Tag: backcountry
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Tolcat Couloir – 5/4
Blading big mountain lines takes patience and dedication. So when life, partners, and conditions lined up, I knew I had to jump on it. The goal: Tolcat Couloir off Mt. Olympus (V 50° 2500ft). Overlooking Salt Lake Valley, this striking line has captured the imagination of skiers for generations. After making its first descent in…
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Icefall – 4/17
I’ve fallen over a month behind on blog posts and I have several more recent adventures I want to get around to writing about so this post may be shorter and less detailed than usual. But it was a wonderful day checking out a somewhat less traveled corner of the Wasatch so I don’t want…
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Wheeler Peak – 4/11
Skiing in Nevada has always intrigued me. The Ruby Mountains get the bulk of the attention, housing the classic line, Terminal Cancer. But on drives through Nevada I’ve marveled at the many other peaks that dot the desert, rising sharply from flat, endless wilderness. With nice spring weather and no far-afield plans, Garrett, Cam, Ellen…
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Fishhook Yurt – 4/1-4/5
One evening in the fall Garrett had wandered into the dining room and announced, “I just booked a yurt in the Sawtooths in the spring. It has a hot tub. You interested?” “Obviously”, I responded. While the idea of rustic afternoon soaks was certainly enticing, I was mainly just eager to get back to the…
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Northwest Couloir of Pfeifferhorn – 3/28
Spring has finally arrived in the Wasatch, and with it the chance to ski bigger lines. Taryn’s studying is in full swing, so when she informed me that she could take Sunday off I quickly ran through my mental list of Wasatch lines I’ve had my eye on. Immediately the Northwest Couloir of Pfeifferhorn came…
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Cooke City Part V – 3/12-3/13
We were all tired after our previous day’s excursion into Goose Lake so we decided to head back to our sled lap zone off Henderson mountain. We ventured further along the ridge to the north, trading a longer sled shuttle for longer, more open shots. We must have done something to please the weather gods…
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Cooke City Part IV – 3/11
The weather gods once again smiled on us and the clouds that had come in the evening prior dropped another couple inches of fresh snow. We were all intrigued by the views to the north we had gotten atop Woody Ridge the day before (and by a line we had noticed on the map titled…
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Cooke City Part III 3/10
After finding deep and stable snow the day prior, we decided to go check out the numerous 2,000ft avy paths off Woody Ridge that we had been looking at across the valley. With a large number of lines to choose from, all easily accessible from the ridge top, all ten of us headed up the…
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Cooke City Part II 3/8-3/9
We were eager to get back out after the previous afternoon’s glimpse of Cooke City’s potential. Brett, Ellen and Cam were excited about a shot they had spotted off Woody Ridge south of town. The rest of us decided to go up to the south ridge of Henderson Mountain to go check out a zone…
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Cooke City Part I – 3/6-3/7
One Man, One Machine – Cooke City local I wish I could claim that Cooke City was on my radar for years, but that would be a lie. The first time I heard the name Cooke City was in a January email from Garrett titled “RIP Canada -> Cooke City”. The infamous Canada hut trip…