Utah Mountain Blog 3 - October 6, 2009 - Alta pre-season
Considering the limited snow cover we (Ryan's Babinski and Dunyon)decided to go to Alta to ski down the established runs, as they presumably had less rocks under the snow as some other high elevation, short approach spots. We made it to the end of the Little Cottonwood Canyon road and started boot packing around 5:35. The moon was close to full and the skies were totally clear. No head lamps required. I had expected maybe 25 degrees (f) or so, but as we got going it was clear to me that it was much colder than that. 10 degree (f).
We ascended the old road for a bit then ventured west. The snow was settled powder, about 18" - 24" deep. It felt good to be skinning again.
The descent was great. Nice bunny turns up top, and as the cover thinned a bit, some super-speeders down low.
The sunrise over Alta and alpen glow off Superior was just that... Superior.
