“Kristen!” The yell comes while I’m getting off Little Cloud. Snowboarding away from the lift toward its source, I see my old friend CB rush toward me with arms wide. Before I have a chance to say hello, he snatches me off the ground and shakes me like an upside-down ketchup bottle while yelling, “What’s up?” in my right ear.

Yep, it was early May. The sun was out. CB was skiing in shorts and a T-shirt. This is precisely when things like this happen.

My friend Kate once said, “I don’t like skiing because I don’t like the cold.” To which I replied, “Uhm, hello? Since when is skiing a cold-weather sport?” Was it poet Rumi who once wrote: “The gods invented spring, just so there could be spring skiing?”

In fact, for some, ski season doesn’t even start until it hits 50 degrees. Which explains why The Bird sells their 2025-26 Season Passes so early. Buy one now and you get the entire spring season, plus passholder parties, a free hat and a chance to finally wear that clown nose you’ve had in your glove compartment for a year.  

50 degrees might not start exactly on April Fool’s Day, but either way, that date marks the start of costumes, including a few giant inflatable dinosaur outfits. This code of conduct goes through the end of the season, which, this being Little Cottonwood Canyon, might mean powder ‘til that very date.

The locals know—but shhh don’t tell anyone—April at least, is our best-kept powder secret. Local Brent Benson once complained about too much snow in April. That particular year, we averaged about 10 inches a day for 3 weeks straight. To which, specifically, he moaned, “I can’t get any work done because what am I gonna do? Not go skiing when it’s a powder day, every day, and there’s nobody up here?” But you must time it right. As spring ticks on, the hours get earlier, the jumps get bigger and the moguls deeper. Everything seems just… more.

It's also where you’ll find CB again, still grinning, now holding a beer, even more excited than ever to see his friends.  

About the Author

Kristen Ulmer

Born and raised in Henniker, New Hampshire, Ulmer moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1985 to attend the University of Utah. In 1986, she began competing in mogul skiing and filming extreme ski movies, launching a professional ski career that lasted for almost two decades. Ulmer was a mogul skier on the U.S. Ski Team in 1991. Powder Magazine named her as one of the greatest professional female skiers of her time. She was inducted into the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame in 2018. Alongside her ski career, Ulmer contributed writing to magazines such as Skiing, Ski, Powder, Maxim, Details and Outside. Ulmer coaches athletes in various sports disciplines and runs mindset-only ski camps in Alta, Utah. She also works as a zen therapist and speaks about anxiety.