After a week and a half of high pressure and boney conditions that had locals thinking Easter rather than Christmas, Old Man Winter returned to one of his favorite haunts last week.

The first storm rolled in on Sunday, December 10, dropping rain in the Salt Lake Valley, and 10 inches in 24 hours in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Big Cottonwood was slightly behind, with Solitude reporting 7 inches. I started the week with Tram laps at Snowbird, finding good snow right away in Great Scott and Mid-Cirque. The sun crust in Mineral Basin was still evident through the light snow, but afternoon money turns could be found in Wilbere Bowl. The chokes were still rocky, but the aprons were pure pow.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, when logic said conditions should have been beat, a persistent westerly wind kept things buff at Alta. Wind-loading had Thirds and Eagles Nest skiing like fresh powder.

Round 2 rolled in on Friday night, December 15, dropping 10 inches of five-percent in LCC, and continued through Sunday. Sunday morning Alta reported three inches in last 12 hours. Meanwhile, Snowbird and the avalanche hotlline were both reporting 13. Predictably, Atla was the sandbagger, with waist-deep powder all morning. –Derek Taylor