Last night, it snowed twelve inches at Snowbird.
A powder day at AltaBird is considered one of the hallowed experiences in skiing. People talk about it in hushed tones.
Now I see why.
There are, I'm estimating, a bazillion different lines you could ski at Snowbird (and Alta, too), and most of them are at least a little challenging. Many of them are serious gnar. Deep snow has the effect of slowing things way down, though, so turns become far more forgiving, and you find yourself looking down (or, afterward, up) some crazy steep run, thinking, "I got this." In deep snow in seriously steep terrain, each turn is like starting to fall off the mountain, but then being caught and buoyed up by some enormous, gentle hand.
First tracks didn't last for terribly long, but there were soft turns to be had if you knew where to look, which I did not, but I met a handful of people over the course of the day who were willing to show me around a little. There is something of a debate in the skiing world about whether or not you should offer your local knowledge to outsiders, but in my experience most people are generous and want to share. There is a thrill, I feel, in giving someone access to part of the mountain they might not otherwise experience. It feels like sharing something holy.
We traversed hard skier's right, under the Little Cloud lift and onward toward the Gad Chutes, and the pace picked up, and the snow underfoot got lighter and lighter, and it felt oddly and beautifully like we were flying.