The Wasatch Mountains are the reason why skiers from all over the world come to Utah. From Utah's capital Salt Lake City, which is already 1350 meters above sea level, the Wasatch Mountains rise up to 2000 meters from the huge plateau.
We jump out of bed early, which is easy for me as I've been awake for a while. Experience has shown that my body needs one or two nights to get used to sleeping at over 2,600 meters. I quickly grab a couple of Pankaces for breakfast and head off to the meeting point in Snowbird, which is just a few minutes below Alta in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
Our guides Doug and Dan give the ten or so participants a short briefing on how to use the avalanche transceivers.
The streetcar, as the Snowbirds call their gondola, has a capacity of 125 skiers and takes us to the starting point of the Interconnect. It's a real Bluebird Day, not a cloud in sight, perfect conditions for our plan. The Snowbird and Alta ski areas are almost directly connected. You can switch back and forth between the two on and off-piste. We ski straight through the Alta Ski Resort today and only take the Supreme Lift to reach Catherine's Pass.
After a short traverse, the longest ascent of the day is on the agenda right at the start. With skis on our backpacks, we trudge through the deep snow towards Mount Wolverine. The wind picks up at the summit. Although we don't have to go all the way up, the guides Doug and Dan recommend doing so anyway. Finally, we are rewarded with the first powder turns of the day. From the summit, we can now get a rough idea of the entire route for the day. To our left are Alta and Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon, to our right we can see Brighton and Solitude in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
No wonder that two film crews are up here to capture fantastic images on the steep north flanks towards Solitude. We would love to plunge down the steep flanks too, but no mountain guide in the world would want to do this with a guided group. Instead, we turn around and set our sights on Wolverine Bowl. Each of us finds enough space for our own line on the wide slope. The run down to Brighton is the highlight of the day in terms of skiing. In the steep Upper and Lower Mary Chutes, the powder virtually splashes past our heads.
Brighton and Solitude are just as close together as Alta and Snowbird. A lift ride is all it takes to reach Solitude, where we fortify ourselves with giant burgers. Among the four Cottonwood resorts, Solitude is still considered a bit exotic. Even several days after the last big snow dump, you can still find untracked powder on the backsides of Solitude.
Well fortified, we tackle the way back. The Highway to Heaven traverse begins right next to the Summit Chairlift mountain station. Due to the risk of avalanches, we prefer to leave greater distances and twenty minutes later we are at the Twin Lakes Pass with the whole group. Over the moderately steep slopes of Grizzly Gulch, we head back to Alta through sparse forests.
Now we only have the last section of the interconnect back to Snowbird to go. As the whole group wants to do one last off-piste run, Doug and Dan decide to take the Keyhole. One last short ascent is necessary before we get into our bindings one last time above the Wildcat lift. After a long day in the Wasatch Mountains, we reach the base lodge of the Tram through the narrow gullies of the Keyhole. We enjoy the last rays of sunshine of this extraordinary day with a delicious pale ale on the terrace of the Snowbird Activity Center and are already looking forward to going riding in Alta tomorrow.