Thunder Snow

Up early. Out of bed by 545am (745am ET). What’s more surprising, Mindy was up early too – 6am early! In fact, everybody was up by 630am. David was up earliest. Heard him out in the kitchen near 5am clanging pans. 

After some coffee and a stretch, I headed out for a run near 645am. It was cloudy and just beginning to show signs of the coming daylight. Ran south, which I later realized was a gradual uphill. Ugh! Already at approximately 6500’ above sea level, the incline kicked my booty. By the time I ran into town I struggled to get enough oxygen. Iran around the Town lift area for a while then headed back towards the north winding around the village. Of course, the downhill was much easier. I ran north all the way into the new section of town where I found a running track with lots of native art. Cool! Back to the house completely winded and sweating.

Before enjoying David’s breakfast casserole, I hit the shower. Ahh, that felt terrific. Enjoyed coffee and casserole. Everybody was geared up and ready to hit the slopes by 840am. Wow, that never happens!
Because Anita wasn’t skiing, she drove us right to the ticket window/PC center where multiple lifts converge. Agreed to pick us up with just a call. Sweet deal! Picking up our prepaid 3-day lift tickets complete with Fast Tracks access was a snap. We were in the lift line at 9am sharp.

The ski park was crowded but with Fast Track passes, we moved to the front of the lift line. Great deal! Up the Pay Day lift we all went. The snow was a little icy mid mountain on down, but still fun. Without any understanding of the park, we did pretty darn good. Started snowing early on, and at time really hard. We largely keep to the top of the mountain for a good 3 hours.

Early on, I received a text from Anita sharing that she needed to take the van into town for more provisions since the Nissan Altima they rented had a dead battery. No biggie. Somehow or another, the lights were left on. David phoned Thrifty from the slopes asking for roadside assistance to come jump the damn thing. Apparently they weren’t amenable to doing so. Wanted to charge $78. David lit into them over the phone. It was then that I suggested he call his private insurance carrier, especially if he had roadside assistance on his policy. He agreed. He wasn’t at all pleased with Thrifty. Talked about taking the car back and going with someone else. Like me, he declined the additional cost of roadside assistance. One would think they would give out cars with good batteries. Not sure how a car with automatic headlights runs down the battery. Must be a flaw. Still, Thrifty wasn’t willing to take ownership of the problem.

Of course the higher up the fluffier the snow. Towards the bottom the snow was more like ice pellets – stingy, but not wet. We were having an absolute blast, though the runs weren’t all that impressive. They were plenty long but lacked the character we’d come to expect after our visit to Solitude/Brighton the year before.

On at least two occasions, and from the top of the mountain, we encountered thunder snow, a first for all of us. We weren’t sure what it was at first but after the second thunderous boom we knew what it was. The snow was coming down so hard it was accumulating right before our eyes! They actually shut the lifts down temporarily after each lighting strike. I believe it happened twice. No biggie.

The resort was really crowded. Two of the lodges we visited for food, beer, and warmth were packed. Of course we were in there at peak lunch time. Lesson learned. We spent much of that first day skiing the northern most end of the park. Tommy, David, and Mindy called it a day around 230pm, or immediately after our 2nd brief warming break. Glenn and I continued on until 330pm or so. During that time, it snowed harder than I’ve seen in a while. Got a couple cool shots of Glenn completely covered in the snow.

He and I found our way back to the base area with little help from the ski map and opted to walk back to the house. Not a long walk at all, but did have to navigate some 50 steps in ski boots. The others – David, Tommy, and Mindy, were already enjoying the hot tub. After getting out of our ski clothes and grabbing a snack, Glenn & I joined them. Glenn went right for the Jack & Coke. I opted for just Gatorade. That hit the spot like nobody’s business.

David contacted his personal auto insurance company and they came out and jumped the rental no charge. However, because the battery was dead, they had to use the special tools even to get into the car since the key fab was rendered useless by the dead battery. No ‘real’ key!!!

Played in the hot tub until 5pm or so. I think Mindy took a nap and then a shower. Our plan was to head up into old Park City for dinner. Mindy found the Wasatch Brew pub on the dinner guide. It must’ve been near 7pm by time everyone was ready. I drove us in the van. Old town Park City is a beautifully maintained town with lots of old, old architecture that dates back to its mining roots. Parking was almost impossible to find along the street. I dropped Mindy, Anita & David at the entrance to the brew pub while Tommy, Glenn and I went to find a permanent parking spot.

Turned out, we had to park what seemed like a half mile away. We got one of the few curb side parking spots available. I’m sure it was at least a ¼ mile. Glenn paid for our parking at the electronic kiosk. He also insisted we place in the passenger window, apparently like they do back home in Portland/Vancouver. OK. We hiked back to the south to the brew pub. I ended up there well ahead of Tommy & Glenn. I walk really fast.

Mindy and the others already had a table and drinks. I was still parched and initially wanted only water. With no waiter immediately available, I drank Mindy’s. Glenn came in and immediately asked for the keys citing that the parking validation ticket was placed incorrectly in the minivan window. I only shared that I did as he suggested we do. Out of seemingly nowhere, he went off over the matter, which really wasn’t that big of a deal. In the end, he took the keys and hiked back to the van to place the ticket on the dash. In retrospect, probably would’ve been just fine leaving in the passenger window.

My one knock on Utah is their funky beer laws. Learned last year that all draft beer, no matter what make or style is essentially 3.2%. Only bottled beers are the good stuff. Knowing this, I ordered Hop Risin’ in a bottle brewed by Squatters brewing. Believe it’s 9%! I drank two with my dinner, which was just a burger. Others went all out. Think Mindy & David ordered Elk medallions. I asked for the check. Was a little surprised at the total - $215 before tip! Yikes!

David and I went for the minivan while the others waited at the brew pub. Expecting a much colder day on Monday, President’s Day, and the temp had already dipped into the low 20s. Back home before 9pm. I opened another beer but finished only half before heading to bed. Pretty sure that everyone was in bed before 930pm.