Last Sunday, I skied at Alta’s “first last day” with the full intention of it being the final day of the season. But a late-April shot of snow in the Wasatch gave us another foot or so of powder, and my skis in the basement started calling out to me through the heater vents. So the crew got together one last time for a final backcountry ski tour. But where to go? Most areas in the Wasatch were practically bare thanks to our unseasonably warm spring. So we chose Solitude, which closed a few weeks ago.
The thought was that ski runs would still have a decent base from a season’s-worth of skier compaction, grooming, and snow making. We were mostly right.
Driving to Solitude, it felt like winter returned to the Wasatch. The fresh snow was like new, white paint on the mountains, trees, and Solitude’s base village. Our group of six geared up and skinned beneath ghost lifts right up the front side beneath Moonbeam. Snow continued to fall on the ascent and fog rolled in and out throughout the morning. In under two hours, we made it to the top of the Powderhorn II lift.
Skiing down, the snow didn’t feel as deep as the foot of snow forecasted and it was all a bit wind affected. Nevertheless, the turns were soft, especially in the gladed trees between runs. But despite the cloud cover, the snow got wet by 1 o’clock. After just one run, it was time to call it a day.
While the final run of the season (for me anyway) wasn’t nearly as epic as Alta the week before, it was still a pleasant tour. Because how often do you get to ski powder on the last run of the winter?