Today's Three Seasons and Air Pollution

It's a spectacular day in the mountains today.  One that will surely infect some with spring fever.  Visibility was outstanding and I was quite happy to share the day with my son.

We really experienced three seasons today.  The first season was on south-facing aspects where the February sun was causing  dendritic destruction and made it feel like spring.  I was glad we did our south-facing climb early in the morning as it was like a microwave by mid day.

The second season was on other aspects where you could find some nice, settled, mid-winter powder.  This was essentially my son's first taste of pure, unadulterated, Wasatch backcountry powder.  No doubt he'll be back for more.

Of course, I also taught him some other critical skills required for backcountry skiing.

The third season we experienced today was after we returned to the smog of the Salt Lake Valley.  Yes, inversion season is still here.

Unfortunately, the system passing to our north today hasn't done much to stir up the valley, although it has dropped PM2.5 levels some.  

I guess that's better than nothing.

Although we may scour a bit more through tomorrow, this coming week will probably bring the worst air quality of the winter.