Day 3 - Snowbasin

Sunday, February 3, 2008 - After an epic day in the inbounds backcountry areas at Snowbasin, we decided it was a good idea to go back for more. I checked the automated snow report at 6 a.m. and they had already received 9 inches of new snow since 1 a.m. Wow! We walked down the hall for breakfast, and noticed that it was dumping even in Ogden, and there was 5 inches of new snow in the parking lot. It was going to be one snowy day.

We drove up Ogden canyon again, but this time with higher snow banks, and snow covered roads. At the resort we found at least a foot of new snow by the time we got up there, and blizzard conditions. The mountain was closed until they completed avalanche control, so we had to wait for a little while to get on the lifts.

The John Paul Express quad was closed, so we headed up the gondola. As winds gusted to over 70 mph on the way up, we were glad to be on an enclosed lift! It was obvious that this was going to be an extreme day on the mountain. The first run we dropped into was waist deep and wind blown, and some of the challenging conditions there are. The temperatures were somewhat warm ahead of the cold front (in the low 30s), making the snow thick and wet.

The quad finally opened, and then we were able to find some steeper terrain where we could actually get some speed and float on top of the thick snow a little. The past 2 days were catching up with us though, and we were spent by the end of the day. All of our gear was wet, and the goggles were fogged up from getting too overheated trying to get unstuck from all of the deep snow.

With the Super Bowl set to start at 4 p.m., we headed down the mountain on the interstate to our hotel in Ogden. Sometimes nature gives you more than you can handle, and you end up feeling like a beginner again. This was one of those days.