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Alta vs Powder Mountain vs Targhee



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 7th 03, 04:53 PM
John Smith
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Posts: n/a
Default Alta vs Powder Mountain vs Targhee

The replies to my "Advice for Father/Son Alta..." were great, but created
more questions!

The reason I chose Alta was because last winter I received an overwhelming
response to take my family to Alta for a great powder experience.

Maybe Alta is not the best place to go with high hopes of experiencing
powder skiing on a budget with a limited window of time.

Maybe racing up to Lake Tahoe at the end of a storm in January and February
for some skiing in 6 to 12 inches of, not quite as dry as Utah, powder is
the way to go until we have more money, more experience, and more time.
Still, I know my son would love me forever (once he finishes his adolescent
years) if I were able to treat him to some knee deep dry powder.

The hardcore skiiers/boarders in rsam/rsa might have higher expectations of
powder quality than us intermediates. Although, I definitely enjoy skiing
where there aren't any tracks!

I definitely want to treat my son to some special skiing while he still
enjoys my company. Airfare to SLC I can afford. Several day trips to Tahoe
I can afford. A trip to Targhee, not as easy.

JS


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  #2  
Old December 7th 03, 06:43 PM
AstroPax
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Posts: n/a
Default

On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 10:53:09 CST, "John Smith"
wrote:

//snip//

I definitely want to treat my son to some special skiing while he still
enjoys my company. Airfare to SLC I can afford. Several day trips to Tahoe
I can afford. A trip to Targhee, not as easy.


With an annual average snowfall of approximately 500",
Alta/Snowbird/Solitude/Brighton average well in excess of 1 foot of
new snow per week throughout the season.

So if you have the freedom, keep an eye on the weather patterns and
time your trip accordingly. During a good winter, I would say that a
decent storm rolls through the Wasatch about every ten days, or so.

If you just show up hoping for deep snow, then it's a hit or miss
proposition. That goes for anywhere, not just Utah.

Like yesterday, or even Friday, one could have looked at the short
term forecast and come to the conclusion that the skiing over the next
several days, starting on Monday, will probably be good. Based on my
personal experience with Wasatch Front forecast accuracies, you can
usually get a general feeling for what's going to occur about 3 days
out.

Here are a few Wasatch Front weather related planning tools:

Salt Lake City Area Forecast Discussion:
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/forecast/AFD.shtml

Cottonwood Canyons Forecast:
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/pro..._forecast.html

Northern Utah Mountain Weather Forecast:
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/snow/MTN.shtml

Wasatch Range Avalanche Advisory:
http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/advisory_w_glossary.htm

If you need several weeks to make a trip happen, then I don't know
what to tell you. But if you can make it happen on a short notice,
two, three, maybe four days, then you shouldn't have any problem
finding what you are looking for, regardless of where you end up
going.

-Astro

---
maximum exposure f/2.8
http://www.xmission.com/~hound/astro/03-04/index.htm
---


  #3  
Old December 8th 03, 03:22 AM
John Smith
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Posts: n/a
Default

I'm planning on flying, so that means planning 21 days in advance not to
mention arranging time off from work.

On the other hand, SLC is only a 14 hour drive from my house; I could do
that on short notice!

Thanks

AstroPax wrote:
On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 10:53:09 CST, "John Smith"
wrote:

//snip//


I definitely want to treat my son to some special skiing while he still
enjoys my company. Airfare to SLC I can afford. Several day trips to Tahoe
I can afford. A trip to Targhee, not as easy.



With an annual average snowfall of approximately 500",
Alta/Snowbird/Solitude/Brighton average well in excess of 1 foot of
new snow per week throughout the season.

So if you have the freedom, keep an eye on the weather patterns and
time your trip accordingly. During a good winter, I would say that a
decent storm rolls through the Wasatch about every ten days, or so.

If you just show up hoping for deep snow, then it's a hit or miss
proposition. That goes for anywhere, not just Utah.

Like yesterday, or even Friday, one could have looked at the short
term forecast and come to the conclusion that the skiing over the next
several days, starting on Monday, will probably be good. Based on my
personal experience with Wasatch Front forecast accuracies, you can
usually get a general feeling for what's going to occur about 3 days
out.

Here are a few Wasatch Front weather related planning tools:

Salt Lake City Area Forecast Discussion:
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/forecast/AFD.shtml

Cottonwood Canyons Forecast:
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/pro..._forecast.html

Northern Utah Mountain Weather Forecast:
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/snow/MTN.shtml

Wasatch Range Avalanche Advisory:
http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/advisory_w_glossary.htm

If you need several weeks to make a trip happen, then I don't know
what to tell you. But if you can make it happen on a short notice,
two, three, maybe four days, then you shouldn't have any problem
finding what you are looking for, regardless of where you end up
going.

-Astro

---
maximum exposure f/2.8
http://www.xmission.com/~hound/astro/03-04/index.htm
---



  #4  
Old December 8th 03, 04:43 AM
pigo
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"John Smith" wrote in message
om...
I'm planning on flying, so that means planning 21 days in advance not to
mention arranging time off from work.

On the other hand, SLC is only a 14 hour drive from my house; I could do
that on short notice!


Bayarrhea?



  #5  
Old December 8th 03, 08:07 PM
MattB
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"John Smith" wrote in message
. com...
The replies to my "Advice for Father/Son Alta..." were great, but created
more questions!

The reason I chose Alta was because last winter I received an overwhelming
response to take my family to Alta for a great powder experience.

Maybe Alta is not the best place to go with high hopes of experiencing
powder skiing on a budget with a limited window of time.


Here's a suggestion. I live near a small ski area called Monarch
(www.skimonarch.com). It's on the continental divide and usually gets the
second highest snowfall int he state (Wolf Creek is typically #1). Monarch
is not fancy and there's not much to do there after the lifts close. They
only have old double chairlifts and the total elevation gain is about 1000'.

So what's the attraction you might ask?

They get a lot of very dry and light powder. They have a snowcat operation
that is inexpensive (compared to other snowcat operations) that would get
you and your boy into the fluff. The cat skiing is right near the ski area,
so you can even ski a half day inbounds and a half day out. Cat runs
actually sometimes finish back at the chairlift which takes you back up to
the waiting cat.

Like anywhere else, for the best experience you have to hit it right, but
when it's good, it's REALLY good. Here's a little video some friends and I
shot last year on a good day (we've had better days, but I don't take the
time to film on those days). This was only about an 8" day. On bigger days
I've skied 30"+ that fell overnight. The Cat skiing is usually lots of
really nice freshies even if the area is tracked out.

http://64.74.186.223/mattb/Video/monarch1_big.wmv

(note, this video is large - 38 Mb or so so you'll need broadband)

Matt



  #6  
Old December 9th 03, 02:11 PM
Greg Hilton
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"MattB" wrote in news:br2ff4$26u60j$1@ID-
86156.news.uni-berlin.de:

http://64.74.186.223/mattb/Video/monarch1_big.wmv


I can't seem to get the file Matt, can't even get to the server, is the IP
address correct?

regards,

Greg

  #7  
Old December 9th 03, 06:10 PM
MattB
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

The address was right, but the server was not responding. I think it's
straightened out now. Thanks for letting me know!

Matt

"Greg Hilton" wrote in message
...
"MattB" wrote in news:br2ff4$26u60j$1@ID-
86156.news.uni-berlin.de:

http://64.74.186.223/mattb/Video/monarch1_big.wmv


I can't seem to get the file Matt, can't even get to the server, is the IP
address correct?

regards,

Greg




  #8  
Old December 10th 03, 05:37 AM
SkaredShtles
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"MattB" wrote in
:

The address was right, but the server was not responding. I think it's
straightened out now. Thanks for letting me know!


Oooh - those shots of the Monarch lift line are niiiice. That's a fun run
with the little drops on the way down. Looks like some nice pow.

-T.O.M.-

  #9  
Old December 10th 03, 05:50 PM
MattB
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"SkaredShtles" wrote in message
. 71.230...
"MattB" wrote in
:

The address was right, but the server was not responding. I think it's
straightened out now. Thanks for letting me know!


Oooh - those shots of the Monarch lift line are niiiice. That's a fun run
with the little drops on the way down. Looks like some nice pow.


It's called Sheer-Rock-O. One of my favorites. It stays in the shade, and
doesn't egt a whole lot of traffic. Probably from the peanut gallery
pressure.

Matt (the guy in the orange Technicas having fun on those bumps)



  #10  
Old December 12th 03, 12:19 PM
John Smith
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

MattB,

Thanks for the suggestion.
No problem viewing the video. Great job.
JS

MattB wrote:

"John Smith" wrote in message
. com...

The replies to my "Advice for Father/Son Alta..." were great, but created
more questions!

The reason I chose Alta was because last winter I received an overwhelming
response to take my family to Alta for a great powder experience.

Maybe Alta is not the best place to go with high hopes of experiencing
powder skiing on a budget with a limited window of time.



Here's a suggestion. I live near a small ski area called Monarch
(www.skimonarch.com). It's on the continental divide and usually gets the
second highest snowfall int he state (Wolf Creek is typically #1). Monarch
is not fancy and there's not much to do there after the lifts close. They
only have old double chairlifts and the total elevation gain is about 1000'.

So what's the attraction you might ask?

They get a lot of very dry and light powder. They have a snowcat operation
that is inexpensive (compared to other snowcat operations) that would get
you and your boy into the fluff. The cat skiing is right near the ski area,
so you can even ski a half day inbounds and a half day out. Cat runs
actually sometimes finish back at the chairlift which takes you back up to
the waiting cat.

Like anywhere else, for the best experience you have to hit it right, but
when it's good, it's REALLY good. Here's a little video some friends and I
shot last year on a good day (we've had better days, but I don't take the
time to film on those days). This was only about an 8" day. On bigger days
I've skied 30"+ that fell overnight. The Cat skiing is usually lots of
really nice freshies even if the area is tracked out.

http://64.74.186.223/mattb/Video/monarch1_big.wmv

(note, this video is large - 38 Mb or so so you'll need broadband)

Matt




 




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