Things all worked out this weekend and I was finally able to get out with Mark (from Voile), G (his wife), Mark (a different one), and Bob Athey (
the Wizard of the Wasatch). I have been wanted to get out with these guys for some time, but they usually go for their long tours on Sunday so it just doesn't work out for me.
However, this week the better snow was to be had on Saturday so they sucked it up and decided to get out today. These guys all have so much to teach me. In particular, I was happy to ski with Bob today.
He has been backcountry skiing the wasatch since 1975 and he just knows so much about the terrain, the slopes, and the snow. I really have not met anyone who knows more about the wasatch snow pack than Bob does. I was able to glean a few bits of knowledge from
him today, but I hope I can get out with him more and continue to learn. We first climbed from Little Cottonwood up Pole Line Pass to Little Superior and skied Little Superior Buttress. G went to the side and got a little video of the rest of us making turns down it. This was a good sized line and proved to be some really great skiing. Bob was on a splitboard testing a new product Voile is putting together. He is a great tester as long as you can deal with all the complaints (but I suppose that's the whole point of testing, right?).
We then skinned our way up to the peak of Superior. I have wanted to summit Superior for some time now and just haven't done it. Well, I finally did it today. I still want to ski the South face, but today we skied th
e Northwest face - Noah's - into Mill B South. This was another new line for me and was a lot of fun. We then skinned our way back up to Cardiac Ridge. Let me just say that all the complaining I have received from friends about my steep skin tracks no longer holds any water.
The skin tracks we cut all day were at least as steep as I cut them. I no longer feel bad for Jer and his low climbing bars. We skied back into Cardiff from the ridge. There were so many people back here that we were lucky to find a fresh track for each of us. This proved to be the longest continuous backcountry line of my life. It was a blast. I really want to get back there when there are not as many people around. By the time I reached the bottom my legs were hammered from making telemark turns. Bob took a little detour in the middle to take some photos and get some data from a ne
w snow avalanche that had occured earlier in the day. We then made our way back up Superior (although we did not summit - we just went to a small notch in the ridge that led us back into Mill B South). We took a short run into here and met at the bottom. On my first turn of this run I hammered my knee on a rock. Let me just say that I 100% support the use of kneepads when telemarking. I would not have much of a knee left if I had not been wearing them. Instead, I have a little bit of a sore knee, ripped pants, an
d a gouge taken out of my kneepad. We took a little break at the base here and G got some sweet video of Bob reading the back of a Raw Revolution bar - coming from him it was very funny. We then skinned up to the Room of Doom and skied down into Mineral Fork. Bob knew just where to ski in order to avoid possible dangers. I was very impressed.
He took a few photos as we skied and got some great turn
s. It was here that I got the shots of him first decending through the Room of Doom and then making a nice turn at the base. This then led us to ski Santiago where we skied on top of some very soft avy debris still providing pleasant turns. Then we continued on to run it all out to Big Cottonwood canyon. Other than the first year I did the Powderkeg, this was my first multi-canyon tour. I had a blast. I was able to make it home in time for Stacy's grandma's birthday party and everyone was happy. The skiing was great, the company was great, and I look forward to doing it all again soon.
Things all worked out this weekend and I was finally able to get out with Mark (from Voile), G (his wife), Mark (a different one), and Bob Athey (the Wizard of the Wasatch). I have been wanted to get out with these guys for some time, but they usually go for their long tours on Sunday so it just doesn't work out for me. 
However, this week the better snow was to be had on Saturday so they sucked it up and decided to get out today. These guys all have so much to teach me. In particular, I was happy to ski with Bob today. 
He has been backcountry skiing the wasatch since 1975 and he just knows so much about the terrain, the slopes, and the snow. I really have not met anyone who knows more about the wasatch snow pack than Bob does. I was able to glean a few bits of knowledge from 
him today, but I hope I can get out with him more and continue to learn. We first climbed from Little Cottonwood up Pole Line Pass to Little Superior and skied Little Superior Buttress. G went to the side and got a little video of the rest of us making turns down it. This was a good sized line and proved to be some really great skiing. Bob was on a splitboard testing a new product Voile is putting together. He is a great tester as long as you can deal with all the complaints (but I suppose that's the whole point of testing, right?). 
We then skinned our way up to the peak of Superior. I have wanted to summit Superior for some time now and just haven't done it. Well, I finally did it today. I still want to ski the South face, but today we skied th
e Northwest face - Noah's - into Mill B South. This was another new line for me and was a lot of fun. We then skinned our way back up to Cardiac Ridge. Let me just say that all the complaining I have received from friends about my steep skin tracks no longer holds any water. 
The skin tracks we cut all day were at least as steep as I cut them. I no longer feel bad for Jer and his low climbing bars. We skied back into Cardiff from the ridge. There were so many people back here that we were lucky to find a fresh track for each of us. This proved to be the longest continuous backcountry line of my life. It was a blast. I really want to get back there when there are not as many people around. By the time I reached the bottom my legs were hammered from making telemark turns. Bob took a little detour in the middle to take some photos and get some data from a ne
w snow avalanche that had occured earlier in the day. We then made our way back up Superior (although we did not summit - we just went to a small notch in the ridge that led us back into Mill B South). We took a short run into here and met at the bottom. On my first turn of this run I hammered my knee on a rock. Let me just say that I 100% support the use of kneepads when telemarking. I would not have much of a knee left if I had not been wearing them. Instead, I have a little bit of a sore knee, ripped pants, an
d a gouge taken out of my kneepad. We took a little break at the base here and G got some sweet video of Bob reading the back of a Raw Revolution bar - coming from him it was very funny. We then skinned up to the Room of Doom and skied down into Mineral Fork. Bob knew just where to ski in order to avoid possible dangers. I was very impressed. He took a few photos as we skied and got some great turn
s. It was here that I got the shots of him first decending through the Room of Doom and then making a nice turn at the base. This then led us to ski Santiago where we skied on top of some very soft avy debris still providing pleasant turns. Then we continued on to run it all out to Big Cottonwood canyon. Other than the first year I did the Powderkeg, this was my first multi-canyon tour. I had a blast. I was able to make it home in time for Stacy's grandma's birthday party and everyone was happy. The skiing was great, the company was great, and I look forward to doing it all again soon.
This blog is like a gouge out of my knee pad.
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