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

[mc_roon]

I was was wondering what you 2 and mppg have to share. Where is he any way? Also, I would be interested what Jake and Powstash have to say about the past week in PC

Last I heard MPPG is in VT skate skiing and otherwise neglecting his powder goat.

[Phall]

Last I heard MPPG is in VT skate skiing and otherwise neglecting his powder goat.

Yep, got two kiddos, lives around the corner from me mum. I’ll see him when I go back soon and send everyone’s regards


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Phall]

Also, never seen so many tourists outside the boundary just lookers right of the Catherine’s boot pack from the top of supreme, just hiking to the top of that little peak.....


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[TheK12]

Snow starts immediately but you gotta watch out for hoardes of sledders at the beginning. Park City lets you go up Home Run before 8:30am and after 6:00pm, more fun than the other options listed since you can actually make turns on the way down. If Alta starts cat skiing in Grizzly again then there will be a great cat track up from the summer road to Fantasy Ridge but its not in yet (if at all this year??)

awesome. thanks for the info!

[TheK12]

The road is packed snow at the parking area on the south side/north facing. The north side/south facing is bare dirt.... There was at least a hundred skiers headed up the road this morning...
You could also skin up the guardsman road, Mill Creek, or SR-65

Thanks! I'll look into those options!

[telefreewasatch]

Dutch is one of the most dangerous places in the Wasatch.

Not nearly as much as leather boots and 55mm waisted skis did though.

^^^

And in the US we cannot recommend or advise without assuming liability.
No one can stand at a gate and give information or advice.
Hasn't worked that way for a long time and we've affected many other country's ability to do the same over time.
The solution for Dutch Draw is an outside the box one.
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

[dfinn]

Had some friends recently move up to Ogden, went for a walk up to Ben Lomond. Lots of potential and fun to be had in this area in less sketchy conditions, we kept it mellow.







Not sure if the snowpack is deeper up there or there are less sharks in those waters but coverage seems pretty good up that way on the N faces. On S faces it is dirt.

[GKWood]

People been dying in that exact spot before the gram was ever created. It’s just a shitty set up. Be safe out there. Snow pack is crap and about to get worse with a big high pressure. Pent up powder panic will get real when it finally starts to snow

Yep, felt like a do-over of this one: https://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche/48937.
RIP. Must be quite the trauma for the girlfriend who supposedly saw it happen from in-bounds.

[brutah]

Don't recall a ski tour where I felt and heard more collapsing, whompfing and saw shooting cracks. Seems like everyone hit a lot of rocks too. Views were nice and heard a good story about jimmy. I feel.like I gotta hear some of these stories in person sooner than later though shaded low angle continues to soft serve

Also some photos from Fridays ski

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[Benneke10]

Nice shot of Wolv Bowl, hit any rocks there? Were you able to exit Catherine's Pass with skis intact?

[Hey Diddle Diddle]

^^^

And in the US we cannot recommend or advise without assuming liability.
No one can stand at a gate and give information or advice.
Hasn't worked that way for a long time and we've affected many other country's ability to do the same over time.
The solution for Dutch Draw is an outside the box one.
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

I will take a whack at your challenge. I have seen Patrol at the 9990 gate a few times over the years. It was usually during high danger and they would paraphrase the avy report to those willing to listen. Some pulled back. Most did what they were going to do anyway and got away with it. The local “ridge rats” would try educating politely then not so politely. It all made no difference. In Europe when U buy a lift ticket U are offered insurance for the day for a few dollars. This would probably not work here because it might embolden people. Maybe a recco reflector embedded in every pass. The current situation at the top of 9990 is an effective workaround to shield Vail Resorts from legal hazard while Maintaining public access to public lands. Apparently our entire country are victims and we need more lawyers to fix this. Our destiny is the sum total of our decisions. I keep going back to how do they handle this in Europe. They have bigger mountains with more people. They have massive resorts with uncontrolled off-piste throughout the resort. A walk-up lift ticket at the 3 valleys in the French Alps is $77 and this accesses 180 ski lifts with 6200 feet of vertical drop. They have their knuckleheads also but there is much more freedom to screwup if that is your choice. U will be billed for your rescue and medical care and that is why U buy the daily insurance.

[skifishbum]

cross the pond
they puts the boobies on the billboards
with no nsfw tags
ive become callous on addicts od ing
wish i wasnt
this one still bothers me though
they were my dads next door neighbors for a decade
she was so nice
he was a hot shot type A dive master who for whatever reasons couldnt see the dangers
or translate a strict safety regime into skiing
i wonder bout their grom a bit
he was on snow at 2 i think 5 when it happened
he must be in his mid 20's now
https://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche/21850
looks like the archives are broke or new podcast are taking priority
but they left the gate were told it was high danger
skied it side by side without gear
and the dogs found them that way after they didnt show up at daycare

It's a shitty situation, but if push comes to shove, they could look at closing the gates and direct the backcountry traffic to exit the area lower on the hill. Skinning for an hour or so is still great access to that ridgeline. Throw a bone by expanding uphill access on that side of the resort. Not sure how that could work logistically via safe routes that avoid all the private homes.

Kind of ridiculous, but UAC/FS volunteers could be present to intercept all potential victims to check for avy gear and relay the hazard. Small talk such as, "How many children do you have?" and "Do you feel lucky, punk?" might be effective.

Then there's the whole State-run biathalon idea of a hunter safety like program applied to backcountry users. Blech!

RIP

do what they want with the gate maybe play the kowboy ding dong song
but
im gonna hard fuck no on the
pavi
pay a avi instructer
model of safety
skied some pow at the mow in leftys and hippie hills
didnt suck
actually skied great
#msga

[telefreewasatch]

Don't recall a ski tour where I felt and heard more collapsing, whompfing and saw shooting cracks. Seems like everyone hit a lot of rocks too. Views were nice and heard a good story about jimmy. I feel.like I gotta hear some of these stories in person sooner than later though shaded low angle continues to soft serve

Ben doesn't exaggerate enough.
Whatever story he told it was twice as deep and twice as steep as portrayed...

Main Chute by mid morning today?

[schindlerpiste]

Ow about take away the gate where it now exists and place a gate at the lower part ofskiers right a base of of 94 turns (near talus garden). Any way to skin up ridge of Big Mac/Easter Bowl?

^^^

And in the US we cannot recommend or advise without assuming liability.
No one can stand at a gate and give information or advice.
Hasn't worked that way for a long time and we've affected many other country's ability to do the same over time.
The solution for Dutch Draw is an outside the box one.
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

[brutah]

Ow about take away the gate where it now exists and place a gate at the lower part ofskiers right a base of of 94 turns (near talus garden). Any way to skin up ridge of Big Mac/Easter Bowl?

Why not just remove the 9990 chairlift? The problem is that lift basically puts people on the most deadly ridge line in UT.

I bet there would be a decrease in avalanche fatilities if that lift was removed.

[schindlerpiste]

I don't think that is feasible from a resort/skier point of view. People ski Canyons for the challenge or excitement of Fantasy Ridge and those north side chutes (Charlie Brown, Red Pine...). Let's face it, Jupiter and McConkeys don't cut it. I wonder whether a deal could be reached with the forest service to remove the gate at 9990 and place one at the top of Saddleback? Many skin up that way early season to access Driveway any how. Also, maybe float the idea of decreasing the 9990 lift to make it a single, rather than a triple.... (Stowe/Mad River) style

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Coming to UT on 1/21-24. What time do we need to be headed up LCC in the morning to get parking at Alta? Staying at Vrbo in Draper. Not really an option to go to BCC, half our party has a free ride camp at Alta. Thanks in advance.



Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Gepeto]

......Where is he any way?... PC

fell in love... moved back to VT... took a job testing IPA's... made 2 happy brand new boys that are learning to love playing in the snow with uncomfortable boots and long sticks fastened to their feet...

[getoutside]

made 2 happy brand new boys that are learning to love playing in the snow with uncomfortable boots

^^ nice work. beautiful day yesterday. only instability noted was a single whompf on flanagan's ridge heading to the pinnacle. no cracking, collapsing or anything on west facing aspects.

[Coño Frío]

Coming to UT on 1/21-24. What time do we need to be headed up LCC in the morning to get parking at Alta? Staying at Vrbo in Draper. Not really an option to go to BCC, half our party has a free ride camp at Alta. Thanks in advance.



Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Well before the crack of dawn


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[gimpy]

Rename the 9990 gate Darwin laughs
I don’t think anything needs to be done with it regarding closures...... people are responsible for their own actions and lawyers suck.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Well before the crack of dawn


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

So 0630?


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[JKnight]

do what they want with the gate maybe play the kowboy ding dong song
but
im gonna hard fuck no on the
pavi
pay a avi instructer
model of safety
skied some pow at the mow in leftys and hippie hills

I hear ya, mantrophyfishdogdad. The "listen to me tell you how sketchy it is" approach only goes so far, especially with males. Many are more likely to take heed only after a bad case of powder fever. Kimbrough was great at getting the message across back when we had to call up to get the forecast on the phone before the Wasatch went supernova. It felt like everyone was in trouble and about to be sent to our rooms.

The solution for Dutch Draw is an outside the box one.
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

[wasatch_carpetbagger]

I completely agree that 1) the gate should stay open, and 2) that people need to learn to take responsibility for their actions. Access to public land is the whole reason I moved here.

But consider this: in the last decade, there have been 10 ski/boarding avalanche fatalities in Utah. Three of them were at Dutch Draw. There was a fourth fatality there in 2005. So yea, given the concentration of tragedy on that slope, I do think it makes sense to try to prevent this from happening in the future if we can do so without impeding the rights of others.

Looking at the existing gate, it is natural to wonder what more can be done. They're opening a gate that has a skull and cross bones FFS. One thought, however, would be to list the specific fatalities that happened outside that gate in particular. Probably a total pipe dream bc I imagine Vail would vehemently oppose this. I do think it would center folks on the specific dangers of this gate and this terrain, as opposed to generalized BC warnings.

[gimpy]

^^^^^ now that is a stellar idea...... but I’d imagine you’d need permission from the families of the victims