Blog: ballade en montagne

17 Jul 2013 · 3 min

Watch on YouTube

3:20

YouTube narration (blog-style) giving an on-site guided overview of the Snowbird ski area: lift ride details (2900 ft vertical in ~8 minutes to about 11,000 ft), the skiable zones (Peruvian Gulch, Gad Valley, Mineral Basin totaling ~2,500 acres), avalanche-control methods including artillery (105 mm howitzer) used from Alta ski patrol, local snowfall figures (~500 in/year typical; ~790 in one season), and common local wildlife (moose, deer, coyotes, foxes, Rocky Mountain goats, mountain lions, porcupines, marmots, squirrels).

Questions this video answers

About 2,900 vertical feet in about eight minutes.

To about 11,000 feet.

Peruvian Gulch, Gad Valley, and Mineral Basin.

Roughly 2,500 acres.

Little Cottonwood Canyon; described as the most avalanche-prone canyon in the lower 48 states.

To 11,000. So you're going to be going up 2900 vertical in about eight minutes. You got Peruvian Gulch to your left, you got Gad Valley to your right. Once you get to the top you have an area called mineral basin. All three areas do give Snowbird roughly 2500 acres of skiable terrain. Before you have to ask, where does everybody ski? Well, everything your eyes look at is skiable terrain. Given enough snow. We do not have much out of bounds as snow out. All right. You are currently in little Cottonwood Canyon, which means you're in the most avalanche prone canyon in the lower 48 states, including Canada. It also means you're in one of the only spots in the United States where you're legally allowed to shoot artillery over occupied homes. Give you idea. I know. Give you an idea as to what that means. You look off to your left, you'll see a small shack on top of a ridge line that is Alta ski patrol shack and does contain a 105 millimeter howitzer which does shoot up and down the canyon to induce avalanche as they come down on their own. We get roughly 500 inches of snow annually at Snowbird. Three seasons ago we got upwards of 790. All right. Animals you might see while you're here. The moose are definitely out. They've had their calves. The yearlings are back. There's deer out there. They've had their fawns. Keep your eyes open for that. There's also coyotes, foxes, rocky mountain goats and mountain lions. Smaller animals you might see porcupine, marmot and a whole lot of u squirrel. Even a small one. Oh man, here comes another one. It years I don't do that.