Big snow, big thrill on slopes

SNOWBIRD — The report is 200 inches and falling ... or rising, depending on how you want to view Utah's vein of "white gold" this ski season.

The base depths at two of Utah's big-snow resorts — Snowbird and Alta — topped the 200-inch mark on the measuring stick for the first time in more than two decades on Wednesday, and the flakes keep falling.

Time-honored tradition tells local skiers the magic number for great skiing is 100 inches. Now, with 200 inches, consensus is that skiing is "indescribable."

"I've been skiing this resort for 28 years now," said Rick May, a Snowbird employee, "and I've never had a run as good as the one I took this morning off the tram."

That opinion is shared by record-breaking crowds at Utah's 13 ski resorts. Predictions are that the total skier days for 2004-2005 will be up between 6 and 8 percent over last year's record of 3.4 million.

Snowbird recorded 203 inches at its mid-mountain stake early Wednesday. The resort has received well over 100 inches of snow over the past 10 days.

Alta reported 207 inches on Wednesday, Solitude 194 inches and Brighton 183.

Checking the records, Alta has had only 41 days out of roughly 4,500 days, in the past 25 years, when the settled snowbase was over the 200-inch mark, and only 11 days when the depth was more than 220 inches. The high mark was May 19, 1983, a month after the resort closed, when the mid-mountain depth was 236 inches.

On April 3 of 1983, the depth at Alta was 224 inches; on April 1 of 1982 the depth was 210 inches; and on April 6 of 1982 the depth was 213 inches.

All this snow has not come without problems.

Snowbird crews were out this week with shovels digging snow out from under the path of the tram.

Dave Fields, public relations director, said the snow had to be moved "in order to make it safe for skiers to ski under the tram. The snow's that deep. Things are different on the mountain, too. Where there were trees, now there are no more trees. Where there were cliffs, now there are no more cliffs. Everything covered or filled in with snow.

"Employees are another matter. We're still hiring winter help. Our occupancy is so high, we need the staff, and at this time of the year some of our seasonal winter staff are moving to other jobs."

Long-term averages show the canyon resorts can expect another 66 inches in April.