Grizzly Gulch, December 26, 2023 - NO GONDOLA

Mt. Superior, 11,050 feet.

Went BC skiing today with my boy, Stuart, headed up Grizzly Gulch, aiming for Patsy Marly then Wolverine Cirque to do Big Chute. I did the whole parking reservation thing, now required by Alta on weekends, and, other than the $25 fee, its really not a big deal. 

In some ways the reservations are a good thing, it filters the crowds the parking shit-show disappears when parking is regulated, and the quality of the day is much better. The big debate about the Little Cottonwood Canyon Gondola is nuts. A gondola is a stupid idea. In my mind the solution is simple, DO NOT build a gondola, DO NOT add lanes up the highway, DO NOT add new parking. The solution is already in place, but needs improvement, just enhance the parking reservation systems already in place. Besides, why should the Utah Taxpayers foot the bill for Alta and Snowbird's profit margins? They already make money hand-over-fist, do they really need to become billionaire operations? 

I value the quality of the day much more than I value packing the canyon to way over-capacity. Over crowding destroys quality. How long would the Utah Jazz get away with selling 40,000 tickets to the 20,000 seat Delta Center? I’m guessing there’d be a huge revolt, by the fans and also the NBA, yet that is exactly what UTA, Alta and Snowbird are trying to do by building a gondola. The Wasatch Mountains are a finite resource. They canyons regularly reach capacity and the solution is to limit the numbers trying to access the canyon. Arches National Park as a good example. Until they started reservations for park entrance, there was often 3-4 hour waits, with a line of cars all the way to Moab, just to drive into the park. Then, hiking Delicate Arch was a major shit-show, IF you were luycky enough to find parking. The trail was wall-to-wall with humanity and it was/is impossible to get a family picture under the arch due to the crowding. Yeah, reservations are a pain in the ass, but this isn’t 1975 anymore. Utah’s population has tripled in the last 30 years. The days of spontaneous ‘jump in the car and go skiing’ is no longer possible. Plan ahead, make a reservation, and the quality of the day will greatly improve. It’s the new norm. 

Back to my day with Stuart skiing Grizzly Gulch; we didn’t get too far. Stuart was recovering from Covid and he could not catch his breath. Every few steps he had to stop, gasping for air. He thought he was over the Covid, at home he felt healthy and strong. He’s in excellent physical condition, but up at nearly 9,000 feet his lungs were still struggling with the virus. We made it about two miles up Grizzly Gulch but then called it a day, skied back to the truck and went to breakfast at Silver Fork Lodge. A beautiful, sunny crisp day in the Wasatch, made better to be with my boy. 

Patsy Marly 10,531 feet.

Devils Castle (l) 10,875 feet, Sugarloaf Mountain (r) 11,051 feet.