Alta
The PTTP tour kicked of the second half of the journey where the first half started, in Utah. This time we visited Alta and our reception was unbelievable. I'm not sure if it was because Alta's a skier's only mountain, or because it's a powder Mecca, but there is a certain buzz that resounds when Powder Magazine is mentioned, let alone when we show up to throw a party. Compound this situation with a Powder Maggots Utah mini summit and you've got the makings for a rip roaring good time, and that's exactly what happened.
Anyone that has skied Alta knows the mountain has all sorts of fun terrain to explore and tons of snow to dive into. We discovered this for ourselves, big time! Local pros, Sage Cattabriga, Chris Mineci and Nora Pincus showed us the little secret stashes during an overcast greybird day. When the skies opened up on our last day so did the Baldy Chutes. Baldy opened for the first time this season and Gabe and I were lucky enough to time it perfectly. The rope dropped and we charged up the boot pack with a host of local rippers. After a brief rest at the top we joined in on the assault of this beautiful face. It was deep and steep and sustained, the perfect end to an awesome tour stop. The only things that may have slowed us down on this day were the cobwebs in our heads from the party the night before.