Superior, Toledo Chute, Two Trees

The south face of Mount Superior has been very high on my to do list every since I first looked at the line from Snowbird when I started skiing a year ago.  Conditions and availability finally lined up and I was able to ski this classic Wasatch line with Aaron R and Jeff.  Like the rest of these it looks way worse from the road then it feels going down it.

The advantages of an early start

The objective

Jeff on the short scrambling section

I did not ski this face today but it is now high on my list as well

Across the canyon

Looking down.  We skied right down the center from the peak.

Looking back up midway down

Moving on to Toledo Chute

Looking back up Two Trees

The Y Couloir

With the high pressure ruling the weather lately it has made for really stable snow on some of the steeper lines in the area so I have been taking advantage.  Last weekend, Josh and I decided it was a good day for the Y couloir.  This couloir is a pretty constant 42 degree pitch over about 3,000 vertical feet.  The night before as plans were made I started to have extreme anxiety but it didn't last too long.  As we booted up the couloir I tried not to think about the downhill.  When we got to the top of the climb it really started to hit me that I was about to ski down by far the most technical line I had ever skied.  I felt like I was going to throw up and just tried to remind myself that as soon as I started skiing I would feel fine and enjoy the incredible views.  After we down climbed off the summit and started skiing I felt totally comfortable (mostly) and it was the most fun line I've ever skied.  I knew going into this that overcoming my fear to ski this would probably set the stage for the rest of my skiing career.  The most interesting part of skiing more of these lines is that it is all skiing.  Once you get past the mental barriers it is just making turns.  And all of these lines look way worse than they are once you are actually skiing down them.

Josh getting into the short bushwhack 

Me starting up the 3,000 step staircase

Starting to get a feel for what it will be like

Josh on the final ascent up the fixed rope

The views on top were pretty amazing!

Now for the down...

Wolverine Chutes

After the Hallway Couloir a couple weeks ago, I've been wanting to ski some more chutes.  The Wolverine cirque has quite a few so last week Aaron K, Ben, and I skied a few and explored a little.  These chutes are pretty short but were a lot of fun and always fun to be in a new area.  When I skied the Hallway, I didn't know I was going to ski it until about an hour before so I didn't have time to worry about it.  This time I knew about a day before and was definitely nervous.  But like most lines they look a lot worse until you are actually skiing down them.

A nice view of some of the chutes in the cirque

Looking down one of the chutes

Deciding where to go first

Dropping in!

Exploring Mt. Millicent 

Bonkers!

Another new line today and it was amazing!  I have loved everything about this season so far but I have realized the last few times skiing that so much of the satisfaction comes from exploring these beautiful mountains and skiing new lines.  I've made a goal to try to go somewhere new each time I ski the rest of the season, conditions permitting of course.  Bonkers is located in Broads Fork and it was so beautiful up there! I have been training for a ski mountaineering race called the Wasatch Powderkeg this year by putting in as much vertical as I can when backcountry skiing and for most of the season doing laps at the resort a couple nights a week.  This month my goal is 25,000 thousand feet a week to get ready for the race that is only one month away now.  This week I came up short due to some short days this week but still had about 22,000 feet of vertical gain for the week.

 Such a beautiful area!

A glide avalanche from yesterday. 

This huge line is called Bonkers.  A little tracked out but still plenty of room for soft turns! Two laps on this wasn't nearly enough but I was out of time due to a late start.

The Hallway Couloir

A couple weeks ago I went out with Aaron and his friend Grey and experienced some new lines.  We started out at Alta, went up to Flagstaff and took a run into Days Fork.  We ascended Days Fork back up to the ridge and made our way to the Hallway Couloir.  This was my first time skiing down a chute in the backcountry.  The only other chute I had skied to that point was Main Chute at Alta.  I was a little nervous but it wasn't too bad and was really fun!  I'm definitely not a good enough skier for narrow chutes where you have to straight line it yet but anything wide enough to make a super quick turn is fairly comfortable for me now.  Looking forward to ticking off a lot more of the couloirs in the Chuting Gallery throughout the rest of the season.

Aaron looking up at the top of the couloir

Grey dropping in.

Looking down.

After skiing the Hallway, we skied a few more laps in Cardiff before I had to be home.  It was a great day!  Last week Aaron K and I went to the low angle Mill D North lines on a day when our usual spots had some higher avy danger.  I had never been before and it was fun exploring somewhere new, but it was definitely very low angle skiing and I couldn't do it everyday.  

 Lots of tight trees to practice turning. 

A very cool cloud rainbow.

Winter so far

I started out this winter getting in shape uphill skiing at Alta and Brighton before the resorts opened.  Once the resorts opened, I spent about a month riding the lifts at Alta to work on my technique skiing since I only started skiing last February.  Towards the end of December I started really getting into what I started skiing in the first place for - exploring the backcountry and skiing down!  I met several great friends in the backcountry areas around Alta and finally had some people to go with, Aaron K, Aaron R, and Joey.  Aaron R is trying to break the record for human powered skiing with 2.5 million vertical feet in a year! Aaron and Joey put in 10,000+ feet of vertical a day, everyday, and are great skiers of course.  I have already learned so much from them and like my brother James always says, "The best way to get good at something is to go with people who are way better than you."  This is definitely true and I have grown so much over the past month and a half as a skier.  Out of all the people I could have met I am so happy I met them.  The first area I spent a lot of time in was the Emma's, Michigan City, Days Fork, upper Silver Fork, and Cardiff.  This is a great place to enjoy face shots before the sun hits it.

Sometimes it gets really deep!