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

[Dshack89]

Spring sure does bring some strange weather. The typical corn cycle has been thrown off the last 2 days with unexpected clouds and intermittent stretches of snow / graupel.

Maybe that 2-6" forecast will over deliver for tomorrow? At this point I almost prefer boring high pressure corn.

[snowaddict91]

Spring sure does bring some strange weather. The typical corn cycle has been thrown off the last 2 days with unexpected clouds and intermittent stretches of snow / graupel.

Maybe that 2-6" forecast will over deliver for tomorrow? At this point I almost prefer boring high pressure corn.

Right. Sun didn't cooperate for me at all this morning. Oh well.

[getoutside]

Spring sure does bring some strange weather. The typical corn cycle has been thrown off the last 2 days with unexpected clouds and intermittent stretches of snow / graupel.

sure does, but directly east facing at 9600' must have got just enough sun as i was peeling off a half inch of perfect corn for 1200'. skied so smooth, almost skipped my 10am meeting. then to your point, flurrying up high, raining down low driving down the canyon. i'll take the 2-6" and hope it will smooth it all out.

[mall walker]

for how little it snowed in feb/march the low elevation stuff is really hanging on. except for one bony patch at the very bottom the Y still looks to go clean, not bad for late april.

[snowaddict91]

for how little it snowed in feb/march the low elevation stuff is really hanging on. except for one bony patch at the very bottom the Y still looks to go clean, not bad for late april.

I've been looking at it every time I drive up the canyon. I convinced myself this morning it was done and I didn't want to downclimb that bony patch, but, you might be able to talk me into it early next week.

[Boissal]

I've been looking at it every time I drive up the canyon. I convinced myself this morning it was done and I didn't want to downclimb that bony patch, but, you might be able to talk me into it early next week.

Keep me posted if that happens, I'd be psyched to run up the Y for one last dumb run.

[jtran10]

did S facing soften up this morning? what time if so?

[Dshack89]

^Definitely, but not sure on timing. Was a bit grabby as high as ~9500' N facing on my exit around 2.

Today was such a beautiful day out there!

[wra]

I'll just leave this here...



Nice day!

[mall walker]

I'll just leave this here...



Nice day!

what are you using to take these panoramic shots? they come out awesome

[wra]

Thanks. Using a Nikon crop body with 18-300mm lens. Stitch the photos with Photoshop cs6.
I'm poor, old and slow but i think it's worth carrying a dslr to get good pics.

[snowaddict91]

Beaut of a morning out there. Freezing level on north facing was probably 10,500 or so but that didn't stop main chute from skiing good.

Stopped to take a look at the creek near the y. Water wasn't raging as much as I thought it would be but didn't find a "great" place to cross. She's getting pretty thin down low too.

[tBatt]

Older photos but this was from S Face Lone Peak on Weds 4/22

4:30 Launch from Cottonwood Heights

5:30 Trail Head


6:15 Encounter with a Mountain Lion at the First Hamongog

8:30 Skins on at the second Hamongog




9:15 Clouds moved in and winds picked up.



10:30 top out at the lower saddle, hang out a while for the clouds to lift




11:15 top out, waiting for the clouds to clear and the wind to die down







2:30 drop in. The top skied really well and the bottom might've been a little past ripe.



Friday I got to spend 8.5 hours in line at the DMV waiting to register my car. That got an InstaTR in itself.

Cold snow underneath leading to another surface refreeze tonight. Get it early.

Rode LCC today up to the ruins. Ran into some friends coming down from Tanners. They said only the only spot they weren't walking though snow was the last 100 yards.

[mall walker]

^ saw the DMV thing on IG, that shit is insane. nice job on Lone. am I reading right, 3 hrs waiting on top? I mean I can think of worse places to spend 3 hours, but were you frozen by the time you dropped?

despite the forecasted overnight temps there was a good freeze at alta overnight. little chute was quite firm. sugarloaf was corning up nice around 8.

[tBatt]

am I reading right, 3 hrs waiting on top? were you frozen by the time you dropped?

I was pretty comfortable with a big puffy. Homegirl was definitely cold. We dug a little snowcave into the leeward side, so that helped.

[tgapp]

^^fucking great pics from lone peak, tBatt. what happened with the mountain lion? did it actually attack you?

not sure if this belongs here (i'm a jong, yes, i know), but since there isn't a 2020 Uintas Stoke thread i thought i'd share it here instead. hope that's cool.

4/26 - king's peak in a day. 16 hours car to car (slow as fuck, i know - but the snow was unconsolidated and unsupportable and thigh deep for most of it) - 28 miles or so, i'd guess probably around 22 with skins on, since the snow was too unconsolidated to skate for most of it.



headed up the gunsight couloir around 5:30 am - fucking awful travel conditions, a nasty crust and really difficult skinning.



summit ridge - while we were up there we had gusts to 35mph, some snow, and 50' visibility at the worst.



back in the basin the skies had cleared, so we drank margaritas in honor of our friend trace carrillo who died in an avalanche earlier this month. RIP, buddy - this trip was a combination of things that trace loved (mountains, misery, and margaritas).



took the standard hiking trail out because the stream crossing was already mostly melted out and we didn't want to go for a swim. by that point, we had ran out of fucks to give. turns out you can skin up running water. who knew??

i might be done skiing for the year after this.

[mall walker]

damn! badass. got your GT in after all I guess lol. well fuckin done

[happytimefunbox]

^^fucking great pics from lone peak, tBatt. what happened with the mountain lion? did it actually attack you?

not sure if this belongs here (i'm a jong, yes, i know), but since there isn't a 2020 Uintas Stoke thread i thought i'd share it here instead. hope that's cool.

4/26 - king's peak in a day. 16 hours car to car (slow as fuck, i know - but the snow was unconsolidated and unsupportable and thigh deep for most of it) - 28 miles or so, i'd guess probably around 22 with skins on, since the snow was too unconsolidated to skate for most of it.



headed up the gunsight couloir around 5:30 am - fucking awful travel conditions, a nasty crust and really difficult skinning.



summit ridge - while we were up there we had gusts to 35mph, some snow, and 50' visibility at the worst.



back in the basin the skies had cleared, so we drank margaritas in honor of our friend trace carrillo who died in an avalanche earlier this month. RIP, buddy - this trip was a combination of things that trace loved (mountains, misery, and margaritas).



took the standard hiking trail out because the stream crossing was already mostly melted out and we didn't want to go for a swim. by that point, we had ran out of fucks to give. turns out you can skin up running water. who knew??

i might be done skiing for the year after this.

Oh that sounds fucking epic cheers to trace and adventure you had in his honor!

[tBatt]

^^fucking great pics from lone peak, tBatt. what happened with the mountain lion? did it actually attack you?

took the standard hiking trail out because the stream crossing was already mostly melted out and we didn't want to go for a swim. by that point, we had ran out of fucks to give. turns out you can skin up running water. who knew??.

Thanks! We saw it from about 60 feet away. Its head was down, drinking out of a creek. I thought it was a deer at first. We made a noise. It looked up at us and spooked. Jumped, stared for a second, and ran off. It probably followed us the rest of the morning but we didn't see it.

Good work on Kings. That's a haul. "Mountains, Misery, and Margaritas". I had never met Trace but he was friends with many of my friends. Sounds like we could have gotten along.

[tgapp]

Thanks! We saw it from about 60 feet away. Its head was down, drinking out of a creek. I thought it was a deer at first. We made a noise. It looked up at us and spooked. Jumped, stared for a second, and ran off. It probably followed us the rest of the morning but we didn't see it.

Good work on Kings. That's a haul. "Mountains, Misery, and Margaritas". I had never met Trace but he was friends with many of my friends. Sounds like we could have gotten along.

Ahh man what an awesome wildlife encounter. So rare to see big cats like that - usually they're the ones who see you, not the other way around.

[Boissal]

Damn, people have been getting after it lately! Kings in a day without petro-assistance is a savage trek. Beats doing it in the summer but not by much...
And what is it with people seeing lions? It's the 3rd report I read of someone coming face to face with a bit kitty while skiing the central Wasatch! Last time I did S Lone I saw a great horned, cool animal but not lion-cool.

Went in search of corn Sat knowing full well that it would take a few more days to form properly. The Full WP lot at 7AM gave me pause but based on the number of ice axes I figured everyone was going for some technical gnar line and I'd be at peace skiing mellow S faces. I waited on top of Red Baldy for Icefall to soften, it was full of soft rollerballs from the previous day's heat, fun stuff to plow trough.



I sandbagged myself on the circumnavigation of the upper drainage but there were peaks there I had never summitted and shots I didn't even know existed. Silver Hammer off Silver Creek Peak in particular is $$$$. Significantly longer than it looks with a perfect pitch. Apparently a favorite of snowmobilers coming from Mary Ellen, looks like these guys routinely go to the top of the AF Twins.
View were OK but spring is creeping up fast...

[tgapp]

^^^^ nice Boissal! about what time had Icefall softened? i want to go corn hunting this weekend but to be honest i don't really know what i'm doing and i'm afraid of fucking it up.

also i need redemption after this goddawful king's trip.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Yeah dudes, keep it coming. It's been weird around here with little corn development. We'll see after this weeks warm up.

[Boissal]

^^^^ nice Boissal! about what time had Icefall softened? i want to go corn hunting this weekend but to be honest i don't really know what i'm doing and i'm afraid of fucking it up.

also i need redemption after this goddawful king's trip.

Icefall was soft to the tippy top by 9:15, I think it would have been ideal to drop in around 8:30 or so... I'd have preferred to deal with a bit firmer snow on top and avoid the mank at the bottom. Things are heating up FAST and the lows at night don't seem conducive to deep refreezes so timing is going to be touchy this week.

I got a reminder on my phone from this time last year when I was corn-munching for 1000s of feet in the West Desert. Took a look at the coverage out there and the snowpack is about 25% of what it was then... Guess there won't be any desert shredding this May. Ibapah gets a pass for now...

[zion zig zag]

I got a reminder on my phone from this time last year when I was corn-munching for 1000s of feet in the West Desert. Took a look at the coverage out there and the snowpack is about 25% of what it was then... Guess there won't be any desert shredding this May. Ibapah gets a pass for now...

Damn. I skied Wheeler/Jeff Davis on June 9th last year, perfect corn to the creek.