Day 30 - Saturday Feb 16 - The Chuting Gallery

Some of you may have noticed that I have borrowed the title of this post from Andrew McLean's book of the same name. It is because of this book that we even know the names of what Luke and I skied today. I have had my eye on a few chutes in Wolverine Cirque for some time. I have skied some back there before, but there are many more I have not yet tackled. Today was set apart as a day to check a few more off the list. Luke and I headed up around 8 this morning with our first objective being the Scythe. This chute begins at the top of Wolverine Peak and is one of the longest chutes in this area. The entrace got our hearts pounding a little which only continued with excitement once we started skiing. This was a really fun line. It had wider sections, skinnier sections, and everything in between. I really expected to see more people back here today, but it appears we were the only ones with this idea. Visability in the bowl was rather flat making really nice turns a little difficult, but the chutes were solid. We then skinned up Granny's for our second descent down Bronco Chute. This is one we looked at from the top on our way to the Scythe and determined it would be fun to ski. So we did. There was nothing terribly special about this line, but it was fun nonetheless. We skinned up again and this time skied another chute I have been looking at for some time - the Zoot Chute. This one looked cool because it has a hard right turn half way down the chute and it gets super skinny on the bottom half. It was super cool. I really had to drive my turns hard in order to keep a rhythm down it, which made it a lot of fun. We caught out skin track one last time and made our way back to the summit. We then skied down the south side into Alta. This did not prove to be our best idea of the day. There was a death crust that made for some difficult turns. We skied down and met up with some family friends of Luke's then we took a few runs in Alta with the help of the lifts before I was to meet Stacy for "Free After Three." The snow really wasn't great today, but we found some terrain that was fun regardless. I have wanted to ski these chutes for some time and I can now go into my copy of "The Chuting Gallery" and mark off three more chutes. He told me to "ski 'em all" and I am slowly on my way!

Day 29 - Thursday Feb 14 - Valentine's Day

My dear wife is certainly my valentine, but coming up in second place this year is skiing (no offense, mom). I was worried that this past week was going to have a long lasting negative affect on the snow pack. This was not the case. We got dumped on yesterday afternoon through this morning which made for some pretty great snow. I met Matt and his friend, Ben, at the mouth of Little at 5:25 (we were all running a little late due to the weather). We all drive 2-wheel drive cars and I happened to be the only one with chains so it was my turn to drive up the canyon. I was very pleased to see that the White Pine parking lot had been plowed already this morning. I was half expecting to have to drive right past it and park and ski somewhere up near Alta. Instead, we were the first car to arrive in White Pine. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Allow me to explain... a good thing because we were going to get the first choice of turns up there; a bad thing because we had to break trail and none of us were familiar enough with the area to be super confident we could even find the trail. Well, we were right. Breaking wasn't all that bad, but we got lost several times trying to find the right place to lay the skin track. I kept saying that I thought we were too low, but they thought we were too high (later we found out we were too low, but I don't say this to boast). We did finally get to the Pink Pine ridge and we were on our way. There was a group of three dudes right behind us that had cut the correct skin track but were still unable to completely catch up in order to get first tracks. While skinning up the ridge we saw some interesting things happening with the snow. The wind was blowing from the east which was loading the northwesterly aspects. The top layer of new snow would crack, but nothing would move. We took this into account as we chose our line. We skied one of the first skiable lines off the ridge on a northeasterly aspect. The skiing was fantastic just like it has been all year. We were getting face shots on every turn again. This was very reassuring after the snow we dealt with over the weekend. We skied down to the skin track then headed up for another. The three dudes skied down behind us and headed back to their car. Then two old guys past us as we were transitioning. We caught up with them on the skin track, but we skied different lines. The second line was just as good as the first. I simply cannot complain. I had a great morning making some sweet turns. Happy Valentines Day to all and to all a good day.

Day 28 - Tuesday Feb 12 - Is This Suicide?

Jer and I met Codeman and his friend, Marco, at the mouth of Little Cottonwood this morning at 5:15. We still have not received any new snow so we decided to ski something a little more adventurous. I had not been up to Suicide Chute since last winter and I have been eyeing it all year. Today was the perfect day for it. The skin up the apron was simple enough - the snow was bulletproof allowing for easy travel on top of it. It wasn't long before we reached the base of Suicide. Now let me clarify something - with the snow levels so low last year, I agreed that this chute should be named something a little more intense, but with this year's levels it looked more like its original name, Country Lane. Marco had his skins stolen recently so he was on some old skinny skins that just were not getting the job done. Cody tried to help him out any way he could, but eventually Marco decided to sit it out as we continued to the top. Due to the hard packed snow, we were able to skin nearly to the top (with a small boot pack to get on the ridge). I have to say that I was very surprised to see about three inches of soft snow in the more shaded and wind protected areas. I thought that was not to be found anywhere in the Wasatch. I was wrong. We found it! We spent a little time on the summit basking in our coolness and transitioning our gear. Then we enjoyed the fruits of our labors and got some killer turns down the couloir. Sometimes I forget how much I love chute skiing. This was a ton of fun. My turns were really solid. My legs were exhausted by the bottom due to the necessarily powerful nature of the turns, my long tour over the weekend, my run last night, and my overall weakness. Marco was able to get a few turns on the bottom half of the chute and the Superior apron, but he missed the best snow and the best turns. It's a bummer for him, because it was a blast.

Day 27 - Saturday Feb 9 - I Like to Ski

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 remarkably 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 easiest 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. The 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 best 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.

Day 26 - Thursday Feb 7 - A Backcountry Morning

I just don't get it. We are right in the middle of the best snow year I have ever skied and my regular touring partners are nowhere to be found. They really need to get their priorities straight. Luckily, I have made a few friends in the past couple years that I enjoy skiing with as well. I met Matt Young and two of his buddies, Cody and Eric, from Backcountry.com at the mouth of Little Cottonwood this morning at 5:20. The plan was to ski Pink Pine, but Little was closed due to avalanche danger. So we headed to Big. We were the fourth car at the Butler Fork trailhead so I expected to see a few others ahead of us. It didn't take us long to overtake them on the skintrack. It was still a little dark when we summited for our first lap, but by the time we transitioned there was just enough light to really get some great turns. I did, however, manage to miss seeing a small, snow-covered tree stump about half of the way down the hill which threw off my turns just a bit. The skiing was... you guessed it: amazing. We were in at least a foot of fresh powder and soft snow under that. I got just a little bit of a brainfreeze coming down from all the faceshots. We quickly put our skins back on and began the uphill push knowing we totally had time for another lap. By the time we reached the ridgeline this time it was totally light outside although we were not blessed with a beautiful sunrise this morning due to the cloud cover. We decided to ski down the East face which leads more directly to the car. I had never skied this line before and it was great. It was quite a long line with some good steep skiing. There was a bit of a wind crust on top of the ridge, but once you dropped in just a little the skiing was just as good or better than the other side. We got to the car quickly and packed up. Knowing I have been consistently late to class this whole semester, I decided I would just head straight to class. This got me there 30 minutes early! What's the story with that? It's a good thing I had Sudoku to keep me company because no one else was there.

Day 25 - Tuesday Feb 5 - Super Tuesday

Jer met me at my house at 4:45 this morning. Since Eric called me last night and informed me that he was not going to be able to take me home from school, I decided to drive today. We met CJ, Has, Matt Cline, Mark, and Evan at the mouth of Big Cottonwood. After some deliberation, we decided to ski Flagstaff and we were on our way. There was another group that got to the trailhead right when we got there, but they were headed a different way. When we began skinning we did not realize we had started our skin track right on top of a car that was completely covered in snow. We made sure not to scratch it, though. We traded off breaking trail with several requests for me to continue since I was on some prototype Asylums that are 126mm under foot. But it ended just like it always does - with CJ taking the brunt of the work. We took our first lap down into Days Fork which was great. I do have to admit, though, that this super wide ski with no sidecut is less than ideal. I just had a hard time getting it to turn like I wanted it to. I felt like I was bullying it around all morning when I was supposed to be just riding it out. I still managed to get some great turns, however. We then skinned back up to the top with the help of a skintrack by some dudes that had followed our skintrack on the South face. Evan, Jer, and I then traversed a little East down the ridge and found a great South facing line to hit. It was beautiful. The light was really cool and we really got some great turns. I don't even know what to say. I feel like every time I go out I am using the same adjectives to describe it. I guess you really just have to be out there to understand that this is the best winter in the Wasatch I can remember. The snow just keeps coming and my turns have never been better. If you have the means, I would highly recommend getting out there.

Day 24 - Saturday Feb 2 - A Groundhog Day To Be Remembered

I know what you are thinking, "There is no groundhog day that could even compare with the Bill Murray movie, Groudhog Day," but I am here to say that this is about as close as anyone will ever come. Jer picked me up around eight this morning and we headed to the upper Solitude parking lot. I knew today was going to be super crowded in the backcountry because of the killer week we have had and the bluebird nature of today's forecast. I wanted to go somewhere a little less traveled and a little further in so we could find some sweet lines. We did. We decided to skin into West Monitor and see how we felt about it. During the approach we were being followed by three splitboarders. Now, I don't consider myself a prejudice man, but let's just say splitters aren't known for their speed on the uphill and during the transition. I was proved wrong. It was Don from Voile and a couple of his buddies, and they pushed us along the skin track all day long. We made it to the top of West Monitor and it looked pristine. Bob Athey had been up there yesterday so there were a few turns in the main bowl, but it is so big that it leaves plenty of room for more. Don, Matt, and Nick dropped in next to a sluff of snow the Bob set off yesterday with a cornice kick. Jer and I dropped in next to Bob's tracks for the first run. I can honestly say that between this and my next run they were the best two lines of my life. The snow was perfect. I had face shots on every turn. And my turns were totally dialed. I must take this time to apologize for the small nature of the videos. I know it is hard to see the skier, but you can just assume they are totally shredding it up. We skinned back up and took a second lap. This time we dropped in where the others had the first time and got another epic line in. After eating a quick cliff bar we then skinned back up to the ridge. At this point I was torn. I was having so much fun in West Monitor that I didn't want to leave it. I would have been perfectly happy just making another run or two in there. The others wanted to go ski McDonald's. I was okay with this because I do like to mix it up and this was going to be sweet terrain. I was not disappointed. There were a few lines already over here from some people hiking from the Canyons Resort. Jer totally hucked one and then torn up another great line. He was really looking good today. I followed and found myself totally in the Tao and making solid turns. This was a particularly long line and my quads were dead by the time I reached the bottom. We had to cut our own skintrack out of there since all those who had been before us had just continued on down to the lifts. About half of the way up I began to be really exhausted and I was having a hard time keeping up. I realized it was primarily because I had not been eating anything. So I had a frozen Cliff Bar from the bottom of my pack (I don't know how long it has been there) and continued on my way. When we finally made it all the way back on top of West Monitor I was having such a hard time not skiing it again. It looked so great. Jer was too wiped out to ski it, but I did my best to talk him into it. It didn't work. We would have had to skin all the way out again. We did get some great turns in on the South side during our exit. There were a few more turns over here from people who didn't want to quite go all the way up to West. They certainly made a mistake. The skiing was epic today. If this were the movie Groundhog Day I think this would be the last time I lived this day because it was just right. The only thing that could have made this better would have been a cameo guest appearance by Mr. Murray himself.