LCC cold smoke in October!

This is my fifth outing for October and, for the 09/10 season, it is by far the best one so far. Phenomenal powder on supportable crust and it’s not November yet! In any case, me and Mike went back to Mt Baldy from the Alta parking lot and started off with our regular routine up to the Baldy west shoulder. There is a full on snow cover straight from the parking lot and up. It starts getting about a foot and deeper past the Collins angle station. We skied off the west shoulder in great snow and then skinned up into the ballroom and in privileged spots under the rock band there was up to three feet of the fluffy stuff. We did a couple of laps on that fast, light and really fun snow. After that we went up to the Collins top station and enjoyed a 2000 feet home-run. Two guys skied the great Baldy shute which is starting to look really good. Little Baldy still needs a little bit more snow, maybe after next storm? (see picture above).

This was great skiing, not “good-for-being-October” skiing but just good old fantastic skiing.

Avalanche-pack face-off! Conclusion

First and foremost I want to thank ABS Systems, BCA and Snowpulse for their invaluable collaboration and input. I am leaving this assignment with the definitive impression that we are here dealing with really high caliber, professional and creative outfits. Furthermore let’s recognize that these are critically important vendors and a force for good, their products will undoubtedly save a lot of lives in the backcountry.

Before we get into comparing the features, strengths and potential weaknesses of these products let me reiterate one inescapable piece of data:

Buried avalanche victim:          52.0% mortality
Avalanche victim ends on top:   4.2% mortality

Show this to your spouses and, assuming you are in a resonably good relationship, they are probably going to MAKE you buy one, better yet; put it on your X-mas list.

After parsing through the data and most of the research available, I am absolutely convinced that this is the greatest advance in avy safety gear since Dr. John Lawton invented the first viable avalanche beacon in 1968. In fact these bags will save a lot more lives than the beacon. Having said that, there is no way these bags should replace beacon, shovel and probe, they need to be ADDED to these.

The most frequent argument against these is typically the high price. Understanding that the avy bags offer an avalanche victim a survival rate of 98.3% (inflated bags), who out there is going to make the case that their life is worth less than $500 – $1,000? Whoever says that, is telling us that they’d rather be dead with $500 – $1,000 more at the bank than stay alive with $500 – $1,000 less on the account… Something to think about. Or, of course, we yet again are facing the gambler’s gambit; avalanches happen to others, well if you ski the Wasatch with its notoriously unstable snowpack; think again, it’s not if, it’s when.

Alright, having gotten the preaching out of the way, below please find a comparative so you can decide not if, but which one to buy.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

*) In the Vario line you buy the base unit and you can then attach any of the Vario pack sizes to that base unit. The base unit is also compatible with some of the Millet back packs.

1) You buy one air bag system and can use it with more than one back pack size.

2) You launch by pulling a handle when you think you are in trouble.

3) Your ski buddy has a remote control so he can launch the airbag when you are going down.

PRICING

The ABS System Escape and Vario product lines are in the process of being re-priced in the US. As soon as I get those prices, I will communicate them in an updated table.

To order above products click on respective vendor:

ABS Systems:                         Escape & Vario (Exclusive distributor is Klim USA, use dealer locator)
Backcountry Access (BCA):      Float 30   (available from Dec. 15 use the contact info on the site)
Snowpulse:                             Life Bag   (Canadian distributor use tel. number on site)

Now, just so everything is real clear, I have no commercial, editorial or any other interest in you buying this stuff. No deals, underhanded or otherwiswe, nor commission nor anything at all is involved here for me nor the Whippet nor any other organization I am linked to. That is how we keep our complete editorial freedom from any vendor. Having said that, if you ski with any sort of regularity in the Wasatch backcountry you should really get one of these, I know I am.

Avalanche-pack face-off! BCA Float 30 (3 of 3)

NOTE: For a review of the updated Float 32 click here.

This is the last individual vendor presentation, but although it does say 3/3, there will be a next post that will essentially consist of a comparative table of features, advantages – disadvantages, detailed pricing, ordering information etc. There will also be room for any corrections that may be needed.

Now, I did hear back from BCA who gave us very complete and thorough information so here is the 3rd and last product I am introducing for a while; The Float 30 by the well known Backcountry Access (BCA). This is the challenger of the challenger, they are much newer on the market than both others, in fact they are so new; their release date is still in the future: Dec. 15, 2009. And, for you patriots out there, of the three, this is the only American solution...


OVERALL DESIGN
The Float 30 represents a different approach compared to both the ABS System and the Snowpulse although, interestingly enough, they incorporate some concepts from both in their thinking. This one wants the head on top outcome of the Snowpulse design but also the freedom of movement of the ABS System… The way Bruce Edgerly (VP of Marketing & Sales at Backcountry Access, Inc.) puts it is: “the 150-liter airbag deploys out the top of the pack, behind the head and shoulders. This keeps the upper body above the snow surface. The airbag can protect the head and neck from trauma, but does not wrap around the head; this maintains your peripheral vision and full mobility of head, arms, and hips—which means that after you deploy the bag, you maintain your ability to self-arrest, smear, roll, point ‘em(!) or otherwise get the heck off the slab before it picks up speed. You are not giving up when you pull that trigger. Remember Tom Kimbrough’s famous mantra: fight like hell!”
The BCA idea behind this design is to offer the following two advantages:

1) Offer higher “flotation” and thus making your head (and airways) the part that stays the highest once the avalanche stops.
2) Enable enough freedom of movement for you to fight the avalanche as much as possible as long as possible.

Although there has obviously not been any independent testing of the Float 30 yet, there is some independent corroboration for the idea that a high point of flotation can have a positive outcome. When we looked into the research we noted the Avagear which was a prototype of a product that consisted of a bag that wrapped around the head thus keeping a high flotation point much like the Float 30. In the 2001 tests by the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) it was noted as follows:
“The fact that the faces of the dummies with the Avagear rescue vest were always found in the proximity of the surface appears to verify the hypothesis that the Avagear airbag, which is positioned close to the head, does indeed aid the lifting effect on the head and upper body. In fact two of the three Avagear-wearing dummies were found in an upright or seated position in the snow, whereas the dummies with the mono or dual airbag were found either face-up or facedown [sic] in a horizontal position.” (Davos, March 16, 2001, Martin Kern, Frank Tschirky, Jürg Schweizer, P.10)”
What remains to be seen in testing is if ABS’ argument that this upright position is a liability in terms of exposing the body " […] to the enormous dynamic forces within the avalanche […]” is a valid one.

RELEASE SYSTEM
The release is secured by a dedicated steel cable housed in rubber (like a bicycle brake cable). There’s a molded T-handle at the end that can be stashed inside the shoulder strap with a zipper during transport and pulled out while skiing or riding. It is accessed by the right or left hand on the right shoulder strap. This is an integrated system attached to the unit meaning you will never be without launch mechanism…

FILL AND REFILLBCA have chosen to offer a cylinder exchange program. They and their distributors will offer a cylinder exchange program this means you can trade an empty one in for a full one for $20 (plus shipping, if applicable). This may avoid the trip to the SCUBA shop for refilling if you don’t have one located conveniently nearby.

SPECIFICATIONS
Total airbag volume: Volume of 150 L (about 38 gallons)

Weight:The Float 30 L pack: 2967 g (6.5 Lb) without cylinder or 3357 g (7.4 Lb) with cylinder included

GENERAL
This is by definition an unproven system as it is not released yet. However, it comes to us from a company known for its great knowledge and understanding of avalanche safety issues and products. BCA is the company that invented the first digital transceiver, the first integrated shovel and probe, and gave us the first freezeproof hydration system. They developed what I consider to be the smartest avalanche beacon, the DTS Tracker, (I have two of those) which reveal a deep understanding of the users (hopefully inexperienced in avy rescue) and the way these products are used out in the backcountry.

PRICING
The price is $499.00 for the complete system including the 30 L pack. At half the cost of the two others, can you spell C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-I-V-E ???

Avalanche-pack face-off! Snowpulse Lifebag (2 of 3)

UPDATE: Snowpulse was acquired by the Swiss company, Mammut. These products are now referred to as: Mammut Avalanche Airbags.

Today I am introducing the Lifebag by Snowpulse. This is the challenger (the Pepsi to ABS’ Coke…) they are much newer on the market and have the advantages and drawbacks that come with that. Because they are newer they don’t have as much of a track record but, on the other hand, as the late comer they are not lumbered with any legacy design commitments.

OVERALL DESIGNThe Lifebag is quite different in look; style and approach compared to the ABS System (see picture to the left). It looks a lot like a life vest (hence the name I guess) and it is made of one bag that goes from your chest over your shoulders, neck and back down on the chest in one big sausage. The idea behind this design is to offer two advantages:

1) Offer protection against head and cervical trauma during a tumble.
2) Offer higher “flotation” and thus making your head (and airways) the part that stays the highest after the avalanche stops.

A statistic we often see is that, of the deaths resulting from a burial, 20% are due to trauma to the body in the fall (tree skiing anyone?). The shape of the Lifebag is supposed to offer some protection for the head, neck and thorax thanks to the location of the airbag in the shoulder straps. Considering the number of cases we would need to validate that statistically, let’s hope we never can. In addition to protecting your neck and head, it is supposed to offer a chance of leaving an air pocket in front of your airways, would you still find yourself buried once the avalanche stops. Snowpulse refers to this as “Head On Top technology” (HOT).
Although I don’t know of any independent testing of the Snowpulse, there is some independent corroboration for the functionality or design of this HOT concept. Avagear was a prototype of a product that consisted of a bag that wrapped around the head much like the Lifebag (that bag was only 90 L vs. 150 L for the LifeBag). In the 2001 tests by the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) it was noted as follows:

“The fact that the faces of the dummies with the Avagear rescue vest were always found in the proximity of the surface appears to verify the hypothesis that the Avagear airbag, which is positioned close to the head, does indeed aid the lifting effect on the head and upper body. In fact two of the three Avagear-wearing dummies were found in an upright or seated position in the snow, whereas the dummies with the mono or dual airbag were found either face-up or facedown [sic] in a horizontal position.” (Davos, March 16, 2001, Martin Kern, Frank Tschirky, Jürg Schweizer, P.10)”
What remains to be seen in testing is if ABS’ argument that this upright position is a liability in terms of exposing the body " […] to the enormous dynamic forces within the avalanche […]” is a valid one. A trade-off that the Snowpulse user makes here is giving up some mobility but I am not sure how much that would matter as it is hard to assess what use we make of that mobility as we tumble in a pretty uncontrollable situation.

RELEASE SYSTEM
The handle is attached to the system and is stowed away in a zip pocket of the shoulder strap and therefore it can't come off, you can't lose it and you can't forget it either. This is not a completely trivial point as the bag will not be very useful without its launch mechanism…

FILL AND REFILLThe bag is inflated using a compressed air cylinder. Because Snowpulse uses a compressed air cylinder, it is refillable at your neighborhood scuba store.

SPECIFICATIONSTotal airbag volume: Volume of 150 L (about 38 gallons)

Weight:
The 15 L pack: 2525 g (5.6 Lbs) +/- 50 g cylinder included
The 30 L pack: 2925 g (6.4 Lbs) +/- 50 g cylinder included
The 45 L pack: 3225 g (7.1 Lbs) +/- 50 g cylinder included

GENERAL
In a statement from the company on 10/13/09 we learn that “The Snowpulse airbag has saved lives in the last years, we do have feedback from the victims, Pro Rider Nicolas Falquet, Mountain Guide Matthew Peter... More than 700 rescuers in Austria have also chosen the Snowpulse bag.” In Canada Eagle Pass Heliskiing and Pantheon Helisports use the LifeBag and provide one to each of their clients.

PRICINGHere again pricing is hard to get but I will have it by next week end and will post a comparative table. In general, the price range of the Snowpulse is similar to ABS System i.e. $950 – $1,200. The Snowpulse Lifebag, just like the ABS, is portable from one pack size to the other and an additional pack will add about $110.00 per unit.

A detailed comparative table of pricing including order information for these different vendors.

Hopefully, depending on if I hear back from BCA, Avalanche-pack face-off! (3 of 3) will be on the BCA Float 30.

Avalanche-pack face-off! ABS System (1 of 3)

Today I am introducing the ABS Avalanche Packs, next post will be on the Lifebag by Snowpulse. I just found out that BCA is re-entering this market with their very own Float 30 air bag. This is supposed to happen right around now so I have contacted them and hope to hear back from them before I conclude these presentations.

The ABS Avalanche Packs are the pioneers and founders of this industry. They have been around since 1985. They used to have one bag deploying (the ABS Mono System), now they have two (the ABS Dual System), one on each side of the backpack. The ABS packs are manufactured and sold by ABS Peter Aschauer GmbH out of München, Germany.

OVERALL DESIGN

The two airbags of an ABS backpack are located at the sides of the pack (see picture to the left). This design concept is aimed at facilitating the maintenance of the center of gravity and the buoyancy of the entire body. The avalanche victim is thus able to float horizontally on top of the moving avalanche. The idea is that the flatter the body position on top of the avalanche is, the less impact and torsion the body has to endure due to the enormous dynamic forces within the avalanche which in turn is supposed to greatly reduce the risks of injury. As you will see in my next post this thought process is radically different to the one applied by Snowpulse.

RELEASE SYSTEM
You pull a handle that you first must attach to the shoulder strap of your system (just don’t leave home without it!). A new and cool feature that ABS Systems have just launched is the remote release handle. Simply give one to your ski buddy and he will be able to get your bags inflated as he sees you go down the tube (just make sure he is not the named beneficiary on your life insurance policy...).

FILL AND REFILL
The cartridges are refillable but only by an ABS retailer. The standard cartridge for ABS (and the rest of the industry) is made of steel and ABS’ weighs 515 g (1.1 Lbs). Yet another cool innovation by ABS is the carbon cartridge that comes in at 260 g (just a bit over half a pound!).

SPECIFICATIONS
These are the specs of the Escape Line (the legacy or classic line-up) to see these packs click here.

The total airbag volume: 170 L (about 44 gallons) this will in most cases more than double your body volume.

Weight:
The Prorider 10 L pack: 2500 g (5.5 Lbs) +/- 50 g steel cylinder included
The 15 L pack: 2825 g (6.2 Lbs) +/- 50 g steel cylinder included
The 30 L pack: 2925 g (6.4 Lbs) +/- 50 g steel cylinder included

Below are the specs for the for 2009 all new Vario Line. This line comes with the ability to use the airbag system on all the bags of the line up. This is very usefull if you want a day pack and an overnight pack but still not fork out $2,000. To take a peek at the packs click here.

The total airbag volume is the same as the Escape Line at 170 L (about 44 gallons).

Weight:
The Base Unit: 2100 g (4.6 Lbs) cylinder NOT included
The 15 L pack: 2700 g (6.0 Lbs) cylinder NOT included
The 18 L pack: 2380 g (5.2 Lbs) cylinder NOT included
The 30 L pack: 3000 g (6.6 Lbs) cylinder NOT included
The 50 L pack: 3200 g (7.0 Lbs) cylinder NOT included

GENERAL
In a statement by the company on 10/15/09 we learn that “with an activated ABS Avalanche Airbag 98 % of all avalanche victims have survived – 90 % completely unharmed. This is supported by the documentation of the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos (SLF).”According to Julia Schmideder (Public Relations, ABS Peter Aschauer GmbH); "to date we know of more than 220 people who have survived an avalanche. The most famous one is for sure Xavier de le Rue the freeride snowboard world champion 2008 and 2009". To see his statement click here.

PRICING
To get pricing is like pulling teeth, so I will do a comparative table of both or all three (if BCA gets back to me) once I have them all in (count next week end). As an approximate indication the price range is $950 - $1,200, but again, look for a complete detailed table of all the vendors by next week-end.

Little Cottonwood - Mount Baldy

This was yet another outing to Alta (choices are kinda limited right now). Went from the Wildcat base to the summit of Baldy via the west shoulder and traversed to come back down the east shoulder. Had a quick lunch at the top of the Collins lift and then back down to the parking lot. At the Wildcat base a lot of snow has been lost to the sun, of course, but it also seems to have rained yesterday. The big storm was a bit of a fizzler and although the snow stake at Collins went from 15 to 19, nowhere did it feel like we had 4 more inches than last week... Past the Wildcat top there is a bit of a snowpack consisting of about an inch of hard crust with about a foot – foot and a half of rotting powder (could get interesting some day…). In any case up high it really felt like winter – see the background of the picture of my ski buddy, Mike Florance, on his first oxygen-less ascent of Mont Baldy (click to enlarge). This was a beautiful tour that felt quite alpine on top with even a few turns! That just goes to show you that there are no bad conditions just bad outlooks! Hopefully next week's storm will be a bit less stingy.

The Avalanche-pack: How it works

The main objective of these packs is to keep you on top (as in not buried) of the avalanche. The advantages are clear to anyone who has taken even the most cursive look at avy literature. After reading independent test reports (performed on dummies, I guess volunteers for avalanche duty are far and few in between…) from Switzerland and Austria it seems pretty clear that in the overwhelming majority of cases the dummies with bags ended up either on top with clear airways or close to the top with the balloon(s) in clear view allowing a really fast rescue when needed.
The bag to the left is ABS Avalanche Packs by Mountain Safety Systems Ltd. The one to the right is the Lifebag by Snowpulse.

The Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) have compiled some really compelling statistics:

"The most efficient means of preventing avalanche fatalities is to avoid complete burial. Of 1886 persons which where caught in avalanches in Switzerland between 1981 and 1998, 735 persons (39%) where fully buried, and 1151 (61%) were partly buried or stayed completely unburied on the surface. 433 persons (23%) did not survive the avalanche. For the completely buried persons, the mortality rate was 52%. For partly buried victims the mortality rate was only 4.2% […] "

Buried: 52% mortality
On top: 4.2% mortality

The main dynamics of an avalanche that make the air bag idea work are twofold:

1) As the avalanche progresses, it acts like a tumbler sending you down under the snow and then spitting you back up and then back down again and so forth as long as it is moving.

2) The reverse segregation effect that means that as the avalanche moves the small particles go to the bottom (falling through the cracks…) while the largest tend to stay on top.

Point 1) above means that If you are below when the avalanche stops, you are in a bad place, and point 2) means that you want to take up as much volume (and little density) as you ever can in an avalanche situation.

On March 16th, 2001 the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) conducted a test on 13 dummies, some with some without bags. One of the comments was: […] it is striking to see that the burial depths of the dummies without airbags is significantly higher than those of the dummies with airbags, although the difference cannot be considered statistically significant. (Davos, March 16, 2001, Martin Kern, Frank Tschirky, Jürg Schweizer, Page 10). Why is it not statistically significant? Because the sample size is not large enough. This does not change the fact that I tend to find it very significant that I have here an independent test where all dummies with bags ended up on or near the top (beats a 60% shot at it).
The avalanche bags currently sold inflate to 150L (close to 40 gallons) which in most cases doubles our body volume and it does that in about 3 seconds.

We are repeatedly told that the beacon is the answer and that we have 15 min. to rescue our buddy/buddies. As we can read on the ABS System site “The assumed bench mark of 15 minutes is extremely optimistic”. I tend to agree. Depending on where you get your data from, you are told that within 15 min. of burial you have an 85 – 92% chance of making it alive. I have always been really curious about how many of the guys that are deprived of air for 15 min have some form of brain damage? I don’t think I can hold my breath unaffected for 15 minutes… This is not a knock on the beacon, it remains an indispensible tool in my opinion, even with a bag, but I am not too eager to put all my eggs in that beacon only.

It seems that there are only two alternatives to pick from would you want to buy an inflatable avalanche pack. Next post will be: Avalanche-pack face-off!

The inflatable avalanche pack

Here is an important topic, never ending preseason high pressure system or not. This is a “new” thing that has been in progress for the last ten years or so in Europe. I hear that at Lech, Austria the entire ski patrol is equipped with these.
These packs are designed to help the avalanche victim “float” on top of the avalanche in order to avoid being buried (it is a bit more complex than that but more on that later). Due to the human body’s density that is greater than snow’s and the dynamics of the avalanche, about half of the avalanche victims are buried. Statistics show that of that number about 66% die. Something to think about…
As far as I understand there are two main vendors of these packs; ABS Avalanche Packs out of Fieberbrunn, Austria and Snowpulse SA out of Verbier, Switzerland (if anyone out there knows about more product, please let me know).I happen to think that this is a very strong concept. Statistics (again) show that about 98-99% of avalanche pack users survived the avalanches they got to ride. I have decided I am going to get me one of those but considering this thing is potentially mission critical (as in not dying just yet) and will lighten my purse by about $1,000, I am going to do my “due diligence” (i.e. research it to death before making a decision, I have some time, the season hasn’t started yet). I am going to share my findings here. More on that on future posts, stay tuned...

All skinning - Hardly any skiing

This is NOT my second ski outing of the season, just my second skinning outing... Was out to Baldy again from Alta Wildcat base. Enough snow to skin and definitely enough rocks to make it almost impossible to ski without at least destroying the rock skis. The good news is that one can skin from the bottom, that is good news if you need the work-out (only). I did a bit over 3,000 feet going to the west shoulder of Baldy and then to the east shoulder. The weather was warm, sunny and, on the ridgeline, really windy (NW). Past the Collins angle station you have close to one foot of cover left in most slope centers. I found a deep gully and was able to ski the middle of it without hitting rock. All the rest was infested by nasty rock that jump up at you when you try to ski and some devious ones that seem to go for your boot buckles! Great Baldy has filled up a bit and this could maybe be a base layer, especially if next week’s system delivers. The top picture shows the entrance from a distance and the lower one shows the exit (taken against the late pm sun). As you can see, we do need some more snow there. On another note, Cardiac Ridge holds enough snow that hopefully it could be its first layer, provided of course, it doesen't go before next storm comes in...

How extreme is extreme skiing?

This is the kind of question that one has time for in a pre-season never ending high pressure system… Anyway, ever since Patrick Vallençant, Pierre Tardivel and others launched the movement while people like Doug Coombs, Shane McConkey and others brought it further, extreme skiing has fascinated a lot of people including this writer. Incidentally all these people and many more died on the mountain. A question that I think is not fully answered is: What is extreme skiing? We all heard of the easy clear sounding definition “if you fall you die”. That would somehow settle it; that If you are on a line where a fall could/would be fatal you just skied an “extreme” line. Alright, so is it any-fall-on-this-line-will-kill you or is it a fall-on-this-line-can-kill-you? I think the difference is not insignificant as a lot of places you could die on are not necessarily that extreme. Also, what is an extreme skier? Someone that got lucky a couple of times on some hardcore lines or should it be a more regular occurrence? If so, how regular? Is an extreme skier someone that does X number of descents down a Y degree line or higher that are no shorter than Z elevation loss? As a caution to anyone feeling frisky you can see Garett Bartelt's fall by clicking here.

The not so exciting forecast

With a forecast like this one (see below Little Cottonwood forecast) it seems like we are back to pre-season angst.

I have found that the best therapy to stem at least some of the mounting impatience is busying oneself with ski stuff. Things like preparing /supplementing the equipment, reading all sorts of ski mags (even old ones), planning and preparing the greatest outings, and of course train like a fool to get those legs ready to go when winter finally comes upon us. Got to stay positive in these trying times!

My very first ski day of the season

So this was the one, the very first ski day of the season. The attentive reader will notice that on the 3rd I said “first skinning outing of the season", that was not an oversight; the emphasis was definitely on the workout that day... But today I got to ski powder off of the chutelettes of Baldy’s shoulder including some legitimately steep lines (at least for a first of the season...). I was up in the pm and it was dumping good, it was almost a white out (see picture to the left). I did a couple of laps up there and then a ski-out all the way down to the Gold Miner’s parking lot. All of it was nicely skiable. The main caution is higher up on the shoulder where there was a fair amount of rock, you rapidly develop a heightened sensitivity towards really using both skis equally and making yourself as light as ever. The rest, as you ski down, presented no issues at all.
There was maybe half a dozen skiers on skins and lower down a plethora of people with resort skis boot packing up (they stayed mostly pretty low on the mountain).

The cover feels like a solid foot minimum pushing to two and even three feet in the most privileged spots (see the poles in the snow). Kudos to those NOAA wheater reports (see yesterday's post). Great Baldy shute is probably not going to need many more of these storms before it is skiable too. Below you can see a few turns taken off the Baldy shoulder. In this pre-season time of angst and tension, this was clearly a worthwhile outing!

The weather reports are getting really exciting!

This is what the NOAA for Alta (at 9,600 ft) says for today: Snow showers. [...] New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.
For tonight: Snow showers likely. [...] New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
For tomorrow: Snow showers likely. [...] New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.
The way I read this, it says that we have a possible range of 3+3+3 to 7+5+7 i.e. 9 - 19 inches possible! Now, if that is not exciting in very early October, I don't know what is. This, of course, comes on top of 6 - 12 inches that are alredy there. Looks like another skinning workout for early week...

My first outing of the 2009/2010 season in the Wasatch

After the first storm of the season here in the Wasatch (I live in Park City) and seeing all that white stuff on the Park City - Canyons ridgeline, the yearning for winter got the best of me. So, yesterday I took my car and decided to go look for snow. I had my ski gear in the back but was dressed for a hike/workout, not really expecting to see enough of the white stuff… Well, I had my first skinning outing of the year! Went out with my rock skis (yes I have succumbed to that morally repugnant concept (skis should be cherished and protected, not grated…)) to Alta and was able to skin from the base of Wildcat to the shoulder of Baldy. Up there it was full on Winter! I couldn’t believe I was on my gear getting up a mountain. I only gained 2,000 feet as I was out alone in the pm and the sun was starting to set over the ridgeline. Snow conditions were not fantastic and one could not ski down the whole thing (I have rock skis - not rock boots!) but by the shoulder of Baldy in the middle of the shutelettes it was pushing a foot and Great Baldy got what, from a distance, looks like a fair amount of coverage.