WASATCH STOKE, CONDITIONS, OBSERVATIONS and ASSORTED DRIVAL 19-20

[getoutside]

for day 150 on skis this season

^ impressive indeed! over 100 but nothing like last year. searched one last time for a lost glove and the smooth in upper silver fork. fortunately, found both. e/se skied pretty well at 9 am.

[brutah]

Went up Tanners for the first time this morning for day 150 on skis this season!

Well done Dshack! That's awesome! What's the break down between resort days and touring days if you don't mind me asking?

Also thanks for getting this thread back on track! How was the snow surface in Tanners holding up? Seemed like upp lcc south facing was starting to sun cup on tuesday when I was up there, which the mighty mall walker confirmed with his descent down sup.

^ impressive indeed! over 100 but nothing like last year. searched one last time for a lost glove and the smooth in upper silver fork. fortunately, found both. e/se skied pretty well at 9 am.

Congrats on finding smooth gloves and lost snow. That's impressive that you were able to find a glove. I've got some goggles, gloves, hat and ski pole up in porter fork from an accident from 2018 that I keep forgetting to go look for, maybe this summer???

[Dshack89]

Well done Dshack! That's awesome! What's the break down between resort days and touring days if you don't mind me asking?

Also thanks for getting this thread back on track! How was the snow surface in Tanners holding up? Seemed like upp lcc south facing was starting to sun cup on tuesday when I was up there, which the mighty mall walker confirmed with his descent down sup.

Thanks, I've been lucky to have a flexible schedule this season so I can get out pretty often. My 150 days breaks down like this: 70 touring only days, 61 lift only days, and 19 "sidecountry" days (lift + skin same day).

The upper 1000' in Tanners thru the chute was relatively smooth corn (on the sides). The middle 1000' (the apron) was starting to suncup in spots but there were cleaner lines available. The bottom 1000' was covered in pine needles, small branches and rocks.

[tgapp]

Thanks, I've been lucky to have a flexible schedule this season so I can get out pretty often. My 150 days breaks down like this: 70 touring only days, 61 lift only days, and 19 "sidecountry" days (lift + skin same day).

The upper 1000' in Tanners thru the chute was relatively smooth corn (on the sides). The middle 1000' (the apron) was starting to suncup in spots but there were cleaner lines available. The bottom 1000' was covered in pine needles, small branches and rocks.

Dude way to go dshack, that is some impressive stats.

Superior was garbage yesterday - slightly suncupped and very firm - but I got a photo of this dude walking around like he's at the mall - this time in spiky shoes.

[Boissal]

Did you tell him he was going the wrong way? He's about to step off the ridge into the abyss!! MW UR GUNNA DIE!!!

PS: that pic hurts my eyes, so many heavy things...

[tgapp]

Did you tell him he was going the wrong way? He's about to step off the ridge into the abyss!! MW UR GUNNA DIE!!!

PS: that pic hurts my eyes, so many heavy things...

next thing you know he'll be out singing the praises of marker barons, hiking around in lange 130's, and carrying a full airbag.

problem is, he'll still be faster than me in the skinner

[mall walker]

I'm entirely sold on the virtues of at least ZGTP / ~1900g skis heavy setup after that late april morning spent skiing highway speeds through west porter. Not sure the juice is worth the squeeze on the Vipecs, more A/B testing required...

[MultiVerse]

Ran into a trail runner in upper Broads around 7 this morning. The dude seemed a little concerned about safety, mentioned the snow was firm, and suggested waiting for it to soften up.

I assumed he was unfamiliar with the ways of spring touring and shrugged the comments off until later when I noticed the only new footprints were downhill. Can't be sure if it was him, but somebody glissaded down the pass between Sunrise and the Twins when it was bombproof. I know there's some hardcore runners in Utah. I'm trying to wrap my head around whether it's possible he ran up Deaf Smith, down Broads, and presumably down BCC on the way back home?!

Anyway, Twins East Col no longer goes cleanly and the snowpack is falling apart but high north still looks good.

[Dantheman]

I'm trying to wrap my head around whether it's possible he ran up Deaf Smith, down Broads, and presumably down BCC on the way back home?!

Entirely plausible. Nice tour.

DShack: x^n on 150 days being amazing.

[byates1]

good on all ya'll forgetting after it!

damn 150 days, respect!

[Boissal]

Ran into a trail runner in upper Broads around 7 this morning. The dude seemed a little concerned about safety, mentioned the snow was firm, and suggested waiting for it to soften up.

I assumed he was unfamiliar with the ways of spring touring and shrugged the comments off until later when I noticed the only new footprints were downhill. Can't be sure if it was him, but somebody glissaded down the pass between Sunrise and the Twins when it was bombproof. I know there's some hardcore runners in Utah. I'm trying to wrap my head around whether it's possible he ran up Deaf Smith, down Broads, and presumably down BCC on the way back home?!

Anyway, Twins East Col no longer goes cleanly and the snowpack is falling apart but high north still looks good.

Holy carnage in Broads, those are some big wet slides!!

Years ago in early April a buddy and I got to the bottom of Bonkers to find a slowshoer who had just walked down the entire shot. We chatted with him for a minute and he explained that he has gone up to the Twins via the SE ridge (standard approach) then walked the whole N ridge to the top of Bonkers and down. He wasn't a runner, more like a weird kook in camo pants with a plastic water bottle in hand, and he had banged out a huge hike in fully refrozen conditions with REI slowshoes. Bonkers was not fully softened and we flailed getting up it...

[Lone Star]

He wasn't a runner, more like a weird kook in camo pants with a plastic water bottle in hand, and he had banged out a huge hike in fully refrozen conditions with REI slowshoes. Bonkers was not fully softened and we flailed getting up it...

Have met a few of these guys just as they've arrived in the West, usually from somewhere like Ohio or West Virginia or Maryland. they havent figured out the snow thing quite yet but they're some tough and savvy SOBs.

[brutah]

Killer dual sport day on Olympus this morning.

West Slabs --> Apollo Couloir --> Apollo Burger as per the Dorais' tradition.

Going up


Tree of the day


Going Down


I actually skied upper apollo twice as I waited for the sun to hit the gulley and soften the snow. The snow still wasn't super soft in the gully around 11 and I'm not sure it would matter as the snow surface was a little beat up. was a good excuse to get some bonus vert regardless!

Burger! nom nom nom


Also, this is now my preferred method for doing the west slabs. Skiing apollo is way more enjoyable than down climbing the slabs and even more fun than taking the traverse of the goddesses over to the south summit to descend the summer trail.

[Dantheman]

Sick!

[mall walker]

Killer dual sport day on Olympus this morning.

West Slabs --> Apollo Couloir --> Apollo Burger as per the Dorais' tradition.

Going up


Tree of the day


Going Down


I actually skied upper apollo twice as I waited for the sun to hit the gulley and soften the snow. The snow still wasn't super soft in the gully around 11 and I'm not sure it would matter as the snow surface was a little beat up. was a good excuse to get some bonus vert regardless!

Burger! nom nom nom


Also, this is now my preferred method for doing the west slabs. Skiing apollo is way more enjoyable than down climbing the slabs and even more fun than taking the traverse of the goddesses over to the south summit to descend the summer trail.

hell yeah! did you do the sneakers / ski boots / sneakers / ski boots thing, or just climb the slabs in your ski boots?

that ones been on my list a couple years now, looks like such a fun linkup

[skifishbum]

kudos d shack
that's bum worthy commitment of
count the days you didn't ski is way eaiser territory

[dfinn]

That Apollo burger sounds good.

[brutah]

Did some corn harvestin' up in PC on saturday. Fast n easy gaining Jupiter Peak from the Empire base area at DV. Snow was surprisingly smoother on the PC side. Lots of signage at the base saying the mountain was closed to all activity but the security guard at the bottom when I finished paid me no attention. Also, my dad's buddy was claiming that he has 26 days of touring at PC and DV since the mid march close down. Seems kind of shitty that all these ski areas won't allow skiers to enjoy the snow before it melts imo.



Frank Dogg was stoked!

[Dshack89]

^love the doggie stoke!!

[D-Roc]

^Impressive #s there D-Shack ... Well Done!

I rounded Day 110 Saturday with a solo endeavor deep into Elder's Box... Impressively good skiing! Went up DC in shoes to the Pass / Bowl trail fork in shoes before the conversion, snuck around and booted the glade to the right of the S/Gs and to the ridge. Got up there too fast (4.5 hrs) and found a couple south / southwest shots with perfect corn to keep my ADHD self occupied, BE Headwall was perfect around 130! Had the peak to myself, sort of shocking haha. Timp still looking good!



On a side not, lost a couple prime ski partners to life opportunities elsewhere (who leaves the Wasatch intentionally?!) so if any of you Wizards / Witches want to get out shoot me a message

[Dshack89]

Lots of info here: https://www.snowbird.com/covid-19/

A few highlights
-Not reopening, uphill allowed starting Saturday
-$150 to $300 credits based on pass usage
-AltaBird includes base Ikon, $1600
-Full refund for any reason by Dec 1

[snowaddict91]

Snowbird has officially pulled the plug. On the plus side, they are opening to uphill Saturday.

Pondskimming season is coming.

Its nice that they are giving passholders a credit too.

Alta/Bird is up to $1600 (early bird price) but includes an Ikon base. Alta/Bird/Soli on one pass sure is tempting.

[mall walker]

anyone know if there's any snow down low at the bird?

[Dshack89]

The price hike for the AltaBird pass is a tough pill to swallow in these times. $3700 for AltaBird family pass versus $2100 for Bird family pass...hard to justify an extra $1600.

Probably going to stick to just Alta assuming mirror pricing. Seems like the inclusion of the Ikon pass meant they no longer could include free kids passes.

I'm just glad I can blame this on Ikon somehow haha!

[Dshack89]

anyone know if there's any snow down low at the bird?

Yeah it looked like you could avoid walking on any dirt from my quick glance driving up the canyon today, even from Gadzoom (it's the remnants of old man made snow).