Day 61: Dynafit FAIL

Went up the south side of Lone Peak today with JD. We were restless and wanted to force our way up the south face, in spite of poor visibility and likely crappy conditions. While skinning around the second Hammongog, I slipped on some ice and slid backwards. My tail caught, I fell, and then my ski popped off. I heard a crack and assumed the worst.

It wasn't my knee...

Almost as bad, the toe piece of my binding broke at the right pivot point. Game over.

Or should I say game on? Not the greatest skier with one on each foot, one leg skiing was slightly challenging.



I could handle the flats, but anything steep resulted in post holing my way after brother JD.

The bindings are last year's Low Techs. I got them new 11 months ago. They've seen infrequent but demanding use. I wonder how Dynafit will respond to a warranty claim.

Close ups:

North Thunder via Bells out Coalpit

This morning, Brother Sam, Chad, and I toured from Wasatch Blvd., up Bells Canyon, through Thunder Bowl, and to the top of North Thunder Mountain.  Then we skied the Coalpit.  Great tour!

From 2011-01-30

From 2011-01-30

From 2011-01-30

From 2011-01-30

From 2011-01-30

From 2011-01-30

From 2011-01-30

From 2011-01-30

From 2011-01-30

From 2011-01-30

Memorial Couloirs 1-27-2011

Up #5 

Start of #4

A Okeefe in #4

J. Swain in #4

Happy Andy in #4

J. Swain above SLC in the West Couloir

Andy Chino in #2

Day 60: The Olympus Playground

We wandered around the Cove in the dark this morning trying to find a trail to a sneaky hidden couloir. After wasting an hour, the gang decided enough was enough and JD started grumbling about wanting to see some of these chutes I'd been telling him about.

Fine.

Here are the pics and play by play.

Up Memorial #5:





Then over to take a peak off the peak - why is JD still skinning?



Not too smoggy yet



Went looking for other options





#4 looked good





Skinny skis are the new rage. 64 under foot.



Then it was up #2 and down into the highly visible highway line; the West Couloir.



Then back up the West, past some interesting stuff...



And out #2, the home run shot





From potential mutiny to squeals of joy... both while skiing and from John when we agreed on Barbacoa for lunch.

Day 59: Oquirrh Sneak Peak

(Photo: summitpost.org)

I walked out of work this morning pretty bummed to see...nothing. The whole valley was engulfed in clouds. Bummer. My plan was to drive out to Toole and look for a way to get up into the Oquirrhs. When I pulled into town, it was obvious that if I insisted on skiing from town, I'd be walking on dirt most of the way up and down. Bummer. So I kept driving.

Long stretches of desert road lead to adventures:



Ophir, UT was the destination. People have been mentioning that there's some decent skiing from Ophir Canyon so I jumped on the interweb while driving and found out that the two highest peaks in the Oquirrhs are accesible from Ophir. The new plan became trying to summit either Lowe Peak, Flat Top Mountain, or both. Flat Top is the highest in the range and stands at 10,620 ft. Not that impressive, but its prominence over the SLC/UT valleys is impressive at over 5,000 feet.

The view from Lowe Peak, looking towards Flat Top (Pic from summitpost.org):


I was pretty shocked to see two other skiers at the Ophir Canyon trailhead on a stormy Tuesday morning. Nice enough, they pointed me in the right direction and off I went. A mile or two on a flat road led to a few stream crossings and then another long section up a mellow drainage. I followed an old skin track (also a surprise), and eventually stumbled upon this:



Fearing I'd find a miner with a gun, I bypassed the structure without looking inside. From there on, I broke trail, winding my way through the trees and along sub ridges until topping out what I assumed was the ridge connecting Lowe Peak and Flat Top. I turned south, looking for the big one. Quickly, I summited an unknown peak and this is what I saw:


Bummer

I waited for about 45 minutes, hoping things would clear enough to figure out where I was. I didn't bring my shovel since I was alone, but was wishing for it so I could build a deluxe snow cave. Unlucky and cold, I followed my up track out and enjoyed 3000+ feet of meadow skipping and tree skiing.

Back in the flats, it looked like the sun might come out and force me to go back up to take a look.



It was just a sneer, and seconds later it was back to poor vis and spitting snow. At least the exit was interesting with some bushwhacking and stream crossings.



So I went up there today just to take a look and see what potential exists for future days. As the pictures attest, I didn't see much. I like the feel of the place though. The desert drive, passing through an old mining town, and the quietness of the range are refreshing. Next time...

Day 58: Memorial Chute "Cragging"

After working all night I felt the need for some outdoor time. Luckily, John responded to my 6:30 am text and was up for some adventure. I'm not sure if this is what he had in mind.



We were mostly able to skin from the car, but it was obvious that the way back would require some walking. On the way up, before the destination was visible, John commented that the bushwhacking we were doing reminded him of bird hunting in Maine. That got a laugh and I told him we were hunting...for chutes.

The coverage gradually got better and our main problem became trying to decide which chute to ski. Here's that same pic again of the lovely Memorial Couloirs from the fritzrips site. We kept poking our noses further up the drainage and soon were looking up a foreshortened Couloir #1. Ok by me since last year I had the pleasure of skiing #'s 4 and 5.

We skinned up the chute until we came to a branch point. To the left was a gorgeous tight chute that John and I will refer to as Couloir #0.5 since it branches off of #1 to the looker's left, and in accordance with the numbering in the linked picture, 0.5 seemed fitting.

0.5


It was tempting, but we forged ahead and were rewarded with a view neither of us had ever seen before. Well, the mountains were familiar, but the vantage point novel.

Mt Olympus' backside:


John dropping into #1:





We found pretty great skiing back to the fork and laid down a booter through 0.5's skinny belly. On the way up there was courageous talk of straightlining the choke.



On the way down...



John feeling like he found his bird:



The exit wasn't too bad and only required a ten minute walk before clicking back in and skiing to the car.

And my wife wonders why I want to live in Olympus Cove.

Day 57: Kessler and a missed opportunity

I have a lot of ideas swirling around right now about long link ups and traverses but no time to really get anything done. I have plenty of half days here and there, but no substantial time off until mid February. Sure, one can get a lot done in the Wasatch in a few hours but I liken those days to climbing at the local crag...fun, but not as inspiring since much of the exploration is lost. It seems a full day (or more) for a big traverse or peak link up, trying to ski as many aesthetic lines as possible, is where the sense of exploration returns - both geographically and mentally.

That said, I had a day off today and wanted to do a little exploring. Too bad that damn OR show was keeping many potential partners from joining me. Lukily, the Samurai and US Skimo National runner up, Luke Nelson let me join them for an early morning foray up Kessler Peak.

In the parking lot, I skinned up two sets of skis, hoping it would be a relaxing tour on regular gear. Out of their cars came two sets of Trab World Cups and I knew right then it was going to be a quick morning. The plan was to skin up Argenta, ski the East Couloir, skin back up the Catcher's Mitt, and then ski out Argenta.

Just over an hour after leaving the car, we were dropping into an untouched East Couloir.



A flying samurai:



Luke enjoying the morning light:




The chute was fantastic, but the apron was pretty pathetic with the stout rain/ice crust very noticeable. Stopping just above the Cardiff road, we turned it around to skin back up. Again, the ice made travel difficult, so we opted to boot/slip/wallow our way back to the top of the chute.

The main Argenta run was in the worst shape I've seen; wind affected, icy in spots, and crusty in others. Conditions improved slightly on the exit and we found ourselves back at the car at 9:40. My plan had been to go back up and ski the other two classic lines on Kessler, God's Lawnmower, and the West Couloir. This Kessler 4x4 as Noah Howell calls it has been something I've wanted to do for a while. I had all day and good weather, but was cold and partnerless. I decided to drive down to a point where I could get cell coverage and tried to dial up a partner. Windows fogging up, my motivation dissipated with the steam from my clothes, and unable to find any immediate company, I found myself back in bed about half an hour later.

Opportunity wasted.