WASATCH STOKE, CONDITIONS, OBSERVATIONS and ASSORTED DRIVAL 20-21

[Phall]

I don’t believe that was but I know who did it, ha!


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[telefreewasatch]

As long as we’re reminiscing about 2010/2011 and being young and dumb, I’ve got two stories:

1) I remember skiing all of spring break at the bird in a perpetual cycle of 6+ inches every night and by the end I said out loud “I wish it would stop snowing so we could have a sunny groomer day”. WTF?

2) Telefreewasatch might be able to confirm this, but I remember some guy roped up on the bottom cliffs of of the old Baldy comp run who was breaking up all the ice with an aluminum baseball bat? Was that an officially sanctioned activity?

Ha. I'd forgotten that one. No not sanctioned, but appreciated...

Nice stoke mallwalker. That 2nd pic of Boissal looks like a beautiful day in sub par conditions...

[new yabyum]

Any one around for the 76-77 drought? God, did that suck. Snowbird opened in January, makes you appreciate snowmaking and groomers.

[jtran10]

Think I skied about 10-15 days in LCC 10/11 and didn't get one inch of snow

[telefreewasatch]

Any one around for the 76-77 drought? God, did that suck. Snowbird opened in January, makes you appreciate snowmaking and groomers.

First winter out from Joisey.
Had a Snowbird and Park City pass.
Destroyed 4? pair of skis.
Had so much fun doing it after growing up skiing the east coast.
Best winter ever to that point...

[Tri-Ungulate]

2011? I remember how bad conditions sucked until right after MLK when the taps turned on. Unfortunately on MLK day...

I had a hut trip in the Selkirks planned for later that month.

[Boissal]

MW's labeling below the pics instead of above made me think for a second that his better half looked a lot like a bearded dude. Which is very confusing considering that he just had a kid

[brutah]

The Forest Service has an open investigation into the Yurt that has popped up on Mineral Hill and the cat ski operation. I called the ranger station this morning and they asked me to send them any evidence that I have as they need photographs of the cat off the main Cardiff road. It sounds like a pretty touchy situation since the mouth of Cardiff is almost all private land so the landowners could potentially try to cut off access to Cardiff fork completely....... email them at uwc-info@fs.fed.us

Here's a pic of the new yurt. The FS guy I talked with said its definitely not legit and if the landowners don't respond they will be going in to dismantle and remove it.



Since we're on the subject of illegal motorized activity in our forests. Here's a photo I snapped of some dude buzzing around hogum and maybird last saturday. If anyone can pull tail numbers that would be sweet.

[D-Roc]

The Forest Service has an open investigation into the Yurt that has popped up on Mineral Hill and the cat ski operation. I called the ranger station this morning and they asked me to send them any evidence that I have as they need photographs of the cat off the main Cardiff road. It sounds like a pretty touchy situation since the mouth of Cardiff is almost all private land so the landowners could potentially try to cut off access to Cardiff fork completely....... email them at uwc-info@fs.fed.us

Here's a pic of the new yurt. The FS guy I talked with said its definitely not legit and if the landowners don't respond they will be going in to dismantle and remove it.



Since we're on the subject of illegal motorized activity in our forests. Here's a photo I snapped of some dude buzzing around hogum and maybird last saturday. If anyone can pull tail numbers that would be sweet.

how was the skiing?

[brutah]

It was alright on Saturday. I haven't really skied off piste since....

[Boissal]

Jeebus of all the fucking things one could hope to keep under the radar I'm gonna nominate a yurt at the end of a long cat track as being the dumbest...
A heli flying around would be a close 2nd given the size of the pool of people with access to a bird. Is flying about illegal though or is it just about landing?
Weren't there some amusing shenanigans around the same topic last year? Something about a local hypocritical IG superstar and some wannabe rad dentists making legal threats in the aftermath?

[brutah]

Jeebus of all the fucking things one could hope to keep under the radar I'm gonna nominate a yurt at the end of a long cat track as being the dumbest...
A heli flying around would be a close 2nd given the size of the pool of people with access to a bird. Is flying about illegal though or is it just about landing?
Weren't there some amusing shenanigans around the same topic last year? Something about a local hypocritical IG superstar and some wannabe rad dentists making legal threats in the aftermath?

I think this is a different chopper, but that IG superstar can still be seen buzzing around timp. At least, he was up there when I skied cold fusion last spring. I guess a $500 fine when you own a personal helicopter isn't much of a deterrent. who would have guessed?

I believe that wilderness areas have protected air space so that you need to be 3000 feet above the ground to fly over them. But i could be wrong.

Judging from past interactions with the cardiff yurt guy, i'm guessing he's looking for a fight.

[Benneke10]

The FAA regulations request that pilots stay at least 2,000 ft above designated Wilderness areas (Hogum is in Lone Peak Wilderness) but its very difficult to enforce.

Landing is another story, in the case of a certain insta/youtube/discovery channel celebrity who had their heli photographed in Lone Peak cirque the FS took them to court and they were sentenced

[Dantheman]

Landing is another story, in the case of a certain insta/youtube/discovery channel celebrity who had their heli photographed in Lone Peak cirque the FS took them to court and they were sentenced

I never heard the follow-up on that. Glad to hear they faced some kind of consequence, even if it didn't materially affect them.

[Benneke10]

It's unfortunate that the sentence did not include jail time since their financial resources are vast

On an unrelated note, I'm planning a ski from Millcreek to LCC this weekend and trying to figure out a route from Guardsman to Catherine's Pass. If I went up and over 10420, would Brighton allow me to enter the resort at the top of Great Western?

[mall walker]

^ probably not, but I am guessing you could do what the powderkeg does and go outside the ropes along that ridge...

[Dantheman]

It's unfortunate that the sentence did not include jail time since their financial resources are vast

I'd happily take loss of their FAA license in lieu of jail time.

[Benneke10]

I'd happily take loss of their FAA license in lieu of jail time.

I'm not 100% sure but I think the sentence included a suspension

[jmedslc]

It's unfortunate that the sentence did not include jail time since their financial resources are vast

On an unrelated note, I'm planning a ski from Millcreek to LCC this weekend and trying to figure out a route from Guardsman to Catherine's Pass. If I went up and over 10420, would Brighton allow me to enter the resort at the top of Great Western?

No. Ski patrol at the top shack would look down on that.

You could drop into hidden canyon or ride the ridge down to Brighton town and walk across highway and parking lot to Milly then skin up from there per the uphill policy.

If it were springtime there would be some circuitous routing options possible to avoid the town.

[Benneke10]

When you say ride the ridge down, are you referring to the ridge that represents the resort boundary just north of Great Western? Sorry, I'm not that familiar with the Brighton area

[Boissal]

Not what you're asking but you might be better off dodging Brighton altogether and staying lower in the canyon. Climbing out of Silver/Days Fork is a bit longer but would give you some better skiing than anything around Guardsman. Those ridges and long and boring to walk IMO.
I've done Alta to Summit Park on a shit snow year and stuck to drainages instead of ridgeline and it worked pretty damn well. Up Emmas, down W Bowl/Quicksilver and out of Days, cross the road and up MillD to Dog Lake & Little Water Peak, down Fire Water into the head of Millcreek (then up to Murdock Peak and out the shoulder). You could reverse that from upper Millcreek with a few changes for safer uphills and end up skiing a few decent shots on the way. Then again you might be better off taking the shortest route this year and limiting the actual "skiing"

[Phall]

Skiied willows last weekend and the ski out is.....interesting once you come around the corner to the S Face main trail, can only imagine how bad it is with temps ~40 deg. at 8500 ft the past two ish days.

[mall walker]

yeah drove up guardsman and the s facing stuff looks like it does when it melts out in april

[Boissal]

the s facing stuff looks like it does when it melts out in april

That implies there was snow there in the first place which seems dubious.
I'm not even motivated to go stand on top of things right now. While I don't mind dealing with ridges at low tide (makes for fun scrambling), getting off any peak is going to be nightmarish and the shit won't stop until the parking lot...

[Benneke10]

Not what you're asking but you might be better off dodging Brighton altogether and staying lower in the canyon. Climbing out of Silver/Days Fork is a bit longer but would give you some better skiing than anything around Guardsman. Those ridges and long and boring to walk IMO.
I've done Alta to Summit Park on a shit snow year and stuck to drainages instead of ridgeline and it worked pretty damn well. Up Emmas, down W Bowl/Quicksilver and out of Days, cross the road and up MillD to Dog Lake & Little Water Peak, down Fire Water into the head of Millcreek (then up to Murdock Peak and out the shoulder). You could reverse that from upper Millcreek with a few changes for safer uphills and end up skiing a few decent shots on the way. Then again you might be better off taking the shortest route this year and limiting the actual "skiing"

Thanks this is great beta. I was thinking of doing a big loop starting in MCC, going to Alta via Crest/Brighton and returning on a similar route to what you're describing but it sounds like the low elevation/s facing stuff would make it a rough day. I just want to have a long day out on skis but don't know the range super well yet. Now I'm thinking it would make more sense to cut out MCC, maybe start at Spruces, go up Days to Twin Lakes Pass to Catherine's Pass to pt Supreme, down Alta, up Cardiff Pass, and out Cardiff. Open to any suggestions or recommendations