Now that the Wasatch Mountains actually have some snow, it is like celebrating November in February – a bit late, but welcome.
Last Saturday we followed a masterful skin track up the Argenta aprons on Mt. Kessler and caught the trail breakers right on the summit, who turned out to be Alecs Barton and two friends. I’d met Alecs in passing before and we had a lot of common friends and interests, so it was fun catching up with him in such a beautiful spot. Tragically, within a few minutes of our groups parting ways, Alecs’ group triggered a large avalanche in the West Couloir of Kessler and Alecs died of trauma from the 2,500′ slide. Alecs was a prolific Wasatch backcountry snowboarder and his death underscores what a treacherous snowpack we have this year. Continue reading ‘Wasatch Update’
