It was a classic day amongst a blur of adventure. The weather forecast left little to be expected. Grey was the outlook of the day, and a possibility of snow. I drove to Snowbasin under high grey clouds that appeared to be able to go either way. I was not optimistic. I hooked up with an old friend and touring partner, Wes Knopfel. I was on the gondola when he called me. I had a lap or two under my belt for the morning. The mountains had received about 4 inches of what we call, "Basin Butter". It is a thick dense snow that blankets the surface with a butter like consistency. The key to skiing the butter is to find slopes that have smooth bed surfaces from before the storm. Luckily for us, Snowbasin is plentiful with big clean smooth slopes. The visibility was still low, but my hopes were lifting with the clouds. At about 10:30am the grey began to break. Wes and I were ready. We laughed as we rode up Strawberry gondola about the sunshine poking through with increasing momentum. The gift of bluebird skies was a welcomed surprise.
