Sunday, October 24, 2010

First tracks...

Nope, I wasn't skiing today, but I am thinking about where one might go in a couple of days to get the first turns of the year.

The snow level is quite high today, lingering above 9000 feet or so.  As a result, there's little accumulation at the base of Alta.  On the otherhand, the Snowbird cam shows about 6 inches in Gad Valley and the Ballroom and Mount Baldy look pretty good in the Alta weather cam photo.



Presumably with strong S-SW winds there's alot of wind deposition up high in the main Baldy Chute, where snow accumulations will be greatest until the front goes through late tonight.

Once the front goes through, the flow never quite comes fully around to northwesterly.  If that verifies, accumulations might not be as great in the Cottonwoods as in the northern Wasatch.

As such, it could be difficult to find the sweet spot.  Perhaps the Main Baldy Chute will offer up the goods.  On the otherhand, maybe better turns will be had on the grassy (and admittedly lower angle) slopes of Snowbasin.

Finally, there is the very real possibility that we'll need another storm or two to put us over the top.  The GFS, however, looks favorable for that to happen in the next week to 10 days.

1 comment:

  1. 12 degrees and gusting into the 80s out of the WNW on Mt. Baldy as of 9AM Monday. Sounds like fun!

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