Day 1, October Powder - Main Baldy

The endless Autumn in the Wasatch has come to an abrupt end. Friday, I was up at Snowbird in a T-shirt and shorts, enjoying the fall colors while running a bit of a TT up Hidden Peak (49:34). On the summit, snow flakes were starting to fall and being under prepared as usual, I got a bit cold. But, a little ingenuity led to my socks becoming mittens and all was well.

Autumn succumbing to the inevitable.


Since then, it's been torrential rain in the Valley and an unknown quantity of snow in the mountains...until today.

Yahoos, Bart and Jared, were already planning on checking out the new snow this afternoon. Luckily, I'm working some night shifts and was able to wake up by 3 to meet them at 4 at the BCC park n ride. We car pooled up to Alta (forgetting that they aren't friendly to skiers) and talked about how crappy the skiing would be. We didn't really care though. I think first turns of the year are good no matter what.

Ha. We were wrong. The following pics probably can't convey what 2 feet of creamy powder in October feel like.

Skinning up Main Baldy.





I didn't get any actual skiing shots since I was too busy chasing those guys down the mountain (my boot is still broken...still using a bolt to keep it together, making transitions slow). Impressively, Jared scored the first descent of Baldy this season on skis mounted for the wrong boot. He locked his Dynafit toe piece and free heeled it...looking smooth the whole way.

Once out of the chute, we found decent snow (navigating a few rocks and shrubs) all the way back to the car. Looks like it's becoming a sort of tradition to open and close the season on Baldy.

Let's hope it keeps dumping. My little sister's nickname is Dump or Dumpers. Maybe she can do a dump dance and bless the skies to open up.