Archive for the 'current conditions' Category

InstaBase – Just Add Water

Published on January 25, 2012 in current conditions. 5 Comments

The weather gods must have read the Angry Half Inch posting, as they retaliated with a magnificent storm over the past week. It was a classic rager from the Pacific Northwest which finally made it through the Idaho high pressure road block (can’t that state be moved?) and delivered a good 2-4′ base. It took place during the Sundance Film Festival and the local newspaper reported 180 stuck cars during the event. The storm included some very high winds, and why not – it you are going to have a ton of new snow on top of a fragile base of depth hoar, you might as well ice the cake with some serious wind loading.

Avalanche-wise, it is not great, but I’m glad it came in as a big hammer instead of a bunch of little storms which would only delay the inevitable avalanche cycle. From what I’ve seen in the Wasatch backcountry, a lot of the big slopes naturally avalanched during the storm and are now starting over. That said, I doubt some of the major north-facing lines will ever be very safe to ski this year. Oh well. We had a dangerous year in 2008/09 and it was fun to work out a bunch of safe, low angle tours and I’m sure those will be getting some skin tracks this season as well. Continue reading ‘InstaBase – Just Add Water’

2011/12 First Day

Published on October 8, 2011 in current conditions. 11 Comments

I thought the skiing was pretty good for October 8th, but my skis disagree and still aren’t on speaking terms. Continue reading ’2011/12 First Day’

Snow in Park City – Oct 6

Published on October 6, 2011 in current conditions. 3 Comments

I don’t think it will stay for the winter, but it was a nice surprise to wake up to! Continue reading ‘Snow in Park City – Oct 6′

Wasatch Conditions

Published on March 28, 2011 in current conditions. 4 Comments

The Wasatch has had its temper tantrums this season, but for the most part, it has been a classic year so far with lots of quick 6-12″ refresher storms such as we’ve had for the last week.  I’m not sure how the snow totals are stacking up historically, but as of now I’d guess we are well ahead of average.

The powder skiing has been good… Continue reading ‘Wasatch Conditions’

Skinning the Sliver

Published on March 14, 2011 in current conditions. 2 Comments Tags: .

Between warm temps, rain, sun, fog, flat light and crazy winds, it is getting hard to find good quality snow in the Wasatch lately. Thinking that The Sliver in upper Hogum Fork was probably no worse than anywhere else, we made the long trek in just for the hell of it the other day. Continue reading ‘Skinning the Sliver’

Wasatch Conditions – Jan 30

Published on January 31, 2011 in current conditions. 4 Comments

After torrential rain to 11,000′, then a deep freeze, then three weeks of little to no snow and high winds, you’d think the Wasatch BC would be toast, but it has been surprisingly good.  The south faces are corning up and the ice crust is breaking down.  The ridgelines are still skating rinks, but there’s some excellent recrystalized powder in mid elevation, sheltered slopes.  The wild card is that you can go from creamy snow to glaze ice in one turn with almost no warning, but aside from that, the BC is fun and stable.  That said… MORE SNOW PLEASE! Continue reading ‘Wasatch Conditions – Jan 30′

Touring with George Lowe & Tidbits

Published on January 10, 2011 in current conditions. 10 Comments Tags: .

Have I mentioned what a great season the Wasatch has been having?  We haven’t had any significant amounts of new snow for two weeks, but there is still some excellent powder to be had.  The 4-6″ trace we had on Sunday (a virtual dump by CO standards) freshened things up a bit, but was so light that you could still feel the bottom.  Shame.

One of the best moments of the last few days was getting a chance to tour with George Lowe who was visiting from Golden, Colorado.  Due to our large group (six) and George’s flight, we didn’t actually get a chance to make turns together, but it was still fun just to be out in the mountains with such a legend.  I usually don’t pay much attention to who did the first ascent of any particular route, but there is something about George Lowe routes that always makes me think how exciting it must have been to be the first person up mega classics like  Moonlight Buttress, Lowe Route in LCC, Lowe Route in Lone Peak, the Dorsal Fin in LCC and many others.  Any one of those would be a climb of a lifetime for most people, but George happened to be the right guy at the right time and stacked up hundreds of them, to the point that he didn’t get around to naming them, and thus the proliferation of “Lowe Routes” all around the American West. Continue reading ‘Touring with George Lowe & Tidbits’

Coalpit Hand Rappel

Published on January 3, 2011 in current conditions. 12 Comments

Now that the snowpack has filled in to about the 6,500′, the Wasatch backcountry is officially open for the season.  This is good in many ways, but one of the biggest benefits is that a low elevation snowpack means that many of the bigger lines are now skiable and most importantly, there are many, many more options available than just Cardiac/Silver & Days.

I brought out my Contour POV camera today, but between the weather being kind of greybird and me pointing it too far towards my feet (you get a sore neck just reviewing it – “Look up!   Look up!”) the only worthwhile shots came at the Coalpit rappel/downclimb.  I’ve heard a few people say they have seen this filled in enough to ski through, but I have always done some sort of downclimbing or a handline rappel.  There are ropes fixed all over this section in various states of decay.  Most of the time you can get through without them, but in low snow conditions they add a nice bit of security. Continue reading ‘Coalpit Hand Rappel’

Wasatch Tweet #4

Published on December 27, 2010 in current conditions. 1 Comment

Plenty of powder if you know where to look.  ;) Continue reading ‘Wasatch Tweet #4′

Wasatch Tweet

Published on December 19, 2010 in current conditions. 0 Comments

Gushing rain in biblical proportions all the way up to 7,500′ at night.  Grim. Continue reading ‘Wasatch Tweet’