History Lesson
Figured I'd post this here too as it's a general history of the area.
I wondered when this suggestion would be brought up (taking the gate down lower on the mountain). It's not a bad one per say, but there are ramifications to a lower gate which you'll see below in the photo.
Time for a litte history lesson:
That bowl was used by backcountry skiers and heli-skiers "back in the day" I ran accross a photo in an issue of Powder Mag from 89 or so of that bowl with one track in it. It's a beautiful photo. There was even an avalanche death there years before The Canyons even existed. That's why on the signs it says people have died in this area.
In 1998-99 season The Canyons put in a lift to about 250 feet shy of the summit of peak 9990. Prior to this lift being put in you could hike from the lower lifts to the top of 9990 and then over to Dutches but it took about an hour or two of boot packing (before I knew about skins) and so I only did it 4-5 times. I never once saw a track in Dutches and when I was back there and it looked like this:

and this: (although I knew people skied it I never saw a track)
After the lift was put in you couldn't get off the lift and turn to the south or left like you can now. You could hike up to the top of the peak 9990 as you do now, but there was no gate up there and ducking of that rope was virtually non existant except the few that had skins and bc knowledge and most all of those people were skiing the backside of this peak as it descends to Desolation Lake and into Beartrap Fork. In order to reach the saddle between 9990 and Dutches on the ridgeline one had to ski down and uder the 9990 lift cutting to the south/skiers right and then follow the ropeline until it ended where you'd traverse into the bowl adjacent to 9990 (which is the green line in the image below) The boot pack started up which was where the red line is below:
There were a fair amount of people who bootpacked, mostly because it was so short of a hike and frankly it was faster than skinning. A lot of the people only had alpine gear as well - and no bc equipment. The resort constantly pulled passes of those cutting the ropes far above the common "gate" and the traverse, which by doing so punished those cutting the rope who were endangering themselves and those below who were in a slide path. The next year they extended the rope down about another 150 feet so you'd have to hike further back up to reach the saddle and then the ridge to Dutches.
Furthermore, when 9990 was tracked up EVERYONE would just ski down the ropeline. After 2 1/2 seasons of this in the winter of 00-01 the resort changed the gate to the top of the peak, in mid season. I was up there when we skied down to the old lower gate and it was gone, replaced by a long rope which went another 500 feet down. The patroller said - it's closed and will be moving to the top. I was with the first group to hike the peak and exit the new gate. Placement of the gate was a catch 22 for patrol and the resort who wanted to keep an open gate policy but wanted to minimize the results of said gate. Plus the patrol was sick of being a rope-police-patrol.
The second year that 9990 was open (1999-2000 season - I think) a couple died on SquareTop, right in the middle while skiing it during a major storm. Patrol had even mentioned to them as they started the hike that it was dangerous out. Nobody I knew was in the BC that day. Here's a pic of Square Top taken last year.
The next year, 2000-2001 season a woman died when after entering a slope, skiers left off of the Sqare Top photo, while following her husband she lost a ski and he daughter, son-in-law, and nephew all dropped onto the slope to help her with her ski the slope cut loose burying the women and son-in-law completely. Somehow, some snowboarders nearby hear the son-in-law screaming as he was under the snow and dug him out. I spoke with him about an hour later and it was chilling. I had dug a pit on a similar slope about 500 yards away earlier that morning and said to myself and my party, "I wouldn't drop this slope today for a million bucks". I heard the screams of the family after the slide but a cloud had descended between me and the family and I couldn't tell where it was coming from.
While these accidents were on slopes North of 9990, the immediate slope to the South has been commonly labeled as "safe" and "a lesser tracked "run" of The Canyons". As this stuff get's tracked up people are "forced" farther down the ridge for untracked. To the North and South there seems to be an imaginary line of "safety" where few travel beyond. The mother-in-law death seemed to put a line to the North. I think this slide will bring the imaginary line to the South even closer than it was (Big Mac was the general line to the south)
Fast forward to last week. Of the thousands that have gone out of that gate on top of 9990 there have been 2 slides with fatalities since the gate went to the summit. There have been a lot of close calls and a lot of the people skiing/riding The Canyons today have lost thier respect for the adjacent slopes, until now. I've heard many neighbors and friends tell me they're never going out there again and then tell me about last week, or last month, or whenever they were out there last with loved ones and weren't using gear or precaution. It's a different place for sure, but for how long?
"In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, — no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair." -Emerson
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