On Thursday, we woke to a calm, sunny day for the first time during our week. We piled everyone into the truck and headed off to Snowbasin to enjoy the Strawberry area, which had eluded me by being closed due to wind/visibility for my prior days. The kids would play in front of the roaring fire, while the adults rotated (and rested!) around them.
Our first run in the area was the beautiful Bear Springs run (see the picture above, and click for the full slide show) which was long, freshly groomed soft corduroy, where we were the only people on it. It looks a steeper in the picture than it is; the area is manageable for mid level ability, and it's so quiet traffic wise that you have the ability to make big turns if you would like. We enjoyed more of the major signature runs there, and then went back to meet everyone else for lunch.
In the slide show, you can see the girls enjoying their first day at the lodge, sunning themselves on the deck and cooing at the all the inquisitors who wanted to know if they were twins. (No, just purchased on a Two for Tuesday sale as we cheerfully respond). Most of the other pictures are from the broad expanses of the Strawberry, which has a big mountain ski feel, especially from the top when the wind kicks in. In one of the pictures you can see the clouds rolling in to the mountain top. You can see for a long way from up there, but don't fall over the roped off side. Later in the mid-afternoon, the visibility started getting poor again, and we really needed the day glow trail markers to get down. At lower altitudes it was easier to see, so we tacked back to the main mountain and finished day on the runs over there.
Afterwards we made a pilgrimage to the giftshop, for the de rigeur T-shirt. Snowbasin is a great mountain, despite the lack on lodging on mountain. It has great snow, lots of vertical, a good lift system, and minimal crowds.
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