Solitude, January 17, 2015

Kara ducking the ropes, headed towards Twin Lakes Pass at the head of Grizzly Gulch above Alta,

 We skied Solitude today and I had to check out the Ski Utah Interconnect Tour where it connects Solitude Ski Resort to Grizzly Gulch and thus Alta. Word on the street is Alta will shortly (summer 2015?) construct a lift up Grizzly Gulch to provide lift access to Solitude and Solitude is planning a small tram from Honeycomb Canyon to the top of Honeycomb Ridge (similar to the Snowbasin Men's Downhill tram) to allow easy return to Alta. All I can say, the hiking between the resorts is currently so minuscule that installing connecting lifts would be like using a jackhammer to clean your teeth.

This the Highway to Heaven (named by the Ski Utah Interconnect Tour folks) which is the traverse from Solitude to Twin Lakes Pass (just over Kara's left shoulder). The location of this photo is about a 1 minute climb from the top of Solitude's Summit lift. Twin Lakes Pass is at the head of Grizzly Gulch, which is a two minute ski descent to the Albion Base area of Alta ski resort. Solitude and Alta are so close I find it puzzling that anyone would think of adding lift to make it easier to connect the resorts. Anyone who "works out" could handle this 1/16 mile traverse without breaking a sweat. 

Kara's smile at the summit of Solitude, view towards Twin Lakes Pass, Patsy Marley (the shadowed, non-timbered peak) and Wolverine Cirque,.

A steep skiing smorgasbord in Wolverine Cirque.

Twin Lakes Dam, between Brighton and Solitude.

Twin Lakes and Brighton from the summit of Solitude.