Wasatch Conditions 10-11

[climbhigh1119]

We got the new year started off right with a scrub oak destroying, sketch creek crossing, bushwack mission to the Oquirrhs. We had to pay the damn piper both ways on this one, but still managed to get a few good turns out of the deal. Just about everything even remotely exposed was wind effected every which direction, but nothing was moving, at least on the 32-35 degree slopes we skied. I was surprised to not see any naturals with the last avy cycle.

[RTR]

^^^A taste of said scrub oak destroying...


A taste of said wind effect...


A taste of said "few good turns..."


Climbhigh didn't even care how wide he made his turns...


Climbhigh, almost looking eager to "pay the piper" with a bushwhack out that will go down in history...

[mph]

Skied upper Big Cottonwood yesterday. Everything except south facing tree lines were destroyed by wind. It was sad to see all that great snow destroyed But, it was a blast to ski south facing aspen in great snow.

[phatfreeheeler]

Skied upper Big Cottonwood yesterday. Everything except south facing tree lines were destroyed by wind. It was sad to see all that great snow destroyed But, it was a blast to ski south facing aspen in great snow.

Really? Silverfork was like a broken slot machine with nice consistent snow everywhere. We did see quite the crown on Raymond on the drive down.

[skiSilent_skiDeep]

Gobblers Knob west-side cabin run ruled yesterday morn and the day before... despite the slope/terrain being rendered "hummocky" from wind scouring/loading, the snow pack was quite stable.

oh and stay skiers-right of the half-pipe gully in the bottom section of the Pole Canyon sneak route (exit). toppled trees from the last storm are now spanning the ditch.

[Alx88]

Anyone wanna tell me what I skied today (I seriously don't know)... It was just East of Tanner's (up the same initial gulch at first). I kind of got bamboozled by the darkness and the early morning storm and ended up way lookers right of Tanner's... Peaked out around 11,000, SW aspect (I think the SE on the other side was little pine?)...

Anyways, it was quite fantastic riding as well as skinning for that matter. No naturals were observed in the Gulch nor were any skier triggered slides, other than the occasional sluffage. The chute that we went up split off to the right on the first third of tanner's uptrack and held relatively the same angle for another 2,500'-3000'. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Here's some visual clues..

[Trackhead]

Anyone wanna tell me what I skied today (I seriously don't know).

Doesn't have an official name that I know of, but it is a nice line outside of the typical sheep pen of Tanners. Lots of good stuff up there.

[Alx88]

I'll refer to it as Big Swifty/Fifty-Fifty, for now...

[Christopher3000]

Find a UDOT forecaster and ask him about your Tanners variation. Those guys have names for everything with snow on it above HWY 210.

Since when is Tanners a sheep pen?

[Mark H]

I'll refer to it as Big Swifty/Fifty-Fifty, for now...

and I'll refer to it as "Hey, that's where Alecs got lost!"

Looks just as good or better than the main line

[Johnny Deep]

24 days straight. No pics. No micromanaging of others skiing. Just skiing. Personal and selfgratifying.

[Dantheman]

Some pics from Twin Peaks "Z" Couloirs. Cool remote place on Twin.

Fucker! I've thought about skiing those lines since that day we were up there with Guy almost 3 years ago.

[Buzzworthy]

Find a UDOT forecaster and ask him about your Tanners variation. Those guys have names for everything with snow on it above HWY 210.

Since when is Tanners a sheep pen?

Courtesy of Avalancemapping.org, Doug Scott:

Avie paths of BCC

LCC map is not working currently, http://www.avalanchemapping.org/Avatlas.htm

[TeleThor]

Courtesy of Avalancemapping.org, Doug Scott:

Avie paths of BCC

LCC map is not working currently, http://www.avalanchemapping.org/Avatlas.htm

I've got the pdf of the LCC map. That line Alx88 skied is considered part of the Tanner's slide path. However, as TH suggested, there may be an unofficial nickname for it.

[PowderAlltheTime]

I'd like to see it, but there is a problem with the music you used. Blocked on Youtube.

[Alx88]

Goddamn Warner Bros... I had Zappa's "Big Swifty" as the music.

It has happened to me!
Yeah!
Remember, I was signed with warner brothers
For eight fuckin years!!!
Tell me about it!
Now you're talkin about something!
Now how bad is that?
That sounds good to me, motherfucker!

-Zappa - Titties n Beer

I'll post it again (it'll take another coupla hours) Thanks for the heads up.

[Trackhead]

Use Vimeo, they have yet started to block copyrighted music.

[Alx88]

This should work, its a damn shame there's no Zappa...

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wjq-LpWdKo"]YouTube - Tanner's Gulch - "Big Swifty" on a Venture Splitboard[/nomedia]

[jeri534]

cool video...

looks like a long run, how long is the tour up?

[Mark H]

Maybird Couloir. Got a late start and was hoping to get down before the infernal sun crust set up but no dice.... Of course, it was too cold/sun too low for any significant wet slides


Hey look, that's where Alecs got lost!


Another stunning day above the clouds

[Alx88]

Nice Mark. I didn't wake up till 2 today. When I saw your inquiry of whether I was getting out I didn't quite picture this as what you had in mind.. Glad the weather held out!

My buddy Jay hit Stairs today, said he had a good old time (no rappel necessary )

[Alx88]

looks like a long run, how long is the tour up?[/QUOTE]


The up lasts about as long as you want it to... if you can meander through the bushes and over the rivers. Kinda like the way down. Took us five+ hours with a dude fresh off a plane from NYC...

[jeri534]

looks like a long run, how long is the tour up?

The up lasts about as long as you want it to... if you can meander through the bushes and over the rivers. Kinda like the way down. Took us five+ hours with a dude fresh off a plane from NYC...[/QUOTE]

cool

Ive done about 12 tours on my splitboard so far this season..finally feeling really comfortable with my fitness level and Im excited to do some bigger tours when i get back to SLC.

[shera]

So I've been slowly making my way out of the ski area, exploring. I've been eyeing that Patsy Marley ridge line, thinking the views must be pretty good from up there and with yesterday's low wind, a little ridge line traverse made for a fine outing. I took some scouting shots that I thought you guys might enjoy, so here's some pics from the day:

Instead of driving car, we ride chair


Then a nice little ski down rocky point. This is Imo, my lovely simpatico roomie at the lodge.


Imo again with the face we skied in the background. I guess this shows the big hucks A frame and B frame. I'm looking for a big tenner to drop.


It was any easy boot up to the ridge. There are bootpacks and skintracks everywhere around here, closest thing to it I ever saw before was at Berthoud pass, can feel like the urban backcountry except for dawn patrols. Anyway, we get up there and Superior is looming, as always. (Must ski soon) The foreground shows our traverse and I think the east face of patsy is quite interesting.


So this is what I came to see, the lines in Wolverine. South facing ahead looks tasty:


Looking down a pretty line on the east face


And looking back to the north facing side. It is so strange to me to see cornices formed on north facing terrain. Makes me feel so turned around. All the cornices I felt were very soft and I expect a good strong northwest flow to blow them back the right way.


This is cool for scale - can you see the guy on the ridge? I saw him straightline the whole face!


Lastly another nice ski down the north facing woods of grizzly. Very deep and soft still.


edit - snagged a couple of pics off Imo's camera just to prove I was there. no ski pics this time

getting my act together


got my act together




edit 2 - oh wait! I just remembered a pic someone took of me skiing almost the exact same spot on rocky point the other day

[Slaag Master]

north face of claytons was sweet yesterday - snow was somewhat inconsistent - deep pow - crustyish - stable all around