It finally happened. Today was the first day since the season really began to take off that I found less than desirable snow in the backcountry. It has been super windy at high elevations for the past few days and it has really messed up the snow. We were, however, still able to have a good time out there despite it all. Jer and I met Luke at the mouth of Big Cottonwood around 8:15 this morning. Initially, the idea was to ski Twin Peaks today, but due to the wind we decided against it. We chose, instead, to ski Bear Trap.
Unfortunately, none of us had ever skied in Bear Trap thus making it difficult to find the trailhead. I had a general idea of where it should start, but was relying on seeing an obvious skin track to lead the way. We never did find said skin track so we decided to head up into the Monitor, McDonald's area again. I was really struggling to keep up for some reason on the first climb but thanks to a remark
ably disgusting pack of Chocolate Outrage Gu, I was able to get the needed energy to push forward. The wind was howling when we reached the top of West Monitor. We went through a few steps to test the stability of the bowl and then decided to drop in. It was not the easi
est snow to ski - particularly with the lack of visibility. Basically, I had to stop relying on my sight to determine my turns and rely on the knowledge I had of the open bowl and the feel of the snow. This proved to be quite effective and I got some pretty good turns out of it. We had to cut our own skin track out of West Monitor since no one else had ventured to ski it since all the wind had blown it out. We then took two laps into the Easternmost line in McDonald's as it appeared to be the most protected of lines available to us. Th
e snow conditions were about the same, but visibility was much higher. We then took a third lap into McDonald's but this time a little more West and this turned out to be some pretty good turns on a line none of us had skied prior. By this time, some people (who shall remain nameless) began to get a little tired and were thinking of calling it a day. I had been asked to keep Jer out for a full day so Mallory could get things ready for his surprise birthday party tonight so I encouraged one more North facing run. We had never skied South Monitor so we thought we would give it a shot. While the snow was no different in this area, we all had the b
est turns of the day coming down this line. Perhaps it was the fact that we had finally become familiar with the snowpack or perhaps it was the fact that we were just all so determined to nail at least one run. Either way it was a good line for all of us and I can only imagine how good it would be when the snow is nice. The skin back out was interesting seeing how it brought us through some very dense
trees - this brought a bit of adventure to our day. We then made our way to the summit once again and then down through the Western trees in USA Bowl. We were all really dialed in by this time and had a lot of fun in these turns. The exit was another exhausting bobsled-type run that just pushes your legs to the limit of their capacity. We got in the car just in time for the resort traffic and had the opportunity to chat for some time on the drive down (as if Jer didn't chat enough on the hill today). It really was a good day. The snow was subpar, but we were able to make up for that with the exploration and adventure aspects of today's tour. Peace.
It finally happened. Today was the first day since the season really began to take off that I found less than desirable snow in the backcountry. It has been super windy at high elevations for the past few days and it has really messed up the snow. We were, however, still able to have a good time out there despite it all. Jer and I met Luke at the mouth of Big Cottonwood around 8:15 this morning. Initially, the idea was to ski Twin Peaks today, but due to the wind we decided against it. We chose, instead, to ski Bear Trap. 
Unfortunately, none of us had ever skied in Bear Trap thus making it difficult to find the trailhead. I had a general idea of where it should start, but was relying on seeing an obvious skin track to lead the way. We never did find said skin track so we decided to head up into the Monitor, McDonald's area again. I was really struggling to keep up for some reason on the first climb but thanks to a remark
ably disgusting pack of Chocolate Outrage Gu, I was able to get the needed energy to push forward. The wind was howling when we reached the top of West Monitor. We went through a few steps to test the stability of the bowl and then decided to drop in. It was not the easi
est snow to ski - particularly with the lack of visibility. Basically, I had to stop relying on my sight to determine my turns and rely on the knowledge I had of the open bowl and the feel of the snow. This proved to be quite effective and I got some pretty good turns out of it. We had to cut our own skin track out of West Monitor since no one else had ventured to ski it since all the wind had blown it out. We then took two laps into the Easternmost line in McDonald's as it appeared to be the most protected of lines available to us. Th
e snow conditions were about the same, but visibility was much higher. We then took a third lap into McDonald's but this time a little more West and this turned out to be some pretty good turns on a line none of us had skied prior. By this time, some people (who shall remain nameless) began to get a little tired and were thinking of calling it a day. I had been asked to keep Jer out for a full day so Mallory could get things ready for his surprise birthday party tonight so I encouraged one more North facing run. We had never skied South Monitor so we thought we would give it a shot. While the snow was no different in this area, we all had the b
est turns of the day coming down this line. Perhaps it was the fact that we had finally become familiar with the snowpack or perhaps it was the fact that we were just all so determined to nail at least one run. Either way it was a good line for all of us and I can only imagine how good it would be when the snow is nice. The skin back out was interesting seeing how it brought us through some very dense 
trees - this brought a bit of adventure to our day. We then made our way to the summit once again and then down through the Western trees in USA Bowl. We were all really dialed in by this time and had a lot of fun in these turns. The exit was another exhausting bobsled-type run that just pushes your legs to the limit of their capacity. We got in the car just in time for the resort traffic and had the opportunity to chat for some time on the drive down (as if Jer didn't chat enough on the hill today). It really was a good day. The snow was subpar, but we were able to make up for that with the exploration and adventure aspects of today's tour. Peace.
To bad you can't blame the wind for the crappy conditions of this blog.
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