Stories to tell.

**meatdrink9** · 02-21-2006, 09:01 PM

This year most certainly has not sucked and I feel like I've been a little shy with telling stories from some of the days skiing so I figured I'd recount some tales from the past few weeks in this thread. I'll follow up with pics as I get them.

Skiing from the summit of Mount Ogden

I finally got my first chance to ski the summit of Mt. Ogden. Over the holiday weekend patrol was awesome about having every gate open and fortunately the avy danger was low. A group of 5 of us headed to Mt Ogden chute to get some of the surely deep snow that filled in the area. MOE made his tracks down the chute that day as did freshie247 with two non mags as well. All of them skied it like it wasn't a big deal. The snow was pretty tough to beat.

When we got to the area it looked amazing, but you could also see where people had thought they were skiing on snow and accidentally ventured onto sloped cliffs. Technically I guess the entire run is really just a cliff face, but it fills in nicely and actually becomes a decent run. When we got to the saddle for Mt Ogden chute I thought I could see a really good line coming from the top of Mt Ogden. With the avy danger low I decided to go for it. I left the others in the saddle of the main chute and headed up the ridge. The towers and building ontop of the summit are in desperate need of an urban jib session. One of the most scenic areas I've been. You actually end up traversing across the roof of the building. There is a catwalk and also a small staircase and railing. Obviously the view of the valley and the Great Salt Lake doesn't suck either.

I clicked in on the roof of the building and skied two turns down the ridge to the south eaat that put me in a saddle that faces back north. From there I'd ski across a snow covered face (again sloped cliff that just so happens to have snow stuck to it) to the north and find a chute that faces back north based on some trees I had spotted from the main chute entry.

The snow looked better below the lowest of the 3 trees I was spotting, but if I went below that tree to get to my line there would be nothing between me and the several hundred feet of exposure. I was nervous crossing the face. I tread as lightly as I could. Below me were monster cliffs that just can't be hucked or cleared on a tumble. I opted to go between the trees rather than below the lowest one. I just didn't dare to have nothing between me and the cliffs on a slope that steep and covered with so much fresh snow.

Once I got to the opening between the trees sure enough I hit a ridge of rocks and my skis started to slide down the hill. Not grabbing the snow, but skidding on the rocks. However, I was above the tree and I knew this was coming. I slid down to the base of the lowest tree and slowly worked my way across the snow covered rocks. From the tree I only needed to go 10 feet to get over the ridge and into my line. Obviously this scared the crap out of me, but the rocks had perfect hand holds and I was able to get across pretty smoothly. I'm sure going low of the tree would have been smoother, but had I hit rock there and not had the tree below me...I probably would've been on he radio for a rope.

Once I got into my line the snow was blower and steep. The turns were awesome. I had a lot of soft sluff running with me as well. The snow was so light and cold that I almost couldn't see at times as it billowed through the gully. A few turns later and the run was over. I want to go back and hit that area with a couple of other lines, but I'd actually like it be less of a pow day. With that much new snow there were all kinds of rocks hiding just under the surface. I also found a line that goes below the trees that looks easier than the line I took. Hopefully this spring will be good for that sort of thing. GT didn't come out that day so we don't really have any shots of the action. Freshie247 snapped a few once I got to my line. We took some photos of the area today and I'll try to draw in a track for the line. There have been many more rowdy lines go off that peak in the past than what I skied, but it was new for me and it's always fun skiing a new peak.

**meatdrink9** · 02-21-2006, 09:17 PM

Northern UT cliffs take speed

A couple of days ago I was able to slip through some rocks and with a little side stepping get above one of the cliffs on the wall between the fingers and Mt Ogden chute. There's a band through the wall that looks almost traversable. The cliffs in that bowl face north east, they never see the sun and the snow fills in off the cliffs and blows in from the other side. It seems like the perfect landing area and probably is. The only trick is that every cliff on that wall needs crazy speed to be cleared as they aren't vertical. Getting that speed from the traverse is probably impossible.

The cliff I found could be done a number of ways. In the biggest spot it's probably a 40. In the smallest it's probably a 5 footer. The cliff is big triangle with a wind spine on the ridge leading to the tip of the triangle. Above the ridge is a narrow chute that wiggles it's way up the cliffs, but isn't skiable unless you're Jesus.

The triangular shape of the cliff and the wind spine that runs along the top work as a natural divider of the snow and sluff that pours down the cliffs. This makes for a big flat hole right below the cliff, but it makes for two huge deep sloped landings just off either side. Airing to the left would be ~20 feet. Airing to the right would be ~40.

I'd planned to go to the right side. I felt confident in the choice. The landings were absolutely bottomless. However GT didn't think it would be possible to clear all of the cliff jumping that direction. You'd run into the next set of cliffs above before you'd have enough distance to get the speed needed. I thought I'd be OK seeing as how I'd overshot that othr cliff earlier this year by quite a ways. We were talking back and forth quite a bit. I hiked back up the hill as far as I could and then slid up to the end of the cliff. I was starting to think GT was right. I look down to tell him as much...I don't off a word and neither does he. He just points up the mountain. I look uphill and all I see is a big cloud of white coming very fast and I'm on the edge of a cliff. I drop to my hip, dig in my poles and edges, and hold on. I'm in a total whiteout and I feel a slight push or two, but in the end all was fine. I was covered in snow, but it was all so light that it didn't really have any force. It was just a slough, but it did get the blood pumping.

I stood up, dusted myself and told GT and MOE I wasn't going to jump the bigger right side and decided to go for the smaller left side. I got as much speed as I could and only cleared the smaller side by a few feet. GT was definitely right.

**powstash** · 02-21-2006, 09:18 PM

Nice J. Very nice. I wanted that line last year but once above those trees I couldn't see the entrance I had spotted and opted to follow Particle to the skiers left of the trees. You skied a bold line!

I still remember the first few turns from the top, looking to my skiers left seeing the sloped cliff face diving into the snow. The knowledge that I was moving onto a slope that was a slick rock face at 45 degrees or so was unnerving to say the least.

Thanks for the memory and the new challenge of that line that got away.

**meatdrink9** · 02-21-2006, 09:28 PM

The hole in the rock

While skiing the other day we found a natural "arch" in the cliffs. It looks like a boulder the size of a van tumbled down the cliffs and got stuck leaning against another rock. Between the two rocks is a triangular arch that's probably ~10 feet high. It's right on the lower knife edge of a cliff band and has a chute that runs off either side.

The moment we saw this thing we knew we needed to shoot it. Today was sort of a project day so after wrapping up a couple of other things we decided to head to the arch. The plan would be for me to boot up the south chute and then ski the north chute. It ended up being a great idea as the south side has been a little cooked by the sun and made it easy to climb. Whereas the north side was soft and deep.

Skiing either side is a mandatory straightline, but the lines are short and the snow was perfect. The sketchiest thing was the hike in. The slope was probably close to 60 degrees and if you fell you wouldn't be happy. The other tricky part is that there are a couple of spots so narrow that you can't lay your skis sideways across the hill. I was using the technique of having my pole strap on my wrist with poles dangling and then slamming my skis sideways into the hill above me and then climbing up like a ladder rung. So the narrow sections made it tricky.

I got into the arch and before long GT was skiing around the other side. The skiing wasn't anything crazy, but I thought it was pretty cool to ski through a natural arch into a straightline. Hopefully the pics will turn out cool. I've got to think that by the end of this season we might have a few firsts on some of these lines. I'm sure we've got have some for cliffs by now.

**meatdrink9** · 02-21-2006, 10:02 PM

The only cliff that doesn't slope

Today was a project day and I'd been looking at this cliff just out of bounds for awhile now. It's really nice having a home mountain and being able to check in on features from time to time and see if they're ready to go. It just makes the experience so much safer.

Well today we went and checked on a cliff that's ~60 feet and hides in the trees of a north facing slope. The cliff and area remind me a little bit of East Vail. There are plenty of good rocks to jump, but there are also trees nearby.

Our first run through we came around the base of the cliff from a chute on the skiers right side. In the chute there's some sort of cave and also something living in it. Whatever the creature is it likes to stack large piles of pretty big substantial sticks in the entry to the cave.

From this side there is a smaller version of the cliff to huck, but the landing area isn't as good. We traverse below the larger cliff and start to do some probing. Poles sank past the grip perfectly on each attempt. It was good to go. We picked out features on the cliff above as well as trajectories to take based on the locations of trees in the landing area.

Our next lap through GT headed to his spot to shoot and I went above the cliffs. The snow was super light on the cliff as well. I was nervous about going up near the edge of it, but this cliff is completely vert and you've got to go to the edge to see the trees in the landing to figure out your angle. It looked huge. Way bigger from up top than below. This would definitely be my 2nd biggest air of the season and another first time cliff. Hitting a cliff for the first time and never having seen or heard of anyone else doing it is a little nerve racking. It's alwasy easier if you've seen someone else just do it.

GT told me how much speed to take and he was spot on. It looked like a long way down, but I knew we'd done our homework and we should be good to go. I told him the mouthguard was going in (that means we're done talking and that I'll wave at him and then I'll drop in 5. At this point I'm beyond terrified and everything in your body is telling you to turn around, but another part of you has started some sort of countdown that can't be stopped. I put the mouthguard in. Zip the pocket closed. Look at the forest below and then wave. Then it's a push and headed for the edge.

The second I come off the cliff I can see my landing and know that life is good. I don't panic at all. I spot my landing and just fall. I'd planned to backseat the cliff more than I did, but it's like I got hypnotized by watching my landing. I just barely rocked back at the last second.

I hit the snow and it's perfect. I'm up not more than half a second after I hit, but I'd lost a ski on impact. GT should have some really good pics from this air as well. Hopefully I'll get them posted by the weekend.

It was really nice to get another good rock out of the way. Lately I've had this hyper awareness that there's really only 7 weeks left in the season and even less than that for big hucks. I've got this overwhelming sense of urgency to go get a bunch of projects completed before the summer comes again and you have to sit there for months thinking about how you could've and should've done more on those days where conditions made it possible to go after it. Hopefully I'll be so bruised and tired by spring that I'll be begging for summer. I'd hate to feel like I hadn't got enough before it comes.

**squirrelmurphy** · 02-21-2006, 10:37 PM

wow dude. great stuff. you had me hypnotized reading that, especially the last one.

CS · 02-21-2006, 10:42 PM

Good reading J, thanks for sharing.

It's funny you mention wanting to get some more things done. While this has been a great winter, there are a lot of things I haven't been able to do that I've wanted, both with skiing and taking pictures. Either the snow conditions don't work out, or work doesn't give me the time to accomplish the things I want to.

Mostly, I'm waiting for some bigger snows to do some bigger things. Hopefully we get some soon because it would probably weigh on me all summer if I didn't at least get a couple things done that I've had in mind. Not to mention this has been the most comfortable I've probably ever felt jumping off stuff this year. And the desire to keep pushing it a little bigger (but be safe doing so) is keeping me up at nights. And I know I keep saying it, but seriously, I'm going to make it up that way at least once this winter (I hope).

**meatdrink9** · 02-21-2006, 10:50 PM

Thanks guys.

CS, the cliff I hit today has plenty of room for more bombholes. I leave town tomorrow, but I'll be back by Saturday. I'd be happy to let you know conditions and whether or not certain features are doable or not. I'd be tempted to hit that cliff again or take the other smaller side of it as well. I'll be down to LCC at somepoint this winter too, but so far you guys haven't had the monster snows that would lure me down. When you do get those storms I'm sure most of us northern Utards will be down that way.

**The Reverend Floater** · 02-21-2006, 11:49 PM

Meatdrink <== always killin' me softly.

**Crinkle** · 02-21-2006, 11:50 PM

nice write ups. anxious to see some pics of the arch and the new rock. CS will make it up when i come out, that is the way it always works out and it never sucks.

**freshie247** · 02-22-2006, 12:18 AM

I'll see if I can post those pics tomorrow,must sleep.

**Red Baron** · 02-22-2006, 12:31 AM

Nice! FYI we have equipment on those towers and in the building up there; there's a security camera mounted on the tower pointed at the helipad that catches some funny stuff going on. We've seen people camped out on it in tents and stuff, etc...

**powstash** · 02-22-2006, 12:52 AM

Sounds like GT is your best wingman with his spot on advice.

**truth** · 02-22-2006, 01:41 AM

Originally Posted by Red Baron

Nice! FYI we have equipment on those towers and in the building up there; there's a security camera mounted on the tower pointed at the helipad that catches some funny stuff going on. We've seen people camped out on it in tents and stuff, etc...

Check the tapes for MD9. That'd be some funny ass footage.

**ninjabirdman** · 02-22-2006, 02:57 AM

yup, that is sweet. just got back from one of the best weekends of the season, and you managed to get me even more stoked. always enjoy your writing MD9.

**Powder Seeker** · 02-22-2006, 08:35 AM

Great stoke MD9! Definitely a good read!

**Twoplanker** · 02-22-2006, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by truth

Check the tapes for MD9. That'd be some funny ass footage.

**skiaholik** · 02-22-2006, 10:36 AM

Show me the $!

$ shots that is.

**Dantheman** · 02-22-2006, 10:56 AM

Good read J. Glad you got that cliff, it looked way fun when we were poking around back there. We definitely haven't gotten the typical dumpage here this season. The day of the Lynx/Astropax incident was the only day I've really been able to get after it, and even that day was only a 6 or 7 on the "Huck with Impunity" scale. It's been nice having stable BC to explore, but christ I need to just go get stupid or I'm going to start twitching.

**GT40** · 02-22-2006, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by Twoplanker

That made me LOL. Thanks.

**crashnburn'd** · 02-22-2006, 01:36 PM

damn... You guys are killing it this year. Hopefully when I'm out in a couple weeks, I'll be able to explore up there a little more. I've been practicing my barbed wire fence scaling techniques.

**Big E** · 02-22-2006, 06:21 PM

Great read J. Hopefully I make it back to UT at least once more this season and catch 'basin on a ... let's just say better ... day.

**SkiJunky05** · 02-22-2006, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by Dantheman

the "Huck with Impunity" scale.

That made me laugh.

Mr. MD9, I really enjoy these write ups...I like that I can relate to it more than some story on a big name in Powder, but your explanation gets my adrenaline going even more so.