Snowbird Ski Patrol busy managing early season conditions

Early season conditions at Snowbird Ski Resort are making it difficult for the ski patrol to manage openings and closings for some of the terrain.

The Cirque Traverse opened for the first time in the 2012-13 season on Sunday and was closed on Tuesday.

The Traverse provides access to some of the most popular terrain in one of Utah’s busiest ski resorts according to Peter Schory, the resort’s winter operations director and member of the Snowbird Ski Patrol since 1973.

“It is a chess game,” Schory said. “As a patrol unit we felt we had adequate snow depth suitable to open that part of the mountain on Sunday.”

For Snowbird to open areas of the resort such as the Cirque Traverse, proper preparations need to take place.

“The Cirque is in a unique place because it doesn’t get any snow cat grooming,” Schory said. “Everything that takes place up there is what we do as a patrol and what the guests who are skiing and riding do.”

During the week prior to opening the Traverse, Snowbird Ski Patrol conducted several avalanche-control tests, marked existing hazards and barricaded sections of the terrain, which the patrol deemed unsafe for the public.

More than 1,500 skiers and riders bought lift passes at Snowbird on Sunday and more than 1,200 purchased tickets Monday.

A popular area, which attracts many of Snowbird’s guests, the Cirque Traverse was closed on Tuesday until conditions improve.

“It got to be a smart test for us as a patrol,” said Randy Trover, ski patrol member. “There was a large amount of use on the traverse and throughout a few days the terrain couldn’t keep supporting skiing without any new snow so we closed it.”

While the amount of skiing and snowboarding traffic contributed to the closure of the area, other conditions  also affected the quality of the ski run.

“It has been unusually warm since the middle of November,” Trover said. “When you have warm temperatures, no new snow and a lot of people skiing in a certain area, something is going to give. Safety is our priority at Snowbird. When there is a chance of someone getting hurt with exposed hazards or lack of snow, we aren’t going to take that risk.”

Although the Cirque Traverse is currently closed, Snowbird was pleased with the product they provided while the Traverse was open. 

“We had fantastic skiing in the Cirque for two days. We got all of the signs set up on that part of the mountain and now, once it snows, we will be ready to open it back up,” Schory said.

In addition to having good skiing for several days, allowing guests into the Cirque provided benefits in that area of the mountain for the upcoming winter storms.

“Skier compaction is huge. Snowcats can’t work in that section of the resort, they don’t have any access to it,” Schory said. “We rely on our guests to break up the weak layers of the snow by accessing the terrain to prevent the fragile layers getting buried under additional snowfall.”

General manager Bob Bonar has worked at Snowbird since the resort opened in December 1971 and knows the process of opening and closing terrain is a standard in the early season.

“We don’t push the envelope around here,” Bonar said. “We operate with safety and we won’t compromise that for a few ski turns in hazardous terrain. The winter is just getting started. We are prepared, open and awaiting the next storm.”