Wasatch Conditions 09-10

[Mark H]

With such a stellar day on tap in the Cottonwoods, we didn't want to contribute to the parking problem So it was off to another 'urban' line.


Didn't know white carrots existed but my buddy enlightened me.


Rush hour is happening down there. No rush up here.


Zach Clanton. Oh how snowboarders love halfpipes


Weed!!


CT @ 8k northwest found some easy shears about 1' down but deeper layers behaved well.

[skifishbum]

^^^^^
thated be a good place for a hippy hut
Yesterday aside from Officer T of the unified sumthin giving somerunning late slacker skibum a ticket 4 speeding and the evil Mr. Sun baking the pow to soon leading to a manky 420 exit
stellerness

[Mark H]

A rather impressive crown on Monte Cristo and a rather impressive snowboard track down the north face of Superior (not exactly wasatch wiggles)


In Days I heard someone cry out "Oh my God he's lapping us!". I see this red blurr switch from ski to climb mode in about the time it takes me to down a GU packet. Then the thing took off running uphill. One of the blurr's partners confirmed to me that it was in fact Mr. McLean.


To top it off I see 4 chicks following him up the ridge. Maybe he should change his screen name from StraightChuter to Big Pimpin'! Haha. Just kidding man I know you're married.

[Trackhead]

With such a stellar day on tap in the Cottonwoods, we didn't want to contribute to the parking problem So it was off to another 'urban' line.

Did you guys ski the "Urban Days Fork" to the west too? Fun urban hanging bowl to lay tracks in, then admire the boulevard.

[ectreeskier11]

set out bright and early to get coalpit headwall with whapworth and telethor. i won't name names but two of the three in our party decided they couldn't make it past the y for various reasons, and i wasn't one of them . the top couple hundred vert skied VERY well, super consolidated creamy pow, while the rest was variable with some very nice skiing and some not so nice. there's a nice booter up it, and it seemed very stable with only some minor sluffing occurring, though there was a ton of sugar underneath. watch out for chunks coming down on top of you, i got beaned in the head by a little one and ducked a larger one at the last second! might post some pov after i take a look at it if it looks decent. all in all a good day, fun to get away from the masses (kind of).

[TeleThor]

set out bright and early to get coalpit headwall with whapworth and telethor. i won't name names but two of the three in our party decided they couldn't make it past the y for various reasons, and i wasn't one of them .

True... whap looked like he was about to pass out and I seriously thought he was coughing up blood at one point. Me? I have to get these new boots dialed. Fun morning though.

Nate:

[ectreeskier11]

yeah wills somehow managed to get sick at the top of the y after crushing the booter. i mean he was trucking. if i'd known you were taking pictures i would've leaned em over a little more!

[brutah]

was up in this area today........




didn't get the objective, but still found nice snow on shaded NE aspects:

[StraightChuter]

To top it off I see 4 chicks following him up the ridge. Maybe he should change his screen name from StraightChuter to Big Pimpin'! Haha. Just kidding man I know you're married.

No apologies required - since this is Utah, all four of them are my wives and the other one is at home watching the kids.

That was a fun day - it was good seeing you out there.

[Mark H]

Did you guys ski the "Urban Days Fork" to the west too? Fun urban hanging bowl to lay tracks in, then admire the boulevard.

Unfortunately no. Anything with a hint of west got totally jacked by the wind.



So I was all ready for Lisa Falls yesterday morning then my buddy bails out at 4:30 a.m.... Nice.

Instead I find myself wandering up Mill B, feeling sorry for myself about not doing Lisa Falls. Then I see this inspiring sight: Here is this guy just happy as a clown to be postholing in shorts and tennis shoes all the way to Lake Blanche. Almost as inspiring as that guy who rode the tow rope at Alta


High winds and dust layer combined to make upper Mill B look like a bunch of piss stains

[ectreeskier11]

hahah we saw the rando crowd coming out of lisa falls yesterday. hope i don't offend anyone on this board by saying that they are a ridiculous looking bunch, dynafit tights and all. i'm sure they'd smoke me on the up (at least i'd hope...) but man, i don't know how much fun it'd be coming down on those little sticks.

[tyfalk]

So did that 15'' of snow in upper LCC get manky today? Will high north be good tomorrow?

[skifishbum]

Sun was out a bit
Skied a lap off backside Claytons pretty variable
10410 down to blood lake $$$ in sheltered trees
10420 down to guard road good high but got manky quick
Skinned back up cheesewhiz or sumthing to other side of hidden canyon ~ 9k
snow had set up and every steep slope cut slid ran full track on bed surface
I'd be hittin it early and watching exposed exits

[The Gnarwhale]

yo-yo's on N facing were fun


Lots of small soft slabs moved throughout the day, though all the pockets we encountered were so soft they didnt present much hazard


South and west were still skiing well at 5pm when the clouds cleared, but the snow was already changing to wet glop minutes after taking this picture.

[Mark H]

^^^^nice^^^

Indeed it was a day not to be missed.


Thanks to my buddy Alecs Barton for these pics




!!!

[ectreeskier11]

today rocked.

[Dantheman]

Instead I find myself wandering up Mill B, feeling sorry for myself about not doing Lisa Falls. Then I see this inspiring sight: Here is this guy just happy as a clown to be postholing in shorts and tennis shoes all the way to Lake Blanche.

So just how many grams of shrooms had he eaten?

Lots of small soft slabs moved throughout the day, though all the pockets we encountered were so soft they didnt present much hazard

Great shot!

[The Gnarwhale]

^thanks, just good luck on the timing

We started at headlamp-o'clock to beat the sun


Small to medium sized soft slabs were easy to trigger and were faster running than yesterday.

No apologies required - since this is Utah, all four of them are my wives and the other one is at home watching the kids.

In that case, why not buy some numbered jerseys to help keep track of who's who and then organize 'em into a trailbreaking team? "Well ladies, I plan on starting about six, so if y'all could just have the skinner in..."

[brutah]

skied the y today.

good snow found in the top 1/3. the rest, well the rest was interesting. skiing on that dust layer isn't fun.

on a more technical note:

what nighttime low air temperature do you consider low enough to create a good refreeze?

do you consider the difference between daytime high and nighttime low?

Is there a certain nighttime low air temperature that is too high and makes the risk of wet slides to high in your opinion to ski the next day?

any thoughts or observations would be great, thanks

[pointedem]

^
cloudy vs clear has a significant impact... aka radiational cooling

http://www.hko.gov.hk/education/edu0...adcoolinge.htm

[Trackhead]

Nice "look back".

[Trackhead]

South and east aspects had supportable crust/pseudo corn at 9am. Skinning is still the preferred method of ascent due to deep booting and lack of any consolidation below the surface.

Tis the season for no probe, shovel, beacon. Leave the food and water at home too, just go light.

[steeplechamp]

Some shots of the last couple days.

[ame="http://www.vimeo.com/10970663"]April Powder on Vimeo[/ame]

[Mark H]

hahah we saw the rando crowd coming out of lisa falls yesterday. hope i don't offend anyone on this board by saying that they are a ridiculous looking bunch, dynafit tights and all. i'm sure they'd smoke me on the up (at least i'd hope...) but man, i don't know how much fun it'd be coming down on those little sticks.

That rando crowd was the SLC Samurai and his fellow warriors. http://slc-samurai.blogspot.com/2010...isa-falls.html. After reading his TR I don't feel quite so bad about doing Lisa Falls........


No season in the Wasatch is complete without a trip to good old Coalpit right?

Not a fan of the standard approaches to Coalpit so......right up the gut!


Forrest Shearer joined us


Forrest had his eye on this line....


but the headwall was beckoning


The crew (left to right). Forrest, myself, Zach, and Alecs taking the pic.


Conditions allowed us to skin the whole ridge



Always a pleasure to see the east face of Lone.


So close to the city, yet so far...


Me looking for the crappiest way down.


Forrest "so good, people pay him to do this" Shearer launches in.




Forrest's run as seen from the bottom.


Zach had fun


but wait there's more!


the chute on the left side of the waterfall is filled in so we bypassed the rope


lower gully was slop when we got to it around noon


Thanks to Alecs and his Canon 7D for many of these pics

[ectreeskier11]

sick! 123