Conditions Report
Report from January 4, 2022
5,200 vertical feet, seven miles, 35″ storm snow total, four runs, two world-class lines, legendary company, sunny skies…
Up at 6 am and out the door by 6:45 am.
Cloudy and cold.
Plan: ski mellow terrain off the back of Flagstaff and back down the Flagstaff area (across the street from Alta).
Avalanche danger was Considerable, with a Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) deep down in the snowpack.
I had great company:
- Andrew McLean – Wasatch legend, mountain guide, professional ski mountaineer, author of the Wasatch Bible, The Chuting Gallery
- Jordan Cargill – Mountain guide, Denali guide, owner of Mountain Shadow Adventures
Andrew did a ski cut on the top, stomped around, and decided to give it a go.
We watched his first turn then it was nothing but blinding cold smoke.
It was deep…
Jordan went second, and the result was the same.
I snuck a little skier’s left, dropped in, hit a huge 18″ air, then porpoised and laughed to the bottom.
The snow was deep.
The snow was exquisite.
The deepest snow I’ve skied this season.
Back up.
We skied the same run with the same results.
Our ski cuts and experience showed no signs of instability.
Andrew had to head home, but Jordan and I wanted more.
We followed our new friends, Chris & Parker, toward the legendary Wasatch line named “Hallway.”
The sun came out.
We worked with Parker & Chris to get in safely, and these guys were great communicators.
They went first, we had eyes on them, and they yelled info back to us.
We decided to go for the spicier entrance with a mandatory air into the chute.
Jordan went first and yelled back that it was good.
I went second.
The funnel to mandatory air to cushy, sluff-pile landing was a dream.
From there, it was high-speed turns to the bottom of the chute.
Being the 5th and 6th people in the couloir was no issue as the sluff and deepness of the snow made the whole chute smooth, deep, and refreshing.
Hallway’s chute drains into a large open area in the sun that skied deep.
It was hard to keep my tips up…
We hooted and ripped it down to the valley bottom.
From there, it was a long, grinding skinner back to the ridgeline of Mt. Superior.
We had a few choices, but we chose Little Superior for our run back down to reality.
We scoped it hard from the ridge and saw that the line had been heli-bombed into submission.
Excellent!
Especially since we wouldn’t have been able to ski this line had it not been controlled by explosives, as the avalanche danger was too high and the line is too exposed.
I dropped first, and again, it was deep.
By far the deepest snow I’ve skied on Mt. Superior.
By far.
At the end of the wide-open nose, we jumped straight into the mini spines and apron; it was all gravy.
Some very small wet slides came off our skis towards the bottom that were easy to manage and avoid.
5,200 vertical feet, seven miles, 35″ storm snow total, four runs, two world-class lines, legendary company, sunny skies.
One of the best days I’ve ever had in the Wasatch.
PHOTOS
