Alta: my favorite place in the world. Although on the grand scale of things, I’m little more than the equivalent of a newbie in the face of the amazing terrain and even more amazing locals that frequent the place, I can’t help but to love everything about Alta. I’m constantly intimidated by Alta, but I know that in my heart of hearts it’s the same intimidation that pushes my boundaries. It’s at Alta that I’ve done many of my firsts—my first traverse, my first hike, and my first “steep” run. For this reason, and an insurmountable number of others, that Alta will always remain my number one destination ski spot.

Whether it’s a powder day or a groomer day—the latter we were treated to on the 13th of April—Alta is still a terrific place. That Sunday was the first of two closing days for Alta—this one was the closing of the resort’s 7-days-a-week operation. The next closing day, a week later on the 20th, is the final hurrah as they open exclusively for that weekend to let everyone give one last good-bye to the resort for the 2007-2008 season. We saw a foreshadowing of the next weekend’s events—masses of people enjoying the corn snow, people in costumes (and some in even less than that), and lots of celebratory beer drinking. This made me instantly remember one of the reasons why I overcame the intimidation of Alta—the atmosphere. Alta vibes like few other resorts can: it’s a skier’s resort. It’s a resort that doesn’t bother itself with posh lodging or massage clinics or schwanky gift parlors—it’s only there for the skiing. The facilities and staff are the biggest reflection of this motto, where a simple building without the grandeur of nearby Snowbird will do. The staff listens to music blaring out of their lift shack and crack jokes with the locals. It’s not about making money or catering to someone—it’s all about the skiing. This environment I love, and miss the most every time I leave the place.
The front side Collins chair was hopping, so after we made it up we dipped back into the parallel valley to see what terrain and conditions were like. We found soft snow with the consistency of mashed potatoes on the groomed runs, so we made a few tears down the groomers to warm up—and feel how out of shape my legs were from the previous day at Snowbird. After a few warm up laps around Sugarloaf chair, we took the lower traverse into Devil’s Castle—a favorite area of mine, that in the previous spring, had offered some of the most memorable turns ever for me. Devil’s Castle has a plethora of terrain for advanced skiers to pick from: steeps, cliffs (probably only on deeper days, however), or wide open bowls with a mild slope to them. However, after a few turns through the heavy, wet snow—with my legs screaming at me with every turn—I knew that Devil’s Castle was just going to have to wait until next trip. Sad, but not defeated, we returned to laps on the soft, smooth groomers around Sugarloaf. The Cecret and Supreme chairs weren’t running, so we continued our laps here. After a while, we skated down the to the rope tow by Sunnyside and made our way back to the patio at Goldminer’s Daughter for lunch.

Goldminer’s Daughter is a landmark at Alta. The minimal building has a café and small bar that serves beers and coffees alike. Today, however, the staff and food were minimal as Alta wound down operations for the year. We picked up lunch (beer-less, I might add) and sat on the patio watching people cruise down High Rustler in the beautiful sunshine. After a much-needed rest for my legs—-which had only seen 20 days on the snow prior today and were plenty out of shape—-we stood in line for the Collins chair. The chair had recently stopped a few times, and the line began piling up. After we loaded, we decided to head back to the groomers around Sugarloaf and finish up the day there.

Although Alta wasn’t as busy as I had originally expected, lines at the Collins chair was less than desirable. While I’m sure this backup can also be attributed to only the three chairs running (Collins, Sunnyside, and Sugarloaf), it also made me take note of Alta’s new pass system. While an awesome addition to the resort, I think it was implemented a tad incorrectly. The pass system itself is superior to the similar system that is in use at neighboring Solitude for years now, simply because of the fact that it can be read much more effectively than Solitude's. It's even more friendly than Big Sky, Montana’s system. It’s so effective, in fact, that it could be read by the gates through my friend’s wallet that was in his pocket. But the placement of the gates seemed incorrect. The gates reside close to the loading area for the chair, so as people pass through the gate and into the loading area, they muscle and shift around trying to quad up with their friends. At times, this clogs the gate and loading zone, slowing down loading the loading process. Of course, some individuals (myself included, at times), don’t care about who they ride up with as long as they get to the top, so it’s not always a problem. The problem generally arises with families or people who are simply unaware. Conversely, Big Sky, Montana’s placement of the same gates used to read a person’s pass is farther back from the loading zone, offering a buffer area of sorts for people to jostle around and get together for a ride up. A movement of the gates further back seems as if it would behoove Alta’s loading process and help the lifties out a bit as well. To the credit of Alta though, the lifties are some of the most proficient at what they do, even when dressed as cowgirls (it was the last day, you know). Their professional management of the lift line was a nice turn of events compared to other resorts that ineffectively allow doubles or even singles on a quad chair. If there was a degree in lift line management, Alta lifties would have it. Next time I’m there, I’ll leave you a lifty treat…thanks for your hard work.

After a day of non-stop groomer action at Alta, we retired to the vehicle to have a celebratory beer. The crowd was even livelier that that of Snowbird on the tram deck the day before. People were having blast—-tailgating, socializing, drinking. Although it was closing day, it might as well of been a Monday a month ago. No matter when it is, Alta always has the relaxed, fun atmosphere that was occurring everywhere around me. Be it the first closing day or a greybird Monday, Alta will still have people on GMD’s deck exchanging stories over cold beers, or sitting on the tailgate taking in the rest of the day. We opted for relaxing on the tailgate, listening to music, and enjoying a cold beer while marveling at the majesty of Mount Superior and the surrounding peaks. I envied those who had the energy and ability to make it up to the peaks across the road from Alta and ski untouched snow down to bottom. I smiled every time someone would walk by and say “hey man,” or ask how it was going. The sheer friendliness from the clientèle at Alta removes almost all the intimidation from the resort. Even though most of these people are incredible skiers who fear no terrain here, we all still share the common bond: the love of skiing. It’s exemplified in the lifites, the patrons at Goldminer’s Daughter, and with the quick exchanges in the parking lot. It’s shone in the no-frills base lodge and equipment that states “you are here to ski, not to be inundated.” The vibe of Alta is unique and, if you’re like me, it will keep you coming back time and time again.

So it was a groomer day for me at Alta. Not a loss by any stretch, as far as I’m concerned. Alta’s groomers are “pretty sick,” as one unnamed local had jokingly put it on a powder day before. Even though it should have been the terrain that I came here for—-I have yet to take in Greely or East Castle, among other areas—-I’m happy to just live and experience the environment that is Alta. For me, sitting on the patio at Goldminer’s Daughter or on the tailgate in the parking lot after skiing, taking in the beautiful landscapes and enjoying other skier’s company (even though no words may be exchanged) is worth the cost of admission alone. Watching a dad and his little kid—both costumed up to celebrate the end of the season at Alta—share the love that is skiing simply adds to the stoke level and makes Alta a truly unique place where skiing isn’t a business but a way of life.

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For 30 years Alta has been our ski choice, I have been all over the west and Alta keeps suprsing me. Our trips each season last 7 to 8 days of hard advanced intermediate to expert sking. Of those 7 days on skis, at least 3 and probably 4 will be spent at Alta. No I really can't do the narrow spine tingling chutes at the top of the bowls, but otherwise I come close and those along with me are equally smilling. If someone were to set out to make Alta better, I think they would fail trying. Will be there again Tuesday, 3.11.08, and Wed, and Thurs..., that says it all.

I'm a longtime altaholic. The mountain's worst days are as good as the best days at some resorts, and I've never seen "black ice" at Alta. Every view is worthy of a postcard. They seldom overgroom, and there is almost always some ski-able powder. This year has been phenomenal. I had several virgin powder runs on my last visit. Challenges abound, and even seasoned experts have adequate terrain. If you want a shopping experience or a late nightlife, there are better places to go, but that is not my goal on a ski trip. I've never been able stay up late after a full day on the slope (if you can, you haven't skied hard enough or long enough). If you go for the skiing, there are few places better. You won't find a more skier friendly venue.

Alta remains one of my favorite places to ski in the continent. It's got tons of terrain, terrific snow, and a great vibe.

This feeling was no different on the 12th of February. The canyons had received 18" of snow in the past three days, but the last day had been warm, and today was windy, created a hard crust of snow. Even the groomers were icy. But that didn't stop us from having a good time.

Since the snow as so bad, and we were all exhausted from the past 4 days of skiing, we started skiing the groomers by East Greely bowl. The were hard and icy, and it quickly got busy with tons of other skiers. So we went into Devil's Castle and found some great snow...but the traverse and wind were unbearable. We found a great chute to ski that had tons of soft snow once you broke through the crust.

We found shelter from the high winds by lapping the groomers under the Collins chair. The snow was still hard and icy, and soon we broke for lunch at Goldminer's Daughter.

After lunch, we tried the traverse across Ballroom and got over to Baldy shoulder. The snow was alright, but still hard even though the sun was on it. We decided to check out somewhere else, and got over to the Supreme lift. We went through a gate at the bottom of a groomer and found a great little area that had some awesome snow. The area was pretty flat, but had a lot of terrain features to play around on, jump off of, and spin off of.

By the end of the day we were all tired out from 5 days of skiing, but we skied Alta until close. Although it was a windy and cold and we mostly stuck to groomers, we made the best of it. And additionally, the vibe at Alta helps make any day there even better...everyone there is there for one reason: to ski and have fun, and that's something that can really make a great day on the mountain.

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I skied Alta on January 1st and 2nd this year. Wow! Amazing amount and quality of challenging accessible terrain. I was lucky enough to enter the avalanch control gate into the Ballroom as the ski patrol dropped the gate. After hiking up to top of the Baldy Shoulder, I found myself in waist deep powder. Both days, I found knee deep powder stashes on the High Traverse, the Backside, in Catherine's Area, and in the Glory Hole Area. Best ski area in Utah, by far. Easily one of my top 10 resorts anywhere.