We’ve had some wet and heavy snow the past two days. Maybe not exactly faceshot city but the untracked was extremely enjoyable today. Here are some photos of Adam and I from across the street.
Adam with a bit of blue sky today.
I heard people talking about how the skiing inbounds was very buff today. Adam seems to prefer the untracked cream.
I really can’t disagree.
I even got a photo from today, thanks Fab.
Seeing as South Facing is really the only opportunity to get into steeper skiing, Adam, Tyler, Walker and I made our way down canyon to ski Tanner’s today. Tyler has had his eye on it all season, waiting for the top to fill in. His scouting paid off as we were treated to a straight forward climb up and a great powder descent on the way down. Rocks were minimal and stability was good. Only draw back to the day was poor visibility, which really only limited my ability to take good photos. Good hike, good skiing, great day.
Adam and Tyler making there way into the gully.
Tyler, with Walker in the background.
Adam breaking trail.
A look down the chute from about 3/4 way up. Light was hard to come by for photos today, but the snow was so good.
Adam making the top more difficult than needed to be.
Top to bottom the skiing was as good as it gets in a line such as that.
Tyler.
Pooooder in the couloir.
More pooooder in the couloir.
Because there hasn’t been much snow this year the debris at the bottom was minimal and made for good skiing all the way down. Not until the very bottom did we make it out of the clouds. You can see Tyler, a little black dot in the gully.
Though we are in the middle of another significant period of high pressure here in Utah, there is still plenty of soft snow to be skied. Cold nights have been creating some great facet skiing on almost all aspects. While fun to ski now, these facets will definitely become a problem once the snow starts falling again. Today Drew and I found some great skiing in the Alta periphery.
Drew.
I feel as if I’m getting this shot a lot the past few days.
In search for some good practice and a fun deviation to low angle laps, Adam and I decided to climb the West Ridge of Toledo. The climb was fun, easy, and mostly what we expected. We brought a light alpine rack and a short 30m rope to practice with, which turned out to be ideal. From the top we skied off Toledo and were still able to find soft untracked turns on our way down.
Me heading up the first pitch.
Adam making his way up a fun chimney.
Adam.
Climbing is fun, but climbing in ski boots with skis on your back is the best.
Yesterday Adam, Drew and I headed up Cardiff to see what looked good up and around the ridge. We decided to take one lap in Cardiff Bowl with the intention of heading somewhere else. Well, one lap turned into many, and I can say that was by far the most fun I’ve ever had skiing Cardiff. I didn’t get to take many photos yesterday, but the ones I did take came out pretty good.
Drew.
Drew again.
Adam.
Looks as if we are in for a bit of high pressure for a while. Hopefully not for too long.
Mellow day in Alta. Still good skiing and fresh turns to be had, and more snow on the way for the end of the week.
Alta, grey.
Tyler keeping it PG.
Went up Cardiff yesterday hoping to find some fresh turns with this new snow and ran into Tyler who set the skinner and already had a lap under his belt. I was able to take two laps with Ty in Cardiff before he had to head to work. As Tyler was skiing down I got a call from Adam who was on his way up. Met up with Adam and we took another run before calling it for the day as the sun was heating up the snow, a fog was moving in, and things were starting to deteriorate. Powderbirds started flying yesterday as well which was a disappointment as it has been very nice to have a help free Wasatch until recently.
Tyler farming.
Adam on his way up.
Powderbirds dropping from Intermediate Ridge, where they were buzzing us all day long and dropped on me twice today. Sucks.
The fog that engulfed the North Side, we waited a while for this to lift but ended up calling it and skiing home.
Stability out there seems to be improving, but still far from safe. Compression tests are still revealing failures on the persistent weak layer of rotten facets underneath the new snow. With more snow on the way it still could be a while before steeper slopes are safe to ski.
Photo from today. Adam keeping it mellow in West Bowl.
After finding good stability on southerly slopes the other day, Adam, Walker and I headed up across the street in search of fresh turns. We got what we were looking for.
Photos from the day.
Adam setting the skinner.
Bluebird and fresh, can’t ask for more.
Walker getting his share.
Adam making turns over Alta as others wait in lift lines.
Walker blower.
Real fun day all around, and definitely a learning experience for me with the camera.
Today Adam, Tyler, Walker and I went on a tour up Grizzly over Silver Fork and back down and an Emma into Alta. We found better stability than Saturday, and some of the best skiing of the year. While things are far from stable out there, we definitely found less collapsing and more manageable snow today, which resulted in a great descent down an Emma just off of West Bowl. We did however see some significant slides in East Bowl of Silver Fork, and a few crowns in North Facing Slopes in Silver Fork, as well as some large crowns on smaller sub slopes in Grizzly Gulch. With more snow on the way, staying safe and cautious backcountry travel is still imperative as plenty of loaded slopes still remain.
Adam.
Adam found a nice place for lunch.
Tyler.
Walker.
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