The Faithful were in full attendance this morning for the start of the 21/22 season. Festive retro 70’s attire was being modeled by many of the attendees, making for a fun start to the season. First Tram left on time, packed with folks who have been doing this for over 40 years.

The cover was really good on the prepared lines top to bottom, with smooth well covered runs, where not a rock was to be seen anywhere. Off to the sides looked mighty thin down at the bottom of the hill, but there was plenty of cover right down to the lift. Here is a shot from the peak on first Tram with the morning Sun just starting to light up the range.

The Little Cloud Chair was operating, letting you stay up high to take advantage of no lines and great cover. The Snow makers and Grooming Crew did a great job putting the runs in smooth and consistent condition. Even some of the more abrupt terrain variations had been smoothed over. Nice touch.

I made it a one and done morning to give my legs a break on the first day. More laps tomorrow are on tap to begin working them into shape. See you dark and early for another great day on the hill and day 2 of the Season. See the Line, BE the Line!!

And just like that the time warp rolled around like greased lightning to land at the beginning of yet another ski season. Time just seems to roll faster and faster when I don’t pay any attention to it, but, there it is. The Bird opens tomorrow morning, dark and early and I it is going to be really fun seeing all the friends and sharing the stoke. The Bird FB page is touting The Tram, Little Cloud, and Zoom lifts opening for the day’s festivities. That will help with the traffic and allows options to start out the day. I saw some short vids of the upper mountain, and it seemed as if there was fairly good cover. The snow making crews have been busy when temps allow and I am anticipating good coverage on the open lines. I will be staying close the fattest lines and will not be venturing even close to the edges just to keep it real for my first day.

Looks like the weather will be great for the opener, and there are lots of festivities planned, with music, SWAG, and good vibes. See you there for the opening day. Keep it real!!

I have brought The Trailer back down from the High Desert and it is now securely parked and stabilized against the weather next to the coral, where the horses are glad to have some company again going into the Winter. The hill is on track to open on December 1, with festivities, SWAG, and music to bring in the new season. I was up there the other day to stock the locker and got a couple shots of the hill.

The Faithful have been working ALTA fully since the first of the snow fall and I have been hearing good reports.

The snow making crew is working hard to get access to the lift in Gad Valley and I think there will be plenty of cover on a man made base to get to the bottom.

While I was up there the other day, I joined the Morning Crew for breakfast at the Forklift to bring in the new season and compare notes about the Summer’s fun. We’ll all be back again for yet another year of skiing frenzy!!

By way of igniting the stoke, I offer this shot of Andrew getting jiggy with it in the Southern Hemisphere. He is a great skier and will be coming back to The Bird as soon as he is able. I’ll see you dark and early for the season opener. Stay Frosty!!

The colors are changing, the temps have turned down, and the count down to Winter has begun. The yellow Jackets have been busy and aggressive since the first week of August, so that tells me we can expect a good snowfall for the season. The Chef noted that the road side Sunflowers are copious and wide spread this year, which is his sign for a big Winter. Nature has a way of knowing, so I’m going with that. Oktoberfest is in full swing during the weekends on the Plaza deck and there has been quite a turn out. There are lots of activities, food, music and fun things to do, so get up there and soak in that mountain air.

My good friend, Andrew from New Zeland sent me these shots recently from one of the days of goodness in the Southern hemisphere. He has made many trips to Snowbird and I have had the honor of skiing with him all over the hill. He is a very accomplished skier and always seems to bring the snow cycle with him whenever he comes.

I am looking forward to the Season and have got all my gear dialed and stocked in the locker so I just have to show up for Go Time. Keep the stoke building as the Season is just around the corner. Time flies when your having fun. Stay Frosty!!

Despite storm warnings for today, the morning provided Sun and fun for the morning crew. Mineral Basin was prime and ready with soft corn conditions right from the first chairs. The front side of the hill was quite firm and some limited tenderizing efforts had been employed, which gave good traction and some nice feeling turns. Out in Mineral Basin, the off trail was providing some nice lines that were fairly smooth and soft enough to make the turning easy and fun. Here is a shot Kyle took of me out on the Bookends.

The first hour was a lot of fun, but the Faithful were making their way to the hill and by 11AM the back bowl was seeing some traffic. I worked the front side as it began to break around 10AM and enjoyed some quiet time. No one was riding the Little Cloud chair as Regulator was quite firm and going to take a while to break. Today may have been the last day of the season as the pack is really going fast and some of the critical tight spots might melt off making for some issues. We’ll have to see how the week shakes out. Keep your eyes on the Bird site for updates. Have a good week. Enjoy!!!

The festivities began at 8AM this morning with Mineral Basin offering ready to go corn goodness with the off trail fully ready and fairly smooth for the first time in a while. Grooming efforts had been performed, but the scope has been cut back as one would expect this late in the season. Melt off is noticeable, but good cover remains on all sides of the hill. On the front side of the hill, the break was beginning around 9 AM with Regulator holding off quite a bit longer. I was looking for the Sun baked sections to provide the first signs of breakage on the North facing aspects. Here is a shot of The Speed Queens, who spent the week in Southern Utah camping and exploring before the temps get too hot.

Tomorrow, look for more corn goodness early, but expect some cloud cover as a Low Pressure is moving South, pumping moisture up into the Front. Tenderizing efforts have been employed on the front of the hill, so where things are firm, look for a couple of passes of fresh till to get an edge and dial in some turns. See you there dark and early for the corn goodness. Remain Standing.

It was quite cold for this last day of the regular season on the hill. Prepared lines were quite crispy with the very cold temps, but tenderizing efforts had been employed and there was good traction to be found on the main runs. Light traffic made for hot laps on the lifts. Mineral Basin was offering the best morning options, with White Diamonds feeling smooth and fast. Lines off of Lupine Loop were granular and fun with that last face to the lift really a treat. On the front of the hill the tenderized lines were recommended until softening broke. With the cold temps, it was going to take quite a while for that to happen.

I bailed after Noon to start the Summer season. I will be posting again when the hill opens next weekend with scaled back lift access, so check with the Bird web site for info on operations. Have a great week, and see you next weekend for continued turning. There is still a lot of snow on the hill, so I expect great conditions to continue. IBBY!!!!

The cold front that moved through last night dropped the temps like a stone making for a real cold snap on the hill. That kind of cold went deep into the pack and made the Spring thaw slow down a bit. The skies were clear and the sky was blue, but the pack was bullet proof for the morning session.

It would take all day for the pack to break, but the best bet was Mineral Basin for the first crack in the freeze. Tomorrow, look for some clouds to be in the mix as another Low Pressure moves in for early in the week. Look for another cold morning and the break to take a while again. I will be dressing for brisk temps. A later start may not be a bad idea. See you there for the last day of the regular season and the wide open prepared lines to start the day. See the Line, BE the Line!!!

There was bonus Sun this morning as the forecast overcast was a no show. Mineral Basin was offering perfect corn goodness at the opening bell, with full platform engagement available with each turn. I dialed back the speed and treated the sections as back country to extract as much goodness from each turn as possible. With light traffic, hot laps were going off all morning.

The front side of the hill did freeze up and it needed until 10AM to begin to break, with the Gad side of the hill holding firm until Noon, when Regulator and Big Emma finally became soft and dialable. Traffic remained light with no lines on the chairs and wide open runs top to bottom. Tomorrow, look for more Sun after this front moves through tonight. With the drop in temps, expect a harder freeze, with a longer thaw timeline for the morning session. Coverage remains excellent, with only hints of melt off on the mail runs. Traffic will be a bit more brisk with the weekend pressure, but there is plenty of room to play. Lay it over like Ligety!!

The sky was Uber blue and the snow was super white making the vista a high contrast delight. The pack was high contrast as well, with already perfect corn in Mineral Basin from the first Tram and fully frozen pack on the front side of the hill. The quality in Mineral Basin felt back country smooth on the prepared lines and hot laps were happening with very light traffic and wide open lines. Lupine Loop was a lot of fun with that last steep pitch offering very nice sugar that invited deep carving turns that made me say AHHHHH! On the front of the hill, it took till 10AM for any kind of break, but once it started it happened fast and became stellar corn goodness top to bottom. The Gad side of the hill waited till Noon to break, but it too offered great quality when it went off.

Tomorrow, look for some overcast skies as a front is moving in for the weekend. Temps will be much warmer and there may not be a freeze. Light could be flat, but the prepared lines will provide consistent surfaces, so with the softness it will be good to go. Coverage remains excellent on all sides of the hill with only very sparse indications of bare spots here and there. I expect light traffic again, so you can rack up maximum vertical. Remain Standing!!