Day 62: Nevada Ruby Tuesday

Who needs 15 inches of 3 percent? The Sherpita JD picked me up at 5:00 AM with plans to either do a long day locally, or to head west. The sky still appeared overcast above SLC, and I was tired from working until two the night before. While living in the Midwest, when given the choice, the answer was also north and west. Thus, we went west. West to Elko and the Ruby Mountains of Nevada.



JD had never been before, so the first stop was the striking Terminal Cancer. I had a fun solo trip last year, but the conditions yesterday were much much better. At the trailhead, a single skier was just waking up. We said hello, put the boot track in, and then had first tracks down the whole thing.

The Up:







The Down:







At the bottom, we flipped it and went back up, planning on exploring deeper into the range. Near the top of the peak behind the TC, JD lost a ski while skinning and we watched it slide well over a thousand feet before disappearing over a cliff. His binding pre released while hiking (Trab race binding) making two days in a row we've had a rough time with gear.

This is where it ended up.



Luckily, we were able to find a parallel chute and traverse underneath the ice flow to retrieve the ski.

Jason, happy not to be post holing anymore:



Here's a pic of our unplanned descent.



From there, we followed another drainage back into the alpine. Options were abundant and we finally settled on a nice powder shot from a high ridgeline.

A little of this:



A little of this:



And a little of this:



Led to a frozen camera and fingers so no pics on the way down.



The Rubies are a beautiful rugged range. I'll be back for sure...maybe next Tuesday?

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...