Wasatch Conditions 10-11

[tyfalk]

Relatively quite out there today for such a nice bluebird morning. Upper N, NE aspects had a variety of wind crusts. There was a good amount of snow moving around on the upper ridges. Some good windboard to be had. Best snow still on the mid elevation slopes.



The Gnarwhale

[icelanticskier]

As you know, we in the Wasatch hate booting, it's undignified and ungraceful.

you guys and gals do do some pretty silly skinnin out there i must say. out here we skin till it gets 32-35 degrees or so, then we boot. preserves the clean canvas much better than a big ole zig zag. much shorter distance travelled too.

tho our snow make up is a bit different here.

rog

[homemadesalsa]

I've been up Sup countless times over the years, and typically always stay on the ridge in that area. If you read my report, you would have read that we decided to go back to the ridge, but turned around a little too late, obviously. The normal route in a preseason snowpack is where we went, but cuts back to the base of the ridge where it first gets steep, then typically boots up that section when it's rocky, or does the "sketchy skin" as it's always wind blown through there.

As you know, we in the Wasatch hate booting, it's undignified and ungraceful. So we often get lured into skinning even when it might be faster or safer to boot up a short section. This being a preseason snowpack, not a mid-winter snowpack, we were staying on snow, which up to that point, had no avy danger. This was an isolated wind pocket, we were delayed in our decision to turn around by 15ft, literally. Had the first person in the group turned around sooner, when we first discussed it, I wouldn't be typing this.

The question is always, what lead the party of skiers to make the decisions they made? That's the million dollar question, and with the complex human mind, there are always a million variables every second that lead to either being smart, or being stupid.

We made a mistake, and got lucky with the payment for that mistake. Up to that day, I've had a pretty reasonable safety record. In part due to luck, but I'd like to think for the most part, due to good judgment.

This is fatalistic, but anyone who skis enough in avy terrain, will at one time or another find themselves involved in an avalanche event. Hopefully the event will not end in injury or fatality.

Hey Trackhead- Would love to have some of your thoughts/ observations on this topic for the April issue of The Avalanche Review, which is all about human factor and decision-making, more specifically mistakes by experienced travelers. Let me know if you might be interested, ok?
thanks
Lynne
homemadesalsa

[Trackhead]

Hey Trackhead- Would love to have some of your thoughts/ observations on this topic for the April issue of The Avalanche Review, which is all about human factor and decision-making, more specifically mistakes by experienced travelers. Let me know if you might be interested, ok?
thanks
Lynne
homemadesalsa

Sure, just send me a PM and I'll give you my email address.

[shera]

Trackhead, thank you for the report. Very useful for me.

There are umpteen threads for the Wasatch, so I guess I'll just post in this one. Today and tomorrow I'm in training at Snowbird, but I'd like to get out with some maggots sooner rather than later.

Who walks slow and skis fast and knows LCC and will ski with me?

ps - I'm still just giddy here skiing at Alta. It's like Arapahoe Basin on its very best snow days. Jamming wind cream down west rustler makes me happy. And I can't believe I was skiing untracked turns yesterday from the nipple to the ballroom. Where is everyone?

[icelanticskier]

I can't believe I was skiing untracked turns yesterday from the nipple to the ballroom. Where is everyone?

with such a solid start to the season, folks are satiated more now than many early decembers.

locals are prob already a bit spoiled and will hold out for storms for lift served.

better for you tho. a couple inches of new, favorable wind transport and closing in on the 80 inch base benchmark will give you all of the perfect surfaces that you are finding and desire.

plus, it is pre-x-mas which helps.

if the big snows continue for the next couple/few months, i'm thinkin april may be the best time to enjoy a very quiet wasatch. most folks will have had enough by then and will be climbing, biking.........

especially once alta's lifts shut down and the place re-opens

late april can just fucking rule out there..........so long as it snows which it usually does......

rog

[The Gnarwhale]

out here we skin till it gets 32-35 degrees or so, then we boot. preserves the clean canvas much better than a big ole zig zag.
rog

If you have a small canvas, do what'cha gotta do.

Out here, "booting" often looks a lot more like "wallowing." Perhaps booting would have kept TH's party out of trouble last week, but there's piles of stories of snowmobilers triggering big hard slabs on well-tracked up slopes when they jump off to drag around a stuck sled. Boots penetrate deeper than skis or sleds and that can have it's own hazards.

Ty summed up yesterday pretty well above. Here's another pic.


Also, while it's technically possible to ski out low, it's not recommended. I would call it bottomless mank, except that there is a bottom and it's not all that far down. Who was the beater who wanted to try that again?

[Alx88]

^^ Looks like a good ole time to me, nothin like finishing a good trek with a good down-slog.

[icelanticskier]

If you have a small canvas, do what'cha gotta do.

Out here, "booting" often looks a lot more like "wallowing." Perhaps booting would have kept TH's party out of trouble last week, but there's piles of stories of snowmobilers triggering big hard slabs on well-tracked up slopes when they jump off to drag around a stuck sled. Boots penetrate deeper than skis or sleds and that can have it's own hazards.

as i stated above, our snowpack is a bit different out here. more consolidated, shallower surface snows=not much wallowing.

and actually our canvases are quite large and a bunch less crowded than much of the wasatch all winter. most wouldn't believe it and we like it that way.

i totally agree with the boot penetration hazard.

rog

[JTrue]

Got into upper White Pine today, planned on skiing a NW shot under Red Baldy. Dug a pit and was getting inconsistent results, some CT-3, some CT-7 all Q2 failing about a foot down. Decided to forgo getting up high. Wind from the SW was blowing all day loading up slopes. Continued over the the ridgeline, skied a lower angle N shot under the West Twin(springsproject and non-mag friend couldn't isolate a column, popped right out), continued up to the Gad Valley ridge and skied a short W facing shot, suncrusted but still fun. Skinned back up and dropped into Scotties to the car, upper bowl still held great snow. Lower scrub oak was a bitch as Gnarwhale pointed out above, good for getting the early season legs in shape.

[shera]

I hear you, that all makes sense. I'm not even thinking about April right now, but I know I'll be skiing somewhere.

Looks like I got a solid partner that I did plenty of days with back in Colorado - love this place.

with such a solid start to the season, folks are satiated more now than many early decembers.

locals are prob already a bit spoiled and will hold out for storms for lift served.

better for you tho. a couple inches of new, favorable wind transport and closing in on the 80 inch base benchmark will give you all of the perfect surfaces that you are finding and desire.

plus, it is pre-x-mas which helps.

if the big snows continue for the next couple/few months, i'm thinkin april may be the best time to enjoy a very quiet wasatch. most folks will have had enough by then and will be climbing, biking.........

especially once alta's lifts shut down and the place re-opens

late april can just fucking rule out there..........so long as it snows which it usually does......

rog

[Christopher3000]

Wow, that is so sick that you ski in New Hampshire. Instead of spending so much time compiling proof that you enjoy the outdoors in New England and posting it in a thread about skiing in Utah, you should try fucking yourself.

[gofuckyourself]

hey retard... no one cares that you ski in nh, or that you even ski in general. if your shit's so sick, maybe you should consider keeping it to yourself so it doesn't get crowded . there's an EC roll call thread, keep your garbage in there and quit cunting this thread up with shit that is completely useless. we seriously don't give a fuck. every one of your posts comes off as some holier than thou bullshit, and yet everyone can tell you're just trying to compensate since you obviously (and I'm being completely serious here) miss skiing in the wasatch. fucking give it up man, it's pathetic.

[gofuckyourself]

oh and while i'm at it... thanks for posting 6 awesome pictures man, the same thing you just posted in the ec roll call, and that you've probably posted 6 other times in 6 other places. if we wanted that shit we'd go there, notice how this has wasatch in the title?

[Alx88]

dude's concise, damn

[JTrue]

Notice the Alpinezone watermarks, rad.

[icelanticskier]

pardon me for sharing a few pics. meant no harm.

looks like a few of you could use some new snow........or some action^^^^

thanx for the wasatch stoke, getting me stoked to come back for a visit.

rog

[Trackhead]

Not really on topic, but I just picked up a 1988 Samurai that will have Tatou tracks on it for next winter..........0.8psi ground pressure. Obviously not as capable as a big diesel cat, but it will work for 95% of the forest access roads. From videos, these little vehicles with Tatous go through 2ft of snow quite easily, so any snowmobile road should be fine. Considering putting a 1.8l VW diesel in it at some point.

Heated cab, nice radio, no two stroke exhaust, 4-6 passenger.......

Nebo, Skyline, Strawberry Peak, Farmington, Logan Canyon, Double Top Peak, Naomi Peak, Cherry Peak, La Sals..........


Samurai with Mattracks (smaller foot print than the Tatou's). Bonus mullet redneck music.
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhu2PiRvwjs&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - Tracker des neiges 2[/nomedia]

Perhaps with an extra $40,000+........
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTDNLUzjkpg&feature=related"]YouTube - KEN BLOCK'S TRAX STI CAR[/nomedia]

[criscam]

^^^awesome!

[Dantheman]

Hell yeah, a worthy successor to your old snowcat.

[Trackhead]

Hell yeah, a worthy successor to your old snowcat.

Yup, and a good vehicle to carry around the future kid my wife is brewing in her uterus.

We'll drag you, Liz, and your youngster out for his first bc tour.

[birdman829]

hey retard... no one cares that you ski in nh, or that you even ski in general. if your shit's so sick, maybe you should consider keeping it to yourself so it doesn't get crowded . there's an EC roll call thread, keep your garbage in there and quit cunting this thread up with shit that is completely useless. we seriously don't give a fuck. every one of your posts comes off as some holier than thou bullshit, and yet everyone can tell you're just trying to compensate since you obviously (and I'm being completely serious here) miss skiing in the wasatch. fucking give it up man, it's pathetic.

oh and while i'm at it... thanks for posting 6 awesome pictures man, the same thing you just posted in the ec roll call, and that you've probably posted 6 other times in 6 other places. if we wanted that shit we'd go there, notice how this has wasatch in the title?

Wow, that is so sick that you ski in New Hampshire. Instead of spending so much time compiling proof that you enjoy the outdoors in New England and posting it in a thread about skiing in Utah, you should try fucking yourself.

I think spending so much time around all those fucking mormons is giving you guys some kind of anger complex. If you read more of his posts, you'd likely realize that Rog here is pretty cool shit and was not trying to cunt up your Wasatch thread with his EC pics. If you can't appreciate the beauty and serenity of those shots of big old school NE lines (skiing in this country started here after all) then perhaps YOU should try fucking yourself.

BTW there are actually very few pics in this thread and almost no TRs on the board at all. It seems everyone has to post their shit only on their personal uber cool blog or some shit so I say the more stoke the better.

Notice the Alpinezone watermarks, rad.

While AlpineZone runs a lame and tame forum, they do allow for a lot of pic hosting, which is pretty rad. Besides, this place isn't so cool anymore either (see TeleHoar's ttips thread)

[JoshP]

Yup, and a good vehicle to carry around the future kid my wife is brewing in her uterus.

We'll drag you, Liz, and your youngster out for his first bc tour.

No way bro. That is rad news (both on the wicked cool Samurai Cat and the family upgrade). FKNA dude, I am stoked for you guys.

[Trackhead]

Trolls, angry fucks, losers, dickwads, douchebags.

Take your bullshit somewhere else, there's plenty of space for it outside of this thread.

[zion zig zag]

No way bro. That is rad news (both on the wicked cool Samurai Cat and the family upgrade). FKNA dude, I am stoked for you guys.

Whoa, seconded. Congrats dude!