Wasatch 08-09 Conditions

Got skunked out of the Y-Couloir for the second time in a row. I guess, technically, we didn't make it to the couloir. We'll see what happens the third time we're up to bat. That creek is pretty big, this time of year...

...and it's amazing how slipping and filling one's boots full of ice-cold water will stifle one's enthusiasm for booting up a cooler.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ybW37vx0MgI/Sc...0/P3240006.JPG

On a conditions-related note, we were surprised at how heavy and packable the snow was at the lower elevations... Call me crazy, but it might be the precise moisture content we need in order to interface with the previously-existing hockey-rink layer. Hopefully things bond, consolidate, and give us safe conditions.

No bueno! I got a pole basket wedged and had to go back for it once my pack was off in that exact spot last week. I had a moment wrestling with it where I thought I was going in the drink.

RTR,

I know you are smart enough and experienced enough, but be very, very leary of that line this time of year. There is a reason it gets gang-banged every year during the January high pressure and this year during the Feb high pressure also and not very often (if at all) other than that. IMHO, there are way, way better lines in the Wasatch.

My obs from dusk patrol tonight on west facing approx. 10k to 7.5k. No instabilities observed what so ever; not even sluffing on west facing. Despite the predominately W/NW winds with this last round, west aspects skiied :fmicon: Stuff was all up in my face top to bottom; must be the shoes ;) Below about 8.5 to 9k on that aspect it got a little heavier; most likely from the few sun breaks today. Not enough to crust it up in the slightest when I skied out at 7:30; God I love DST!!!! Where I was at, there was a slight Easterly surface wind; not enough to even create soft slabs.

Was dumping in LCC on my drive down 'round 8'ish as evidenced by the current radar showing some more sweet lake effect (sweetest words ever) and the collins plot showing it starting to pile up.

Git sum folks, this is a good week for sure and it will be 90 degree weather before you know it.

Yeah; lots of skinners today in LCC... took a different route when we saw a large group (or, what looked like a big group working together from a distance) and then later joined the lemmings and did a couple of laps on Flagstaff.

Definitely not yesterday’s cold smoke. The snow was heavier and skied slower and aside from some sluffing it was mostly stable as the day progressed.

Skied briefly this morning. Lots of wind and many scary, sensitive wind slabs that were quick to release with turns.

Good day to ski in the trees or at the lifts.

Yeah Gnarwhale! Glad you got to snag those lines after the other day.

Yeah Gnarwhale! Glad you got to snag those lines after the other day.

I also skied this morning. Also saw a lot of sensitive wind slabs on south and east facing aspects. Stayed on mellow slopes all the way down. No speed = Sinkage.

The original plan was to get up early today and ski a big line in LCC before the brunt of the storm hit, but it rained all night in the valley and then the Avi report said Extreme danger might be called for. So instead, took TH’s advice and skied in the steep trees:
http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...Millcreek1.jpg

Even in the trees, on steep slopes, sluffing was ever present and the snow was heavy and wet… but still skiable and fun. The lab-mix is too old for skinning & boot-packing but the Millcreek mountain lion can’t get enough:
http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...eekMTNLion.jpg
(Note; the snows consistency, clinging to vertical surfaces)

7.2k vertical of fluffy nachos were consumed, with adequate beverage. No instabilites in our low angle nacho field. Shoulda gone bigger.

Watch out where and how you park in BCC. They towed a truck this morning that wasn't really parked all that crazy, and were threatening to tow another truck that was inside the white line.
http://fritzrips.com/Gallery1/albums...n/PowMarch.jpg

Photo blurred to avoid over crowding the secret stash.
http://fritzrips.com/Gallery1/albums...son/Nachos.jpg

I need some advice...
We're heading to Utah tomorrow (Friday) evening, and we'll be skiing somewhere on Saturday. The question is where?

Here's what I'm weighing in my head:
Powder Mountain or Snowbasin - Pros: A bit closer to Montana (makes the drive tomorrow night less miserable), potentially less tracked out and less crowded (more powder left from yesterday / today's storm). Cons: less awesome than LCC, didn't get as much snow (but still got a lot).

LCC - Pros: Great terrain and potentially more snow. Lots of great stuff appears to still have avy closures, so Saturday might be awesome with various areas opening up. Cons: More people = less fresh tracks. A little bit longer drive tomorrow night.

Can anyone weigh in on what LCC might look like on Saturday? Do you think control work will be done by tomorrow (meaning that it'll be tracked by Saturday), or is Saturday the day to be there?
Also, if anyone feels like showing us around, that'd be awesome - beers on us.

powder mountain might be your best bet for actual powder. LCC & BCC will likely be tracked out unfortunately.

Hey Trackhead, I'll take a stab at your secret stash. Looks to me like . . . the Porcupine.

Apologies if I'm right and the stash gets "tracked out" so to speak.

TH- Looks like those aspen trees that are in all the PW movies?

Nice work, thanks for the beta this morning. We didn't find much more than some surface sluffing and pockets of soft slab on really steep roll overs.

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Originally Posted by toast2266

I need some advice...
We're heading to Utah tomorrow (Friday) evening, and we'll be skiing somewhere on Saturday. The question is where?

Here's what I'm weighing in my head:
Powder Mountain or Snowbasin - Pros: A bit closer to Montana (makes the drive tomorrow night less miserable), potentially less tracked out and less crowded (more powder left from yesterday / today's storm). Cons: less awesome than LCC, didn't get as much snow (but still got a lot).

LCC - Pros: Great terrain and potentially more snow. Lots of great stuff appears to still have avy closures, so Saturday might be awesome with various areas opening up. Cons: More people = less fresh tracks. A little bit longer drive tomorrow night.

Can anyone weigh in on what LCC might look like on Saturday? Do you think control work will be done by tomorrow (meaning that it'll be tracked by Saturday), or is Saturday the day to be there?
Also, if anyone feels like showing us around, that'd be awesome - beers on us.

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While this isn't the thread for this, I'll bite since you probably don't read this thread religiously.

Alta will probably open the shoulder and supreme bowl/catherines area (if it didn't go today) tomorrow morning early. This leaves Devils Hassle as the only thing left that is untracked for Saturday. As for Snowbird, I have no idea--they seem to get shit open ASAP. On the other hand, there is waaaaay more terrain there to spread people out.

And to answer your question at the end, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and to a certain extent, Friday, were/are the days to be there.

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Originally Posted by BigJay

Snowbird, I have no idea--they seem to get shit open ASAP. On the other hand, there is waaaaay more terrain there to spread people out.

And to answer your question at the end, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and to a certain extent, Friday, were/are the days to be there.

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Everything that was open at the bird today (that is all terrain except baldy, minnie b, and tt) got pretty hammered out. I imagine those other zones will open tomorrow, and with today's full tram maze telling their friends how it was, I predict snowbird is beat out by noon, 1pm latest, on Friday.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigJay

While this isn't the thread for this, I'll bite since you probably don't read this thread religiously.

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oops, sorry - I'm obviously new to the TGR Utah conditions scene.

Thanks for the info, I'm still pretty torn, but I'm not sure there are any great answers to my question (other than "go to SLC 5 days ago"... damn my shitty timing).

Did some meadow-skipping with ruletherock, this evening. We skied mostly low-angled, aspen-wooded, west-facing slopes. East to southeast faces appeared to be mildly wind-loaded. We heard no whoomping, saw no naturals (where we skied), and enjoyed untracked turns in great powder.

Saw signs of only two other skiers in the drainage. Not sure what the drainage was called...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by skibunny20

Did some meadow-skipping with ruletherock, this evening. We skied mostly low-angled, aspen-wooded, west-facing slopes. East to southeast faces appeared to be mildly wind-loaded. We heard no whoomping, saw no naturals (where we skied), and enjoyed untracked turns in great powder.

Saw signs of only two other skiers in the drainage. Not sure what the drainage was called...

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Not from Utah, never skied there, but go to Powder and do the snowcat/heli skiing thing they offer? Not too expensive and I'm sure you'll get a good amount of untracked there.

I'd also say keep updated on terrain openings at the places you think of going. If Snowbasin doesn't open No Name until Saturday I'd say that's the place to be, but what do I know.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by skibunny20

Did some meadow-skipping...

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I'm sure there are plenty of goods to be had, today... I hope some of you can enjoy them, as I'm stuck in the office flailing to meet dealines:nonono2:

UAC is painting a relatively rosy picture compared to yesterday, and I didn't think yesterday was all that bad...

Waxing artistic...
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ybW37vx0MgI/Sc...2/P1010422.JPG

Waxing blurry...
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ybW37vx0MgI/Sc...2/P1010428.JPG

Be safe out there.

Tried to ski the Millstone in BCC. Found sensitive wind slabs on top of well, rock.

No dice. Maybe next year.

Skied Scottie's this morning (after getting turned around by Red when we were parking to hike up flag). It was nice, but the wind had its way with the snow yesterday. So instead of lightness, we had creaminess. Got done and there was a text from another friend saying they were on their way up Argenta. Busted up BCC and redlined it 'til I caught them and enjoyed 3000 more feet of whipped cream. Finally rolled into work a little before 1:00. Good thing the boss is out of town.

Wishing I had ignored the forecast and gone out yesterday. UAC can only cry wolf so many times before we start to ignore them altogether. Actually, I guess some people already do.

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Originally Posted by Wasatch_Expat

Wishing I had ignored the forecast and gone out yesterday. UAC can only cry wolf so many times before we start to ignore them altogether. Actually, I guess some people already do.

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Not to harsh on the UAC, but I don't usually read the report unless I've been out of town for a while, or I have the time if when I go out after 7am. But look at it from their perspective, the day prior was truly pretty sketchy, then we get wind/snow overnight. It's 7am in the morning, what else are they going to do but assume and rate it as "high".

They are pretty accurate most of the time, and err on the side of caution the rest. That's reasonable to me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wasatch_Expat

Wishing I had ignored the forecast and gone out yesterday. UAC can only cry wolf so many times before we start to ignore them altogether. Actually, I guess some people already do.

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Dunno about that. Pretty much every high angle slope at Snowbasin ripped big. There were at least 6 large slides that seem to have shed every flake that fell in the past 4 days. Sisters bowl, demoisy, flanks of Mt. Ogden...all had multiple slabs pull out. Looking over the Ogden side everything seemed intact but there'd been no traffic. Tasty windbuff pow if you have the cajones. Interesting to note that the debris fields had, for the most part, been dried by the uber cold temps last night and were skiing like little balls of pow. Very odd, at least to me. Surface hoar atop a very sugary surface layer of re-crystallized pow that was getting slabby in the sun (4-6") could make anything that falls this weekend interesting

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wasatch_Expat

Wishing I had ignored the forecast and gone out yesterday. UAC can only cry wolf so many times before we start to ignore them altogether.

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Good plan. You're probably smarter than they are.

Most patrols reported "high" danger yesterday morning with sensitive slabs releasing with ski cuts and explosives. In my pits columns were failing on isolation in the morning within the new snow about a foot down.

However,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UAC

Yesterday, it was quite active early in the morning with naturals and widespread, soft slabs with control work at the resorts but they seemed to settle out quickly.

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By afternoon, my columns stood on their own and required moderate efforts to achieve failure. But is sounds like even the wizard got surprised yesterday. But you're probably smarter than him as well.

Such is the nature of new snow instabilities. Hit or miss. You might think differently if it was your ass in a sling if you got it wrong.

^^^I gotta jump in and stick up for Evelyn at the UAC. She's really good at her job. It's a forecast, nothing more. You could always go out and make your own evaluations, right? Maybe I misunderstood, but I just don't understand the "cry wolf" comment.

Maybe I'm just bent outta shape because I had to work today... if anyone wants to get out tomorrow let me know. I'm jones'n hard for a good tour.



EDIT: I see I missed the boat on the UAC comment. Good to see other people with respect for those guys that work hard to keep people safe.