Looking Back on the Slopes
The 2021-2022 snowboarding season has begun rather fantastically. As our booted feet return to the slopes, let us remember the mountains of 12 months ago. That was a season of paradoxes, overall underwhelming but with some of my favorite snow days of all time. The precipitation came later than ever yet Jason and I boarded more days together than we ever have in a season. Journey back in time with me and up the canyons to the winter of 2020-2021.
Friday Feb 5th at Solitude
You may be wondering why we didn’t go boarding until February. The answer is simple: the snow sucked. Accumulation didn’t pass 60 inches until then. COVID-caused closures late in the 2019-2020 season meant we hadn’t boarded in nearly a year, so we decided 60 inches was going to have to do. We went up on a day 6-10 inches were forecasted to fall over operational hours, and the wind was forecasted to gust over 30 MPH… both of those predictions seemed accurate. Free refills were supplied all afternoon, at least I’m pretty sure they were. We couldn’t see more than a couple feet ahead on the upper half of the mountain. Luckily, since the wind seemed focused on the tops of the slopes, we only got pelted ceaselessly in the face not utterly frozen. The plus to the gusts? Despite the plentiful precipitation, the resort was uncrowded leaving us to enjoy Grumble, Rumble, and Stumble unconstrained.
Friday Feb 12th and Saturday Feb 13th at Snowbird
See my post covering these two days to uncover the details of my favorite day of snowboarding ever.
Tuesday Feb 16th at Brighton
Yes, we were back on the slopes only a few days after our Snowbird adventure. The snow kept dropping, so we couldn’t resist. Brighton got 14 inches overnight, but avalanche danger was extremely high. Therefore, Big Cottonwood Canyon was closed until noon for avalanche control. We started heading up the canyon just half an hour later. It took an hour and 50 minutes to get to the resort. Why? I have no idea. We had just two hours to board by the time we reached Brighton, and we made use of every second. The snow was enticing and the resort fairly empty. My favorite powder field had few tracks in it. The conditions weren’t as unbelievable as Mineral Basin a few days earlier, but it would be ungrateful to expect two such days in a lifetime let alone in the same week.
Wednesday March 3rd at Solitude
Spring weather in the low 40s prompted us to spend a couple hours at Solitude. The snow wasn’t as slushy as we thought it would be, but it wasn’t a solid sheet of ice either. Unfortunately, I fell directly on my thumb during our first trip down the mountain and detached one side of my nail (a real nail). The only way to keep it from bleeding everywhere was to stick it back in my glove and let the glove take the abuse. As I prefer my gear not to be bloodstained, it wasn’t ideal. I now always carry some Band-Aids and Kleenexes with me when snowboarding. Sorry my mittens!
Monday March 8th at Brighton
Temperatures were in the mid-40s, so we went up for the afternoon despite the 20+ MPH wind. The wind didn’t end up being much of an issue except when it literally blew me over as we were coming down Pioneer. The snow, while decent in most spots, was hard as a rock in places. I wrecked on it once, and its inflexibility bounced me from my knees to my head. Since there was no traffic in the canyon and hardly any people at the resort, it was an acceptable day. We squeezed in 2.5 hours of boarding before the lifts closed.
Sunday March 14th at Solitude
We took a nephew with us as his birthday present. We put him in ski school for three hours and then rode Moonbeam with him the rest of the afternoon. Ski school started at 10:00, and we didn’t stop boarding until a few minutes before 4:00; it was a full day with fickle weather that fluctuated from cold and cloudy to sunny and cozy. The nine inches of powder which had fallen the last 48 hours were mostly gone, but we still found some at our favorite spots on Eagle. Our nephew soundly improved from his lesson, but he still couldn’t figure out how to heel carve or control his speed. I’m glad I don’t have to go back to the many ungainly stages of boarding.
Friday March 19th at Brighton
The temperatures reached 48 degrees, which made for a cheery and slushy experience. Everyone else wanted some of that sun action apparently, and the resort was quite full. The lift lines were disorganized and there was a lot of cutting, which made me a bit irritated. Although we didn’t start boarding until 2:45, we rode for a little over two hours thanks to passes that let us dip into night riding. For the record, it was perfectly light for this “night” riding.
Friday April 2nd at Solitude
We started boarding right before 2:45 again. However, there were no lift lines, so we squished quite a few runs in before 4:00. This was a quintessential spring boarding day. Jackets weren’t necessary. The snow was soft. The people were absent. We found another fun run called Last Run, which did end up being our last run of the day.
Friday April 9th at Solitude
We got in exactly one hour of boarding before the lifts closed. It was definitely our shortest day ever. I had received my second COVID-19 shot two days earlier and was just happy to feel good enough for an hour of boarding since I was still experiencing intermittent sweating, dizziness, and general weakness. Snowboarding seemed to help my body get over its melodrama. The resort was even less crowded than the week before though it wasn’t quite as warm, and the snow was starting to get a little crystallized.
Friday April 16th at Brighton
It was the closing weekend for Solitude and Brighton. A storm brought 18 inches of powder to Brighton and a heap of people. The lift line at Snake Creek was ridiculously long, but the runs were oddly empty. Temperatures were in the high twenties and low thirties with no wind, a.k.a. pretty pleasant. Getting a dose of powder that late in the season was a treat.
In a related opinion, I was not impressed with Brighton’s lift operators last year. Even with social distancing causing extra line chaos, some of them just sat around talking instead of directing people. Not surprisingly, line jumping and even more confusion ensued. Not all lifties did this of course, but I left Brighton aggravated a lot more than I should have considering its enduring status as my favorite resort.
Sunday April 18th at Solitude
This was supposed to be Solitude’s last day, but at the last minute they decided to add four “secret” days to their season. Everything about it was a celebration. Temperatures were in the 50s, and the parking lot was packed with cars and people having barbecues and dance parties. This left the runs to those who prefer to board in the mountains and dance in their basements. We tried a few new routes off Apex, specifically Wallstreet, Abba’s Alley, and Blue Spruce, along with revisiting some of our old favorites on Moonbeam. Wallstreet was our preferred of these. I have to say, Moonbeam is ideal for ease of access when the resort isn’t jam-packed and can be a lot of fun.
Friday April 23rd at Solitude
Secret days are super! The snow was a fast slush with patches of dirt peeking through here and there. We spent most of our time on Apex and an hour and a half whizzed by faster than we imagined our boards did.
Saturday April 24th at Solitude
The last of the secrets! We explored Alta Bird, North Star, and Fleet Street. The snow was so soft in some places it wouldn’t hold a carve. Instead of resisting, it would just slide down the mountain and take you with it. It started snowing during the last half hour as the slush beneath our feet remained sloppy. Bizarre! Still, you’ll hear no complaints from me about an extra day!
By standard criteria for boarding seasons, 2020-2021 was a bit of a flop, but we experienced knee-deep, untracked powder amidst the general disappointment. How could a season so tardy and indifferent contain moments so exquisite? Whatever the reason for this dichotomy, one should never look a gift flake in the germ.
On a side note, we did improve our experience last season through implementing some hard-earned wisdom from previous years. We avoided traffic in the canyon by mostly going later in the day, and we avoided most weekends in favor of Fridays. These changes made for significantly less time wasted in our car and a lot less parking-related anxiety.
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