Wasatch 08-09 Conditions

[Trackhead]

Plushest snow in recent memory today. 10/10 even on a powder snob's rating scale. Can't believe the winds are supposed to ruin it tonight.

Wow Gramps, I didn't know a 10/10 existed in your mind.

That's saying sumpin.

[basinbum]

went out snowmobilin out by woodland (near wolf creek summit if you wish to see the area) today, stable for the most part EXCEPT friend ended up climbing straight through a windslab, slid about 6" to 2' deep about 60 yards wide and ran about 80 yards luckily he didnt get caught.

[skifishbum]

Yo Rustyhooters just giving ya a little Shit makin sure you got tough skin. Also seemed to me you didn't read the thread you're just here to try and draw traffic to your blog, but whatever It's the interwebz do what ya want. I'll bump the wasatch tramdeck obs and other ramblins for ya so you don't need to search
No hate on DV My 1st wasatch skibum gig was tending bar a Steins. I used to do powder mornings in a Descente one peice with my uniform underneath so I could milk out an extra lap before opening the service bar
I do also read a certain cantakerous stoner skibums blog damn good obs
and pics.
Some how dawnpatrol got delayed till 9 this morn headedup a well travelled Argenta Damn cold. Trackheads lurker buddies, a crew of splitters, and some go light uber vertrackers had the headwall and main slide path pretty well skied, headed over to the western ridge to soak up some sun as the winds picked up.
Skicuts on ridge produced slow running sluffs and 1' fractures. Good skiing
on N & W aspects to ~ 8500 below that tighter trees were dust on crust
as fri/sat wet snow clung to trees.
A few avvy observation pics
Mineral

diving board/bonkers broads

and a few dark out of focus shots from my new camera



mounted stickered and rode a new pair of carbon Lhasa I got from Conundrum
sweet skis a little softer flex than my others. I hear you can demo these and other fine skis some with touring clamps and skins HERE

[Xover]

sfb,

you're altabonics are approaching graduation level

thanx for the obs and pix; those 2 of naturals during the storm cycle in both Mineral and Broads are f'ing scary big

my old, lazy ass didn't ski yesterday (Monday) 'cause I was tired and holding out for this a.m., but then when I checked temps very, very early this morning I said F that. guess i'm getting to picky like young gramps; only with me it is sub zero temps and him if the shit ain't hitting him in the face he can't smile (he needs to learn to ski faster and turn harder )

oh well, alot of winter left and i will contribute more than tramdeck obs very soon.

other than that, things in bounds and in selected places o.b. should be buffalicious tomorrow p.m.

git sum

[Trackhead]

The Superior Shit Show. The last turns of many.

[marauders]

Tuesday, skied E and NE in Days Fork. Phenomenal powder! Surface sluffing noted throughout the area, no deeper instabilities. South exit on Flagstaff was great as well, just starting to get sunbaked and heavy around 3pm. These high traffic areas lived up to their reputation, lots of people out. I met a group from Montana who were overcome with powder euphoria...Welcome to the Wasatch.

[SkiBumOfVT]

wondering if anyone can give me some info on how superior is looking?

[sfotex]

I found thigh deep blower, white room conditions on the upper flanks of Argenta. The open area were wind hammered but the trees were money. Surface sluffing was noted but no deep instabilties were found.

[UtahOutside]

fishbum,

It's all good. I only ski DV when I can go for free and I actually quite like it there on Pow days. Trees off new Lady Morgan lift are killer, daly chutes steep and fun. And no dissing the turkey chili. That shit is awesome!

btw, I only post a link to my blog when it's relevant to the spirit of the thread. There are tons of posts that I don't put links for on here. . . besides, what's the point of wasting time on a blog if no one knows about it? When I post here, my page views triple. . .

And Trackhead, this photo is AMAZING!

back to the bc tr's. . .

[YoungManofTheMountain]

Thinking about doing a one nighter in the Wasatch with a few friends at some point this season. Just wondering if anyone had any good ideas on a route that would be good for a two day tour with one night of camping. Nothing insane.

Been reading about White Pine to Bells tour that sounds pretty interesting and big (although possibly insane), would involve shuttling a car though. 5,000'+ is pretty tough to beat, anyone done it?

[sfotex]

Thinking about doing a one nighter in the Wasatch with a few friends at some point this season. Just wondering if anyone had any good ideas on a route that would be good for a two day tour with one night of camping. Nothing insane.

Been reading about White Pine to Bells tour that sounds pretty interesting and big (although possibly insane), would involve shuttling a car though. 5,000'+ is pretty tough to beat, anyone done it?

Lone Peak....

[YoungManofTheMountain]

Thanks for the info guys, its appreciated. I'm going to try and get out there at some point, we'll see what happens. Lone peak, Pheiff....going to look into it.

BTW, toured in the Summit Park area today and found some great snow up there. If anyone lives nearby its worth checking out for a quick lap or two.

[Solesides]

Maurauders: powder euphoria, indeed! Where/when did we run into you? I was sliding around with those guys from MT..Tuesday shocked our brains

[SkiBumOfVT]

Skied Superior today, found very wet snow around 11:15. Got up late due to a flat tire from hitting a deer. Took us a while to summit because of my poor conditioning. Once we got up there temperatures were rising fast so we got down as quick as possible after we took a couple pictures:

both of my roommates at the top of superior



Dylan finding the conditions to be wet



Myself following and getting down fast


Overall great day to be in the mountains

[BigJay]

both of my roommates at the top of superior

Cool that you skied sup. But two dudes with pants at their ankles??

[YoungManofTheMountain]

Went back to the upper Summit Park snowfields today for a quick lap before work. When I got up on the ridge and started traversing across to the peak, I came across a crazy torn up coyote carcass. The head was still intact, but that was about it.

Right after I stumbled upon the carnage, a dog from a party behind me came out of nowhere and scared the shit out of me. I really thought it was on for a split second there.

This is my fourth witner in UT and I have yet to see any shit like this in either the Summer or Winter.

Mountain Lion? Bob Cat? Lynx? Other Coyotes? Whats up with the local predatory fauna in these parts? Any thoughts? I'll get some pics up of the kill tomorrow if I can get around to it.

[sfotex]

Went up Argenta today. Dug a nice deep pit looking for the ice layer.

Yup, still there (8 feet down...)




Starting to heal up, but it's there..It was failing CT15 with a Q3 shear below the ice layer on facets.

What a nice day in the Wasatch..


Oh, and the snow was excellent. Nice thigh deep fluff..

[mph]

Went up into Neff's Canyon. The snow was awesome. However, one needs to use a snow saw a time or two to cut the scrub oak However, your effort getting into the canyon is well rewarded with some unbelieveable terrain. I did not see any tracks anywhere. Skied all aspects exempt direcly south. Sun crust...

[SkiBumOfVT]

Cool that you skied sup. But two dudes with pants at their ankles??

Well I'm not really sure, I guess they were really stoked and thought it would be a funny picture

[UtahOutside]

Went back to the upper Summit Park snowfields today for a quick lap before work. When I got up on the ridge and started traversing across to the peak, I came across a crazy torn up coyote carcass. The head was still intact, but that was about it.

This is my fourth witner in UT and I have yet to see any shit like this in either the Summer or Winter.

Mountain Lion? Bob Cat? Lynx? Other Coyotes? Whats up with the local predatory fauna in these parts? Any thoughts? I'll get some pics up of the kill tomorrow if I can get around to it.

I stumbled across this right in the skin track in Butler Fork.



There seems to be something out there. This one I suspect was killed by a bobcat or some other predator, but then was scavenged by coyotes because after going further up the trail, we could hear coyotes yipping down below about where the carcass was.

They need to be taught some manners about leaving their lunch on the skin track. It's pretty rude. . .

[powder_prophet]

This one I suspect was killed by a bobcat or some other predator

A yote killed by a bobcat? Doubtful. It was probably a Lion that was super hungry from the winter and decided to eat some smaller pray.

[criscam]

Decided to avoid the crowds yesterday and headed up north with zzz.
Saw a lot of this:



Did a lot of this:



Ended up with a lot of this:



Ollie gettin in on the action:



Kevin in his happy place:



The word of the day was "Silky". Super fun, smooth turns on most aspects below 8k.

[pappag]

Has anyone been up to Ben Lohman recently?

[zion zig zag]

Has anyone been up to Ben Lohman recently?

The pics above your post are from there yesterday. The mid elevation north and east facing slopes are super hero silk/recycled pow. Above about 8000 ft the snow is pretty wind affected, although good snow can be found in sheltered trees and gullies.

Quite a few stiff wind slabs at the ridges with some evidence of naturals that look to be a few days old. I think the slabs are pretty well welded in place right now. Make your own conclusions of course.

[pappag]

The pics above your post are from there yesterday. The mid elevation north and east facing slopes are super hero silk/recycled pow. Above about 8000 ft the snow is pretty wind affected, although good snow can be found in sheltered trees and gullies.

Would it still be worth going to there tomorrow? Trying to decide between there or venturing into BCC.