbird are reporting (as of this writing) 40 inches of new snow in 24 hours, and it’s still coming down. I skied with Justin Lozier at Alta all day and powder-pigged nonstop. Runs off the Wildcat lift were easily the deepest where laps on Westward Ho were choice. Over on the High Traverse, the snow was deep but wind affected. However, as the day went on and the winds picked up even more, old tracks filled in and the snow buffed out, making it an afternoon unexpected refill.
Basically, April 15, 2015 was the best, deepest day of powder skiing of the year. Every turn was a face shot. Every turn was bottomless. Every turn was a release of frustration about our dry winter. It’s about time winter came back to Utah! The best part is: the snow is still coming down, so the rest of the week should be awesome skiing until Alta’s soft closure on April 19th.
To get an idea of how crazy big this storm is, here are some numbers:
At 7 p.m. on April 15th, Snowbird is reporting 40 inches of snow in 24 hours.
The National Weather Service Salt Lake Office says as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, the 4.8 inches of snow recorded at the airport is more than we received in all of January, February, and March combined.
Also at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, the Collins weather station recorded 11 inches of snowfall in 4 hours.
If there is a time to go skiing at Alta or Snowbird, the time is now!