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Originally Posted On My Blog, Point Of Release
When both Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee closed for the season, one must inevitably migrate South in search of lift service and this past weekend presented the perfect opportunity to do so. Snowbird picked up two feet of snow last Tuesday en route to breaking their all time season snowfall record of 688″. That snow was followed by another 18″ Friday night and by Saturday morning I found myself at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon waiting for avalanche clearance after a 5 hour drive from Jackson that began at 3 AM. And well, from there it was literally all time. Just watch the video and you’ll see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt7C3vjboo4
A few photos:
http://pointofrelease.com/wp-content...ood-canyon.jpg
The Peaks Guarding The Base Of Little Cottonwood Canyon
http://pointofrelease.com/wp-content...-lake-city.jpg
Looking Down Little Cottonwood Canyon Toward Salt Lake City
http://pointofrelease.com/wp-content...eral-basin.jpg
The View From Hidden Peak Into Mineral Basin
http://pointofrelease.com/wp-content...idden-peak.jpg
Little Cloud From Hidden Peak
http://pointofrelease.com/wp-content...-the-trees.jpg
A Few Turns Through Totally Untracked Snow In The Trees
http://pointofrelease.com/wp-content...idecountry.jpg
First Tracks In The Snowbird Sidecountry
http://pointofrelease.com/wp-content...-drive-out.jpg
60 Degree Weather In Salt Lake During My Drive Out
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Xover
curious about the castle couloir though. from the best vantage point near sugarloaf, it looked like it choked pretty tight or even smallish cliffed out - is that the case or not?
It goes without any airtime
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
PointOfRelease
Sweet all-time gay POV on a stick, ski, helmet, and chest... There's only one problem with it....
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Xover
nice smuggs! skied that line (Jaws) on the last day of '04-'05; looks just a tad bit more technical this season - but still good to go. curious about the castle couloir though. from the best vantage point near sugarloaf, it looked like it choked pretty tight or even smallish cliffed out - is that the case or not? any shots of it?
thanks in advance.
we stopped at the castle couloir, and up top was a firm steep (60+) sidestep in that i bet 180s would barely clear. not cliffed out from any vantage point we saw looking down or up from the apron. did not take photos as lars was getting bored and we moved on. :cool:
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Pfeifferschnozz sans repel
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Skied what might be a new line off of Monte Cristo today. Plenty of spice, nice location, great views, fun loop. More at my sick blog, check out my spancers, brah.
Line is lookers right ramp west of the summit of Monte Cristo with the happy little ice bulge/cliff in the middle. If you decide you want to go repeat it, be cautious of thin snow over ice and slick quartzite.
http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/y...o/DSCF4640.jpg
Starts out by skiing the west couloir off of the summit, down to the ridge, then cut north to the couloir/ramp.
http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/y...o/DSCF4674.jpg
http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/y...o/DSCF4698.jpg
http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/y...o/DSCF4700.jpg
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May 4, 2011
UDOT plans to conduct artillery avalanche control work in Little Cottonwood Canyon on Thursday May 5th 2011 starting at 0630 am. Please stay clear of all highway avalanche paths between Tanners and Lt. Pine until after the road has been re-opened. Estimated reopening time is 8:30 a.m.
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Sunrise on Timp with Ty and Powder Goat below
http://perpetualweekend.com/wordpres...2/IMG_2081.jpg
Skied the south side of the East Ridge, which is as filled as I've seen it.
http://perpetualweekend.com/wordpres...2/IMG_2156.jpg
E-S-W aspects had a supportable crust that corned up, though much later than we guessed yesterday. W-N-E aspects had a breakable crust over several feet of soft snow.
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Quote:
E-S-W aspects had a supportable crust that corned up, though much later than we guessed yesterday. W-N-E aspects had a breakable crust over several feet of soft snow.
Maybe in a week or two we should try that line on Timp you/we have been looking at. Seems like the snowpack needs more time to get iso first.
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Yup. Wouldn't have happened yesterday. No refreeze forecasted for the next two nights should be a good first step towards a layerless snowpack.
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Gnarwhale, how were the cornices getting into that line? I was there 2 weeks ago and couldn't see over the edge and since I had a bus size break at my feet I was walking over Cascade Cirque I didn't dare blindly step out above that ridge.
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No cornice at the entrance to the East Ridge. It seemed like a good idea to keep rocks underfoot on the Cascade cirque ridgeline, but I was surprised how relatively small the cornices up there were. The biggest ones must've come down already. Top of the permanent snowfield had a massive cornice, but it's easy to skirt around.
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No good refreeze last night. Higher elevations were supportable if you skied fast and smooth, otherwise glop with a thin crust on it. West facing had the most supportable surface. Lower elevation gulleys were death traps.
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Anyone been up in the uintas recently? Any information about the snow up there?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
abraham
Anyone been up in the uintas recently? Any information about the snow up there?
it was a good year for the uintas as well. Tons of snow, lines are fat, go where you please. MEGA cornice up top.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
ZachClanton
Tee Pee?
What Tee Pee?
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...m/P5093385.jpg
North facing upper elavation skied well. Even south facing skied better than it skinned Some oag dude atpetly described it as slop on glop, but still skied pretty creamy Pretty easy to ski cut sploogalanches on steeper gully walls below 9k.
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New snow skied well, a touch sticky, and had a greenhouse crust at 6pm this evening. Almost an inch of moisture for what accounted for only 4-5 inches of snow above 9500 feet.
Noted some wet naturals on E facing at 9500 ft. Not more than 50ft wide, but ran considerable distances 5-600 vert.
http://famousinternetskiers.com/medi...s/IMG_1396.jpg
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4 Attachment(s)
Wasatch Conditions
Conditions weren't all that stellar today. Wolverine cirque is rubbled out in most every shot. We tried all day to get high, but ended up stuck in a never ending cloudfest all day. Snowed most of the day though, might be good before 9:00 or so tomorrow.
Attachment 97141Attachment 97142Attachment 97143Attachment 97144
Didn't see any snow moving in alarming ways, on the way out the south face you could get deep enough to hit what felt like really moist slush.
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The snow was sluffy on the first lap but got greenhoused by 9 or 10am. Even high north was damp well before noon. Old snow surface was firm on NE facing Baldy and deep & manky elsewhere. Powder Goat makes a turn off the top during the 3 minutes of decent visibility.
http://perpetualweekend.com/wordpres...2/IMG_2196.jpg
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
criscam
Nice shots (if I might say so myself). Thanks for posting and, more importantly, hosting. Have to say, the last few days in UT were much more fun than work.
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I found conditions above 8500 feet today to be surprisingly good, supportable/carveable cream type stuff on every aspect. The wind was howling but not moving a ton of snow. The snow below 8500 feet was an absolute horror show, no turns, traverse survival skiing.
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Good skiing this AM 9500ft and above on east aspects around 10am before greenhousing. Could definitely see where it could get sketchy today with greenhousing.
An apparent rescue occurring on the Pfeiff right now, per work radio.
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I just heard that as well.
Heli called, cloud deck too low. Hope everything goes well.
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A few details just popped up on KSL, hoping for the best.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=15503524
Rescue crews trying to reach injured skier
May 11th, 2011 @ 3:25pm
By Pat Reavy
LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON — Rescue crews were trying to figure out how to reach a back country skier Wednesday afternoon who reportedly suffered serious injuries in a fall.
About 2 p.m., police received a call of a skier who fell anywhere from 25 to 1,000 feet, Unified police detective Levi Hughes said of the sketchy information. It was not immediately clear if the man was attempting a jump, got trapped in an avalanche or exactly how he was injured.
He was reportedly with a larger group of skiers when he was injured. Those friends called 911 after the accident.
Rescuers believe the injured man is an area that will take 3 1/2 hours to hike to. Not helping matters, Hughes said the hoist normally used on a Life Flight helicopter is broken.
Crews were considering snowmobiling to the injured skier. The skier is reportedly conscious but not alert, Hughes said.
More information will be posted as it becomes available.
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http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=15503524
Quote:
LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON — Rescue crews have found two back country skiers caught in an avalanche Wednesday afternoon.
The two women, both in the mid-20's, were in a group of 13 people who hiked about three miles into the back country in the White Pines area, approximately seven miles up Little Cottonwood Canyon.
About 2 p.m. the two women got caught in the avalanche, one of which was carried about 1,000 feet in the slide and, according to Lt. Jake Peterson of Unified Police, went over a few 30-to-40-foot drops.
Someone in the party called 911 after the accident.
The woman suffered a broken elbow and a fractured rib. Crews took precautions for a possible spinal injury as well and have since flown her out of the area.
Lt. Peterson says she is in stable condition.
The second woman, also in her mid-20's has a minor injury to her knee and crews are dealing with "rapidly-changing weather conditions" before they are able to get her out as well.
More information will be posted as it becomes available.
13 people? 2pm?
Alright, which one of you WBR guys is this with the DPS's...
http://www.ksl.com/emedia/slc/2491/2...r=ksl/pgallery
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skied the greely side of alta today - heavy rollerball snow - great day - sad about the skiers caught in the avi - hope all goes well
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Gnarwhale
I think that's a PC patroller, kiwi, can't remember his name. He's friends with Supu.
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From the bit on the news it sounds like conflicting reports. Avy or a slip on ice?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
TeleThor
From the bit on the news it sounds like conflicting reports. Avy or a slip on ice?
Slip on ice. Party of 2.
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regarding the pfeif: 2 girls, both fell from above the choke, both slid and fell over the 20-30 ft cliff (usually 50') in the apron. there will be a full report on UAC soon. positive vibes and prayers needed for the first victim. that was the scariest shit i have ever witnessed and probably the scariest thing I have ever skied, props to S&R, Utah Mountain Adventures and everyone else involved in the rescue.
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^^^^ specially mags APD & Sfotex hope to never need your assistance, but you guys:yourock:
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Re: Pfeiff accident. Turns out the second of the two over the cliff was a friend of mine, texted her this morning, she is doing well, having some knee surgery today, otherwise seemed ok. The first over the cliff has a compound wrist fracture and concussion. All in all, could have been much worse. Vibes to both of them.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
BRUTAH
regarding the pfeif: 2 girls, both fell from above the choke, both slid and fell over the 20-30 ft cliff (usually 50') in the apron. there will be a full report on UAC soon. positive vibes and prayers needed for the first victim. that was the scariest shit i have ever witnessed and probably the scariest thing I have ever skied, props to S&R, Utah Mountain Adventures and everyone else involved in the rescue.
Fell down the NW couly, then over the cliff in the apron?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Trackhead
Fell down the NW couly, then over the cliff in the apron?
Yup, full write up here:
http://utahavalanchecenter.org/obser...erhorn_5112011
And the first victim broke her smith variant brim on impact, I would say she would probably be dead if she hadn't been wearing a helmet.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Trackhead
Fell down the NW couly, then over the cliff in the apron?
yea it was brutal to watch to say the least. the helmet was pretty banged up. probably hit her dome through the choke as it looked like she fell head first through it and looked knocked out as she tumbled down the apron. and one of her skis had some nice rocker added to it from the fall as well. it was ice from about 200-300 feet above the choke all the way to the cliff in the apron, with some soft snow that still hadn't slid on the sides. the second victim was a real trooper, totally disregarding her knee injury to help her friend. glad to hear both are doing well and recovering.
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I used to fly medical heli stuff, and this is why I quit.
Fuck that, flying in those conditions is nutty. Props to those who have the balls to continue doing it, but sometimes the risk to the patient and the crew hardly seem worth it.
http://utahavalanchecenter.org/files...511_162718.jpg
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Trackhead
I used to fly medical heli stuff, and this is why I quit.
Fuck that, flying in those conditions is nutty. Props to those who have the balls to continue doing it, but sometimes the risk to the patient and the crew hardly seem worth it.
http://utahavalanchecenter.org/files...511_162718.jpg
That shot was the last trip before we shut it down, we had pretty good vis (LZ was above clouds) and no wind up until that point. Other then the flat light, the pilot was pretty ok with everything.
