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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Aspen, CO
    Posts
    114

    TR-La sals, skiing in Moab!

    pics and vid at the bottom!

    I just got back from spending two and a half weeks in Moab, skiing, biking and climbing. it was originally supposed be a six day trip, but I was having way too much fun. plus I got a bunch of water in the engine of my subaru and ruined it. but thats a whole nother story! for now I'll stick to the epicness that was skiing in the La sals.

    the access is great, its less than an hour drive from Moab to Gieser pass parking lot. that road is plowed all winter and it gets you right to the edge of sollid snow pack. skin from the lot for about an hour to an hour and a half to get to the top of pre laurel peak. this is just the start of the day, we went to this peak every day no matter where we were headed, because its the best way into either drainage, and you get to ski into your drainage of choice, with even sicker lines. so this first peak, is pretty much a bonus. from that peak I ski'd 4 other peaks, all very very worth skiing.

    on this map I dotted our up routes in green, and our skiing in red. the yellow is the way back out that was a bit of up and down but pretty mellow and easy. we took the same approach all three mournings, and two of them we ski'd off of pre laurel peak, down into gold basin and then back up to Mt. Tuk (Tukuhnikivats) one day, and Little Tuk another day. the third day, we continued on past pre laurel up to Laurel peak, and ski'd a sweet little shot off that, and then back up to the top of mt. Mellenthin for yet another sick descent.



    mt. Tuk on the left with little Tuk on the right- I marked out descent routes in red. we rapped that cliff in the middle of big Tuk.



    here is a pic of big tuk from the bottom. you cant really see our tracks coming into the cliff, but you can see them exiting for sure.



    here is Kate on Rappel


    another pic of kate on one of the "bonus runs" off of pre laurel peak in the mourning. i like this shot cuz you can plainly see moab in the background. (o and btw, the approaches were so quick, and this spring has not been so hot, that we never left the cars b4 9am! and we ski'd till 5 one day and it was never manky!)



    me skiing off of Laurel peak, with mt Peale in the background. mt Peale is the biggest peak in the range, and pretty much the only one we didnt get around to skiing. it has a really sick looking direct line on the north face with a massive rappel on it that might need to get done next year tho!



    my tracks down Mt. Mellenthin



    a couple bonus photos










    Vid, the first line in the Vid is off of Little Tuk, the second line is off of Big Tuk, and is a bit chopped up and edited because we had to stop to build anchors and shit and the rappell was kind akward so i sped it up for your viewing pleasur. o and then there is some head cam of climbing splitters down in indian creek. the name of the route is Jolly Rancher and its this sickest climb i've ever done. fyi.

    I dont know why i can never get vids to embed. but heres my attempt, and just a regular link to the vid. sorry

    [nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ome7L7WLAFU"]YouTube- Moab spring 2010 sm.mov[/nomedia]

    <object width="660" height="525"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ome7L7WLAFU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&co lor2=0x999999&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ome7L7WLAFU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&co lor2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="660" height="525"></embed></object>

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    SLUT
    Posts
    3,347
    sick stuff man.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Idaho Falls, ID
    Posts
    1,042
    looks super fun, I'm in Moab for the summer and those peaks look sweet!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Minturn
    Posts
    732

    you found corn!!

    congratulations.

    looks like an awesome spot on the planet

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    In the swamp
    Posts
    11,124
    Very nice...definitely a great place on this earth.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    SLC
    Posts
    31
    did this peak about a month ago and the snow was rather, er, firm. looks like y'all found some nice spring corn!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    cb, co
    Posts
    5,034
    Awesome. I love switching from summer to winter by skiing those peaks in the spring. I skied the same line on Tuk many years ago on teles, although we didn't have to rap, I think we just made a big traverse. I think little Tuk is often referred to as Tukno, and I think the line you skied on that is the Tuklear reactor. I might be wrong about that, but it's fun to say "Tuklear Reactor" anyway.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    águila
    Posts
    1,114
    I don't own crampons. I see you guys booting in one pic but its unclear if you've got spikes on the feet. Are most lines are too steep to skin (consistent 37* all over)? If un-skinnable, is bootpacking practical?
    Step 1) Rob bank
    Step 2) Buy crampons
    Step 3) Ski the La Sals

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    salt lick
    Posts
    262
    very nice, thinking about heading there this weekend, I was wondering if the road is open all the way to the top of Geyser Pass or just to the winter trailhead.
    If carrots got you drunk; rabbits would be fucked up.

    - Mitch Hedberg

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Anchorage
    Posts
    287
    Moab is such an awesome place. Looks like fun, and I agree, the shot w/ Moab in the background:

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Ogden
    Posts
    9,103
    Quote Originally Posted by goldenboy View Post
    Awesome. I love switching from summer to winter by skiing those peaks in the spring. I skied the same line on Tuk many years ago on teles, although we didn't have to rap, I think we just made a big traverse. I think little Tuk is often referred to as Tukno, and I think the line you skied on that is the Tuklear reactor. I might be wrong about that, but it's fun to say "Tuklear Reactor" anyway.
    I think Tuklear Reaction is off of main Tuk on the SW side.

    Edit, here you go: http://www.avalanche.org/~lsafc/Photos.HTM

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    214
    Thanks for the photos Colter, looks like an awesome time. I've always wanted to ski in the La Sals.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Aspen, CO
    Posts
    114
    thanks fellas! it was killer times down there. and to answer a few questions, the road is only open to the winter parking lot, but its super easy approach from there. gieser pass doesnt even put you in the right spot to tell you the truth. if you look at that map i posted, when we ski'd mt mellenthin, that put us almost on gieser pass at the bottom of our line.. but you want to ski gold basin, wich is where tuk and lil tuk are. You take off from the winter parking lot and bail off the road to the right within a half mile and start up thru the trees and eventually get on that ridge that takes you to pre laurel. its pretty easy to figure out. there is even a map in the parking lot. and about the cramp-ons, defintily not neccisary. a lot of those peaks are skinnable, but booting up a ridge can be more direct and quicker. Youcan just boot it, i was the only one wearing crampons, but thats just cuz i was looking for icy'er snow cuz I had crampons! haha. overall, its easy to navigate, easy to skin, and easy to boot up some ridges w/o crampons.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Silverthorne, Colo.
    Posts
    292
    The crampon decision depends strongly on time of year. For my two visits to the Geyser Pass area, in March 2010 and 2008, crampons were essential.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    cb, co
    Posts
    5,034
    Quote Originally Posted by zion zig zag View Post
    I think Tuklear Reaction is off of main Tuk on the SW side.

    Edit, here you go: http://www.avalanche.org/~lsafc/Photos.HTM
    Got it. Well, it has been about a dozen years since I last skied in the La Sals. I just wanted to say Tuklear in my Arnold voice.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    438
    I was there last year in early June mountain biking, but there wasn't much snow left at that time. Great to see what the La Sals look like with snow on them.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    181
    I was up on Tuks last weekend, and, I have to say, I really enjoyed looking at your tracks from the "western line" down the south side of Pre-Laurel. Looked like you had to do about a 100ft straightline to connect the dots, as it were, between the fat snowfields.

    We ended up climbing Mt Tuks via that ridge straight up north side... wait, was that you guys we passed heading down on Sunday?

    Anyway, nice work! And congrats, you guys shredded that place...

    cheers,
    john

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Aspen, CO
    Posts
    114
    o ya, that was us! i think you talked two my two freinds, but i chose an alternative route up that low angle snowfeild for a while b4 booting up a couloir to get on that same ridge you guys climbed way b4 us. i was freakin out all mournin watching you go exactly where we planned to go, thinkin that you where going to mow our lawn, but you ski'd a different line in the end. thanks for settin that booter tho! haha. killer skiing up there ey? i was pleasantly supprised. i wish i could get my video to embedd on this shit tho! whats the big secret? i copy pasted the embed code from youtube. appearantly that didnt work.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    SLUT
    Posts
    3,347
    all you need to do for an embed on vimeo/youtube vids is paste the url. simple as that.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    699
    Sick! way to giv'er!!!!!

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    3,449
    very nice tr. the pics were great and the topo was classic - kinda like indiana jones. thanks for taking the time to post this. now son i been wonderin - are you still wearin them thar glass lenses?

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Keep Tacoma Feared
    Posts
    5,266
    Surreal place

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Out There
    Posts
    1,748


    Nice work.
    "We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment at no matter what. -George Santayana, The Philosophy of Travel

    ...it would probably bother me more if I wasn't quite so heavily sedated. -David St. Hubbins, This Is Spinal Tap

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Reno
    Posts
    1,344
    why did u rap off one nut?

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Aspen, CO
    Posts
    114
    thanks for gettin that vid up there and fillin me in on how to do that. and I rapped off one nut because it was the only peice of GOOD gear i could get in, all the rest of the rock was crap. i tried to place another nut in a bigger crack to the right but as i set it, the rock just moved apart, and i kept yanking on it till it moved the rock appart enough to pull out. my buddy who rapped next ended up placing a tri cam in a different spot in that crack and he didnt experience the moving rock. the thing is i feel like that actually makes the anchor way schetchyer, cuz if the shitty peice failed, it would shock load the other piece. my nut was super fuckin good tho, so thats why I rapped on it. plus i think i'd a survived a fall. and my anchor would'v left only one shitty beener, and a nut.

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