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.