Day 40: Stunning. And exhausting.
Outdoor Retailer is the world's largest outdoor industry trade show, and takes place twice a year in Salt Lake City. After a hellish day Saturday running from appointment to appointment on the show floor, an invitation from Brooks-Range Mountaineering for a day of skiing the Wasatch backcountry on Sunday seemed like the perfect antidote to a Saturday lost indoors under searing fluorescent lights.
They invited five magazine editors from Backcountry, Alpinist, Women's Adventure, Backpacker and FTO. Along for the ride was Craig Dostie, best known as editor of Couloir and now on his own publishing EarnYourTurns.com and working for Brooks-Range, as well as Colorado mountain guide Donny Roth from Alpine Ambitions, also a Brooks-Range rep. Our local guide was Tyson Bradley, Lead Guide and Director of Utah Mountain Adventures.
We all met up in downtown Salt Lake City, as Brooks-Range had hired Alta Shuttle to drive us all to the trailhead, which turned out to be at Alta itself.
After a quick beacon check we were all skinning up toward Cardiff Pass, which is across the street from Alta.
The sun was blazing, and before long we paused to strip layers. Even with temperatures likely in the teens I was down to just my turtleneck and ski pants. After 1,320 vertical feet of climbing we made the pass and took in the views south toward Alta and Snowbird, and north into Cardiff Fork.
From the pass we eased over the edge into Cardiff Fork. The wind across the pass, which was thankfully non-existent this morning, had scoured away all of the new snow leaving only the impenetrable rain crust showing at the top. I actually lost my edge set and slid down about 10 feet before stopping in some loose snow by a tree. I was on my G3 Reverends, which I seldom ski anymore and discovered have no edge at present. We traversed a few feet left onto some soft north-facing snow, however, and enjoyed an untracked run of about 600 verts down to a flat, sunny spot high in Cardiff Fork.
Here we took an early lunch as Donny dug a snow pit for a bit of avalanche education and familiarization with the use of some of Brooks-Range's snow study tools.
Back into our skins after lunch, we climbed another 600 vertical feet or so back up the Powerline Ridge, taking in gorgeous views of Cardiac Ridge and Cardiac Bowl.
At the top we dropped in again, this time on the west side of the ridge into Mill D South Fork for an untracked run of about 600 vertical feet in the vicinity of the Monte Cristo Mine. We were now at the foot of both Cardiac Ridge and Cardiac Bowl, and a quick group consult resulted in a decision to head for Cardiac Bowl, which didn't have a single track in it. This, however, would be our most arduous climb of the day, rising some 1,400 vertical feet to slopes in the 33-35 degree range.
We de-skinned at a point just 50-100 feet below the summit of Mount Superior, and enjoyed a run of some 2,000 vertical feet all the way to the site of the old Cardiff Mine.
About 700 vertical feet into the run Tyson opted to lead the young Vermonters from Backcountry and Alpinist, Keese Lane and Tyler Cohen, as well as Kristy Holland from Women's Adventure back for one more lap from the top. I don't think that I could've joined them if I'd wanted to.
From Cardiff Mine it we glided for 3 or 4 miles out an old mining road out to Reynolds Flat in Big Cottonwood Canyon, where the Alta Shuttle driver met us to drive us back to Salt Lake City.
A big, hearty "thank you!" to Brooks-Range and Utah Mountain Adventures for making this day happen. Dostie was our photographer for the day and took some wonderful action shots -- I'll add those to this topic as soon as I get a copy from him.
Outdoor Retailer is the world's largest outdoor industry trade show, and takes place twice a year in Salt Lake City. After a hellish day Saturday running from appointment to appointment on the show floor, an invitation from Brooks-Range Mountaineering for a day of skiing the Wasatch backcountry on Sunday seemed like the perfect antidote to a Saturday lost indoors under searing fluorescent lights.
They invited five magazine editors from Backcountry, Alpinist, Women's Adventure, Backpacker and FTO. Along for the ride was Craig Dostie, best known as editor of Couloir and now on his own publishing EarnYourTurns.com and working for Brooks-Range, as well as Colorado mountain guide Donny Roth from Alpine Ambitions, also a Brooks-Range rep. Our local guide was Tyson Bradley, Lead Guide and Director of Utah Mountain Adventures.
We all met up in downtown Salt Lake City, as Brooks-Range had hired Alta Shuttle to drive us all to the trailhead, which turned out to be at Alta itself.
After a quick beacon check we were all skinning up toward Cardiff Pass, which is across the street from Alta.
The sun was blazing, and before long we paused to strip layers. Even with temperatures likely in the teens I was down to just my turtleneck and ski pants. After 1,320 vertical feet of climbing we made the pass and took in the views south toward Alta and Snowbird, and north into Cardiff Fork.
From the pass we eased over the edge into Cardiff Fork. The wind across the pass, which was thankfully non-existent this morning, had scoured away all of the new snow leaving only the impenetrable rain crust showing at the top. I actually lost my edge set and slid down about 10 feet before stopping in some loose snow by a tree. I was on my G3 Reverends, which I seldom ski anymore and discovered have no edge at present. We traversed a few feet left onto some soft north-facing snow, however, and enjoyed an untracked run of about 600 verts down to a flat, sunny spot high in Cardiff Fork.
Here we took an early lunch as Donny dug a snow pit for a bit of avalanche education and familiarization with the use of some of Brooks-Range's snow study tools.
Back into our skins after lunch, we climbed another 600 vertical feet or so back up the Powerline Ridge, taking in gorgeous views of Cardiac Ridge and Cardiac Bowl.
At the top we dropped in again, this time on the west side of the ridge into Mill D South Fork for an untracked run of about 600 vertical feet in the vicinity of the Monte Cristo Mine. We were now at the foot of both Cardiac Ridge and Cardiac Bowl, and a quick group consult resulted in a decision to head for Cardiac Bowl, which didn't have a single track in it. This, however, would be our most arduous climb of the day, rising some 1,400 vertical feet to slopes in the 33-35 degree range.
We de-skinned at a point just 50-100 feet below the summit of Mount Superior, and enjoyed a run of some 2,000 vertical feet all the way to the site of the old Cardiff Mine.
About 700 vertical feet into the run Tyson opted to lead the young Vermonters from Backcountry and Alpinist, Keese Lane and Tyler Cohen, as well as Kristy Holland from Women's Adventure back for one more lap from the top. I don't think that I could've joined them if I'd wanted to.
From Cardiff Mine it we glided for 3 or 4 miles out an old mining road out to Reynolds Flat in Big Cottonwood Canyon, where the Alta Shuttle driver met us to drive us back to Salt Lake City.
A big, hearty "thank you!" to Brooks-Range and Utah Mountain Adventures for making this day happen. Dostie was our photographer for the day and took some wonderful action shots -- I'll add those to this topic as soon as I get a copy from him.
