WASATCH STOKE, CONDITIONS, OBSERVATIONS AND ASSORTED DRIVAL 17-18

[getoutside]

got kooky and decided to break out the new mojo. s facing black bess surfed like a dream and for once, no rocks. wind always making its presence known

[Skirotica]

Bingo! I leave johnny getrad at home when I'm touring. I go fast take chances inbounds where the wrecking crew is nearby to pickup the pieces. Its been a stressful holiday season for me between fuckshit snow, work, family in town, edible air in the valley and all kinds of non particular bullshit. The soul is frayed around the edges and a walk in the mountains is needed... then maybe some time on the river...

River going to take me, sing sweet and sleepy,
Sing me sweet and sleepy all the way back home.
It's a far gone lullaby, sung many years ago.
Mama, mama many worlds I've come since i first left home.

Goin' home, goin' home, by the riverside i will rest my bones,
Listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul.

Here here. I have gotten fat and unfit. My mindset is pretty poor right now.

[telefreewasatch]

Yeah, but I doubt it'll be enough water moving through the snowpack to "fix" things where we have feet of facets. We will see how it shakes out through the rest of the day.

The isothermal 6 inches of glop in the Toll Canyon area was at least pleasant for my lunch break fish scale excursion!

Well played, Sir. The last 48 hours have been as instrumental in the lower elevation snow pack as the rest of the winter combined.

Merry Christmas everyone. With all that warm, all that (at least for this winter) water equivalent, and the freeze which is following, have fun up to 9k or so tomorrow. Pushing it above should depend on experience and exposure.

Two edged sword on this one...fun tomorrow, but now gonna take a lot of water weight and / or warming temps to tickle this faceted, bridged, lower elveation monster later; if that happens... (and let's hope it does, for that means we're getting snow / water), avalanches will be large and unpredictable below ? elevation.

Jury is out on upper elevation. Dial it back above a good freeze. Have fun y'all.

[MarsB]

Pow Mow rode nicely today with 5 inches of fresh cream. Still limited access with no Paradise running, but good lines to be had off Timberline and Hidden Lake


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[happytimefunbox]

Brokedown Palace

Oh man this song has resonated with me lately. 6/8/77 is about as good as it gets

https://youtu.be/wtrH7l_ygcA

Here here. I have gotten fat and unfit. My mindset is pretty poor right now.

Somebody told me its SAD seasonal affected disorder " that time of year ". Maybe there is something to it but I dunno. This one has been a booger bear. I went skiing tonight at brighton it was good. Making plans to talk a walk this weekend with good peeps. Performing a BIGLY cull on my facebook feed. Gonna turn the corner on that motherfucker 2017 by hook or by crook. Lets go ski sometime man!

Keep your tips up yall the struggle is real...

[skifishbum]

lemme know the wife and i will be gettin out for a walk up greens or sumthin this weekend
despite the "monsters in the basement" piss poor catchword hype that every pro and wanna be seems to love overusing
poor snowpack structure and increased loads doesnt change terrain
never will
them dragons jumped outta the dungeons and onto sfotexs new $149 rock skis

full bore winter for a while yesterday morn
elevation was your friend summit headwalls skied creamy dreamy great
conversely postcard at noon was a gloppy poorly shaped mougaled mess
didn't suck to ski pow

[whyturn]

It was good day for sure

[Skirotica]

Oh man this song has resonated with me lately. 6/8/77 is about as good as it gets

https://youtu.be/wtrH7l_ygcA

Somebody told me its SAD seasonal affected disorder " that time of year ". Maybe there is something to it but I dunno. This one has been a booger bear. I went skiing tonight at brighton it was good. Making plans to talk a walk this weekend with good peeps. Performing a BIGLY cull on my facebook feed. Gonna turn the corner on that motherfucker 2017 by hook or by crook. Lets go ski sometime man!

Keep your tips up yall the struggle is real...

Did we talk? We're you on GW or Milly? I I correctly acosted someone for being too high on GW. Turns out I don't know ow my map that well.


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[happytimefunbox]

Maybe? When was it? Im always generally maybe a little too high when Im skiing at brightom lol. Black helmet green or blue gucci jacket. On3P fishsticks or black gotamas. If you have a brighton pass lets link up!

[Skirotica]

Sorry, lat night, about 5 on Needle. He was going up, i was going down. He had radical bindings and dark jacket i assumed was black. I was blue pants and yellow top. we chatted a bit about Utah Skimo. Must not have been you because i mentioned the Xmas poach last year and he wasn't aware.

No Brighton pass. But i heard they sell day passes.

[happytimefunbox]

Sorry, lat night, about 5 on Needle. He was going up, i was going down. He had radical bindings and dark jacket i assumed was black. I was blue pants and yellow top. we chatted a bit about Utah Skimo. Must not have been you because i mentioned the Xmas poach last year and he wasn't aware.

No Brighton pass. But i heard they sell day passes.

Not me but I have had similar convo but last season. I used to night tour at the B a bunch and then "the incident" happened on millie and brighton shut down uphill to a little wedge of access at the lower end of gw. Maybe thats changed and you can run it to the top of the lift at GW? Man thatd be sweet!

[mall walker]

^ nah just to the top of golden needle. they got pretty uptight about it if you ask me, which sucks this season as shit like beartrap is still not in...

[Skidog]

Saw a pic of mid Cirque at bird from yesterday it went big. I'd say it was about half of the mid Cirque itself. Be safe out there

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[slcpunk]

^ nah just to the top of golden needle. they got pretty uptight about it if you ask me, which sucks this season as shit like beartrap is still not in...

So what's the best bang for your buck up there, and protocol for not getting yelled at by the cat driver? Went up Milly side - stayed off to the edge, but didn't think about it at the top ( twin lakes dam ) and skied the new cord on the way down. Got charged by the cat and a "stay the F%$@ off my groomer" at the bottom. I was stopped way off to the side (not on the groomer, but over by the trees at the base) and he charged me in the piston bully. it was just a touch scary. I guess stay off the groomers?

Is the hike longer on the GW side? Seemed like maybe not.

I definitely get the cat drivers don't want idiots like me out there while they are trying to do their job - it could be dangerous. Would you pay for the privilege of after hours uphilling? I might. Maybe. But probably not. I'm pretty cheap.

[happytimefunbox]

So what's the best bang for your buck up there, and protocol for not getting yelled at by the cat driver? Went up Milly side - stayed off to the edge, but didn't think about it at the top ( twin lakes dam ) and skied the new cord on the way down. Got charged by the cat and a "stay the F%$@ off my groomer" at the bottom. I was stopped way off to the side (not on the groomer, but over by the trees at the base) and he charged me in the piston bully. it was just a touch scary. I guess stay off the groomers?

Is the hike longer on the GW side? Seemed like maybe not.

I definitely get the cat drivers don't want idiots like me out there while they are trying to do their job - it could be dangerous. Would you pay for the privilege of after hours uphilling? I might. Maybe. But probably not. I'm pretty cheap.

You too? I thought we were the only ones

Seriously after all the complaints theyve had about cat driver on millie I cannot believe this is still happening. If I didnt have a pass I would pay 5 american pesos for the priviliege of getting some excersize on my public land if they had a designated GW and Millie route without fear for assault by a bent employee driving a multi-ton 1000hp vehicle. Maybe someone should helmet cam the next assault? As a passholder fck them I already paid.

If anyone is headed up there today I would be stoked to make turns with some new folks. Black helmet and pants. Green gucci jacket. Black gotamas or billygoat fishysticks. Ask for change.

[mall walker]

So what's the best bang for your buck up there, and protocol for not getting yelled at by the cat driver?

the gw uphill zone is short, I think < 1k’ to the top of golden needle, though I’ve never been accosted on that side of things. it’s mostly just (imo) good for fitness type laps when you’re bored and solo and basically nothing else is in, or it’s dark and you want to descend something extremely predictable. when I go I try to follow their protocol, park at the brighton store and walk the road toward GW, I usually start skinning in that open field a couple hundred feet before the lift, and stay as much along the ridgeline as possible (in other words not skinning up the groomers), it's somewhat better exercise anyway.

I might pay for inbounds uphill but not with Brighton’s recent policy changes. for now I think it’s worth dealing with the lcc traffic to ski in grizz cuz at least you can get a relatively safe 1500’ or so (or even 1200 if you just wanna ski the summer road, cat track not in yet btw, and watch out for the n-facing stuff above you in places), though going solo at dark depends on how comfortable you are with the area.

IF some resort had a ~$200 season uphill pass and a policy like snowbasin or steamboat I would probably pay it just for weekdays in the dark but it seems like the demand isn’t there or they aren’t listening. it’s all moot once we get a real base, usually this is a non-issue after thanksgiving. this year just blows.

in somewhat surprising and possibly cause-for-cautious-optimism news on the resort uphill policy front, Solitude is hosting 2 of Utah Skimo's races this season. turnouts have been pretty good so far this year, probably helped in no small part by the low tide, maybe this makes an impact on Solitude's draconian attitude toward uphill travel

[slcpunk]

the gw uphill zone is short, I think < 1k’ to the top of golden needle, though I’ve never been accosted on that side of things. it’s mostly just (imo) good for fitness type laps when you’re bored and solo and basically nothing else is in, or it’s dark and you want to descend something extremely predictable. when I go I try to follow their protocol, park at the brighton store and walk the road toward GW, I usually start skinning in that open field a couple hundred feet before the lift, and stay as much along the ridgeline as possible (in other words not skinning up the groomers), it's somewhat better exercise anyway.

I might pay for inbounds uphill but not with Brighton’s recent policy changes. for now I think it’s worth dealing with the lcc traffic to ski in grizz cuz at least you can get a relatively safe 1500’ or so (or even 1200 if you just wanna ski the summer road, cat track not in yet btw, and watch out for the n-facing stuff above you in places), though going solo at dark depends on how comfortable you are with the area.

IF some resort had a ~$200 season uphill pass and a policy like snowbasin or steamboat I would probably pay it just for weekdays in the dark but it seems like the demand isn’t there or they aren’t listening. it’s all moot once we get a real base, usually this is a non-issue after thanksgiving. this year just blows.

in somewhat surprising and possibly cause-for-cautious-optimism news on the resort uphill policy front, Solitude is hosting 2 of Utah Skimo's races this season. turnouts have been pretty good so far this year, probably helped in no small part by the low tide, maybe this makes an impact on Solitude's draconian attitude toward uphill travel

Hey thanks for the info. I thought about Grizz, was a bit leery of the avy conditions, like you said: solo, dark. Not convinced because its a road its all protected

Agreed - it really doesn't matter if we have a solid base and can get around other places. Right now the only snow is >9000 and not south facing eesh.

Even $200 seems like a lot. I only pay $85/year to skate at mountain dell, its open 24/7 snow permitting - they groom every day ...

[mall walker]

I only pay $85/year to skate at mountain dell, its open 24/7 snow permitting - they groom every day ...

honestly that sounds more fun than most of the 7 or 8 days I've had so far. might be time to buy a skate kit

[getoutside]

might be time to buy a skate kit ...

naaaa, you just need a good powder day.... sans rocks : )

early start > spruces-reynolds-tom's. trace of snow, low 30's with some wind. definite difference in snow below 9k, more dust on crust-like while below 9400k rode better but could feel the snowed had warmed yesterday. not bad turns.

wife got taken out by a one plank dweebs poorly jibbin crowded cat tracks

hope the mrs is all good. friend who works at the bird got hit twice last sunday and again the other day. seem to be hearing more of these incidents this year. be careful this weekend. peeps gonna be out in full force. keep telling the kids, heads on swivels!

[sfotex]

I got yelled at last night by the crabby groomer on GW. Some night skiers cut over and skied the fresh groomers while I was on the way up, crabby dickhead thought it was me and stopped to yell at me. Got to the top of needle and saw like 2 parties of 4 or five each headed higher in non stealth mode...getting worried Brighton is going to shut it all down soon....

[mall walker]

^ weak but not surprising, inconsiderate poachers is why the top of GW is no bueno right?

kills me cuz you can just hike the ridge like 5’ from the fuckin boundary rope and not ruin things for the rest of us... or lap golden needle down... or hike 10420 and cross the ridge and descend... ehhhhhh

some cottonwood resort needs to step up with an uphill policy + pass and make this bs go away. warmer winters and higher snow/rain lines won’t help.

[brutah]

IF some resort had a ~$200 season uphill pass and a policy like snowbasin or steamboat I would probably pay it just for weekdays in the dark but it seems like the demand isn’t there or they aren’t listening. it’s all moot once we get a real base, usually this is a non-issue after thanksgiving. this year just blows.

$200??!? Just so I can hike on public lands?! GTFO here with that bullshit, I started backcountry skiing because ski passes were breaking the $500 mark....

Honestly, I get the safety issue but I think if you're operating on public lands you should be obligated to provide a safe uphill route. Alta completely shuts people off a huge chunk of some of the most popular land in the nation's most popular National Forest. I get that any plan would likely get nixed after people failed to follow the rules though, which seems inevitable.

I think demand is there, just not at that price point. It's also not a high priority for a business to implement a plan to give people the ability to steal your product. That said, I would wager ~25-50 people have been uphilling every morning I've ran up pcmr this year. "If you build it(allow it) they will come"

[zion zig zag]

I'll bet most mornings at Snowbasin have anywhere from 25-75 people skinning up. I've done it once this year and while I was skiing the designated route down I caught up to the cats and had to weave amongst them to get around. I'm kind of surprised that they are ok with that but they don't say anything to anyone.

[mall walker]

$200??!? Just so I can hike on public lands?! GTFO here with that bullshit, I started backcountry skiing because ski passes were breaking the $500 mark....

Yeah, it’d be far better if more resorts just had a steamboat-like policy, I just don’t see it happening short term. I guess $200 is kind of a ridiculous number though lol.

Going forward the resort with the friendliest uphill policy will get my pass $, even if that means driving to Snowbasin (which seems like the case right now)

[F#*k you cat]

Be safe out there. from UAC
Two unintentionally triggered slides already today. One triggered from above, the other from below. No one caught. Grizzly Gulch and Snake Creek. Heads up people!

https://twitter.com/UACwasatch/statu...23294727471105

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