WASATCH STOKE, CONDITIONS, OBSERVATIONS and ASSORTED DRIVAL 20-21

[Dantheman]

He went up the south ridge, summited, started down the east ridge and went over the cliff at the top of the weather station.

Let's see, in the last 2 weeks: Climber in Fergy fell and ripped all his gear and landed on his head, climber in Hellgate fell which resulted in sever lower leg trauma, climber in BCC messed up his rappel and fell 70 feet, runner fell off the top of the Hounds tooth, and today the fatality on Superior. + a couple of tired/cold hikers.

Saw some runners starting up the South Ridge this morning in shorts with small trail running packs. I told them it was really windy/cold and the snow was firm and treacherous and I got a "Thanks bro"

Ugh, everything in this post is brutal.

[Xover]

And now fatality on Oly

[mall walker]

just saw the slc sar post on the fatality below the slabs, oof. I certainly know the spot.

[snowaddict91]

just saw the slc sar post on the fatality below the slabs, oof. I certainly know the spot.

Fucking brutal. Hope you are doing okay sfotex. Sending good vibes for you and your crew.

[Dantheman]

So sad to hear about this. Hope you're OK, sfotex.

[Phall]

Came here to say the same after seeing the Facebook post.


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[muted reborn]

Sfotex thank you thank you for everything you do.

[tgapp]

Sfotex thank you thank you for everything you do.

+100, can't imagine how tough these past few days have been, my heart goes out to you and your team

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[whyturn]

Sad times for sure. The mountains give and take.


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[Dantheman]

If there's a lesson to take away from these two deaths, it's that you should never be on firm snow above rocks or exposure without something to self arrest with, and you should really not be there at all.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

If there's a lesson to take away from these two deaths, it's that you should never be on firm snow above rocks or exposure without something to self arrest with, and you should really not be there at all.

Amen to that, I learned that the hard way


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[whyturn]

Well Alta was pretty soft and fun anyways. Good to get out and tour


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[sfotex]

Thanks for the messages peeps. Lots of people getting beat down this spring. I talked to a friend that's a climbing ranger on Denali and they are seeing the same thing up there.

Going on steep snow without pointy bits is like skiing the backcountry without the right gear. We saw 2 people going up Saturday afternoon with yak tracks and one axe between the 2 of them.... How fucking complacent can you get?

[new yabyum]

Softex, take care of #1 then your team. 3 day weekend coming up, they'll be playing hard.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Thanks for the messages peeps. Lots of people getting beat down this spring. I talked to a friend that's a climbing ranger on Denali and they are seeing the same thing up there.

Going on steep snow without pointy bits is like skiing the backcountry without the right gear. We saw 2 people going up Saturday afternoon with yak tracks and one axe between the 2 of them.... How fucking complacent can you get?

My wife and I were talking about this last night. Colorado has a historic year for avalanche deaths, you got the Wasatch Spring, the Fort Collins Whitewater Park had to get shut down the first weekend there was water (8 rescues), we had a campfire started wildland fire this week, multiple popular dispersed camping areas have been closes, the desert has been a mess this spring and the list goes on.

I fear that we are at breaking point where we, the public, can't be trusted to recreate responsibly. I dread more rules, closures, reservations, injuries, death, conflict and all the other BS that I'm trying to escape.

[mall walker]

I fear that we are at breaking point where we, the public, can't be trusted to recreate responsibly. I dread more rules, closures, reservations, injuries, death, conflict and all the other BS that I'm trying to escape.

people routinely eat and drink themselves to death, die in car crashes because they're busy watching tik tok videos, shoot eat other in malls, etc... there's no "trusting" the public to be "responsible" and there never was

whether your legislators view regulation as a necessary response to this or that specific issue is something you can influence by communicating with them. the death toll for these activities (climbing, skiing, etc) though remains, in comparison to the rest of our savage american life, quite low.

[getoutside]

^^ good luck softex to you and your team

last week’s rain smoothed things out and sunset and catherines skied pretty well sat with a little snow on top.





this morning was downright soft and surfy.

[Xover]

Have been down in Central Utah and the West Desert each of the past two weekends hoping to tick off a couple of bucket list lines, however ALOT of snow has melted in the past few weeks and I got thwarted on both attempts. Deseret still looked good, from I-80 at least. Not sure how high the road is open to though?? Heard the Scenic Drive opened last week so swung by an old favorite returning Saturday Current conditions (at least of this past Saturday) in case anyone is wondering. Brought back some fond memories from 16 years ago with Otter, JWest, Straighchuter, Fritzrips and Powho

[CirqueScaler]

...Deseret still looked good, from I-80 at least. Not sure how high the road is open to though??

We skied Deseret twin couloirs on Saturday. All road and campsites are fully open and clear of snow. We walked about 1.5 mi until we found consistent snow around 8500-9000 ft. With partly cloudy skies, it was a bit hard to get good snow - we dropped into a refreeze on the lookers' right couloir but were happy to find better snow in the far more aesthetic lookers' left couloir.





Also got up to Alta yesterday where we found 5" of powder that quickly cooked under any sort of sun. Intermittent weather made for fast-changing snow conditions. Skied off the castle a few times before noon while it was pretty good then went over to Collins to find some NW shots that were still untracked and skiing great.



Pretty rough few days re: SAR. The team is just 30 volunteers, right? That has to be a very heavy load psychologically and physically. Best wishes and thanks for all you do.

[Benneke10]

Has anyone skied in the Uintas recently? Thinking about camping in Amethyst Basin this weekend and skiing some nearby lines, trying to get an idea of how much snow is left.

[mall walker]

Has anyone skied in the Uintas recently? Thinking about camping in Amethyst Basin this weekend and skiing some nearby lines, trying to get an idea of how much snow is left.

post pics if you end up going, I’ve summer camped there a few times (usually at ostler lake) and spent the whole time daydreaming about skiing there

[brutah]

Has anyone skied in the Uintas recently? Thinking about camping in Amethyst Basin this weekend and skiing some nearby lines, trying to get an idea of how much snow is left.

Sounds like there's enough snow for skiing this weekend, but hard saying.... I'd say go for it!

Here's how I'd get into amethyst right now. When there's snow I think it's a lot easier to go from the highline trailhead near Hayden peak. Then go up and over the south ridge off Hayden between it and Agassiz. That will put ya in middle basin and takes about 1-1.5 hr and you should be able to stay on snow the entire time, as oppose to walking up from Xmas meadows. Once in middle basin, it's flattish travel over to amethyst.

Like mall walker said post pics! Everyone here would appreciate photos from up there, or at least I would

[Benneke10]

Here's how I'd get into amethyst right now. When there's snow I think it's a lot easier to go from the highline trailhead near Hayden peak. Then go up and over the south ridge off Hayden between it and Agassiz. That will put ya in middle basin and takes about 1-1.5 hr and you should be able to stay on snow the entire time, as oppose to walking up from Xmas meadows. Once in middle basin, it's flattish travel over to amethyst.

That would be the ideal way to get in but its unclear if Mirror Lake Hwy will be open this weekend so the default is a slog from Xmas Meadows. Looks like there's an awesome W facing chute off LaMotte but since it gets sun hard to predict if its in or not. Anyone got access to decent satellite images showing coverage?

I'm also considering the NE Face of Wasatch Mountain, anyone done that one? Its a way longer walk but there look to be some great lines. Not much beta out there..

[Boissal]

That would be the ideal way to get in but its unclear if Mirror Lake Hwy will be open this weekend so the default is a slog from Xmas Meadows. Looks like there's an awesome W facing chute off LaMotte but since it gets sun hard to predict if its in or not. Anyone got access to decent satellite images showing coverage?

I'm also considering the NE Face of Wasatch Mountain, anyone done that one? Its a way longer walk but there look to be some great lines. Not much beta out there..

Wasatch Mtn in the E Fork of Black Fork drainage? If so that is way the fuck out there, I did a linkup in that drainage this summer and the approach is long and flat and well on its way to melting completely which isn't going to help you because it's a giant bog.

Here's what LaMotte looked like on the 10th, more recent images have cloud cover. Happy to send you more images, shoot me a PM.

[Benneke10]

Wasatch Mtn in the E Fork of Black Fork drainage? If so that is way the fuck out there, I did a linkup in that drainage this summer and the approach is long and flat and well on its way to melting completely which isn't going to help you because it's a giant bog.

Yeah thats the one. Thats part of why I want to see if there's still snow in there, approach conditions could definitely be variable. I know the TH is completely accessible and the trail is super flat so it may be a ways in wet marshy stuff. Plan would be to camp at the base of Wasatch and try to ski NE face of Wasatch and NW face of NW Wasatch. The alternative would be to hike in Xmas meadows and ski LeMotte, Ostler, Spread Eagle but concerned there might not be as much snow there, and the approach is part of the fun.

Looks like we're all using the same satellite data, hoping for some more images today. Anyone want to join?