POW Day is coming to Little Cottonwood Canyon in January. Of course, there’s a pow day at Alta and Snowbird every time it snows, but this POW day is a bit different. Back in September, 2015, Ski Utah announced a partnership with Protect Our Winters (POW) to help raise awareness about climate change and the…
Tag: Alta
The big powder storm of December, 2015
Man, it feels like it’s been a very, very long time since Utah has received a snow storm as big as the one that slammed the state on December 20th through the 22nd. After a dismal ski season last year, and a slow start this fall, it’s seemed like forever since I felt a series…
False sun dog, rotten hoars, and a thirst-driven mirage
I saw a sun dog today. A sun dog is a rainbow of color that encircles the sun. According to Wikipedia, “sun dogs are commonly caused by the refraction of light from plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals either in high and cold or cirrostratus clouds or, during very cold weather, drifting in the air at low…
Happy with crappy on Utah’s 2015 ski season opening weekend
Maybe I’m just used to a lack of snow after years of below-average snowfall in Utah, because opening weekend at Alta was spectacular. Sure, there was only a 25-inch base and only a few intermediate runs were open, but I didn’t care. I had the time of my life just cruising groomers under the Collins…
Alta and Snowbird open for 2015/16 ski season (video)
Alta opened for the 2015/16 ski season on Friday, November 20, and conditions were much better than anyone anticipated. Ski Utah blogger, Matt Baydala, noted that he didn’t expect much, so didn’t bother to bring his good cameras. He was wrong to doubt the power of Alta. But at least he was able to put…
Superior Turns TUNE UP Camp at Alta
Longtime Alta skiers, Brant Moles and Jesse Weeks, have started up a new ski guide service in Utah. It’s called Superior Turns, and they aim to show the “serious leisure enthusiast” a damn good time. Their first venture this season will be TUNE UP Camp at Alta. On December 5-7, the camp will be an…
Patience and the long wait for winter
Photos of people skiing at Alta flood my Facebook feed, and my heart quickens at the sight. A week before, a large storm dropped over a foot of snow in the high country, and the die-hards are getting after it on a Wednesday morning. I like to consider myself a die-hard, but not to the…
5 early-season backcountry ski tours in Utah
Backcountry skiers are an impatient lot. As soon as the first couple inches of autumn snow falls in Utah, die-hards risk knee-and-ski injuries just to eek out a few turns on barely-covered slopes. But you don’t have to destroy your rock skis to backcountry ski tour in Utah. There are several places you can ski…
It’s October, time to get ready for winter
October 26th, 2010. It looked more like February than early fall. That year, in the waning days of October, a three-day storm dropped 45 inches of snow in the Devil’s Castle and Sugarloaf area at Alta. Although it was weeks before the resort’s scheduled opening, a mad rush of backcountry skiers descended on Little Cottonwood…
Run Alta at the Cotopaxi 5k/10k
Looking for a trail-running race to end your summer? Alta is hosting the Cotopaxi 5k and 10k race on Saturday, September 19th. It’s a run that takes participants through some of Alta’s most stunning terrain and scenery. It begins at the Albion Lodge and winds up into Albion Basin where views of Devil’s Castle await….