Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Red Snow

We all know you're not supposed to eat yellow snow...but is red ok? A good rule of thumb is probably to avoid any color besides white.

If you're looking at the webcam and notice the red tint in the snow, that's all that Utah dust from a big windstorm we had a couple weeks ago. The dust layer is really helping with the runoff. Our mountain crew is spending time in the snowcats right now pushing snow off our service road and other key locations. This helps prevent mudslides when the ground gets too saturated.

It'll be an earlier start of summer up here than last year, that's for sure!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do you mean "helping with the runoff..."?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the red snow note. The red layer was quite noticeable at Aspen Highlands last weekend and we were wondering about the cause. Fizzured ceramic (crackpot)theories were abundant... :-)

Powderhorn Resort said...

The dirt layer increases the rate of runoff because it absorbs the heat from the sun. So "helping" might not be the right thing to say. It could actually make runoff go a little too quickly and cause the ground to move on us.

We would love to hear some of the "crackpot" theories!

Anonymous said...

Are there plans to maintain the mtb trails this year? Last year they were not maintained, the signs were all laying on the ground, and moonscapes wasn't accessible due to a beaver dam flooding the trail.

Powderhorn Resort said...

Yes, the beaver dam is going to be...relocated :)
And we'll be working on keeping the trails in better condition. Should be open earlier this year!