Promise Land East, Big Cottonwood Canyon- January 2019

It just keeps snowing here in the Wasatch. Utah is having one of its best seasons in a couple of years. Over 5 feet of snow has fallen over the last week. Unfortunately with large snowfalls comes high avalanche danger. Utah had its first avalanche fatality last Friday in the Skyline area of the range. You can read the accident report by clicking here Knowing that the steep slopes were dangerous, I wanted to stay very low angle and in the trees, so I decided I would return to the Promise Land, but take a little different route in there. The hop in from the car to the first left turn on the Guardsman road was quick and full of whoop dee do's from the sleds. Once I hit the meadow the snow was deep and untracked. Breaking trail in really deep snow on the way up was a workout, but you knew the reward on the way out was gonna be worth it.

Promise Land East Report 1.20.19 from CPPhoto on Vimeo.

Promise Land 1.20.2019 from CPPhoto on Vimeo.

I managed to connect with another skin track that went a bit more east than I usually do and put me in a grove of old growth trees that were dropping pillows of snow every time the wind would blow. You could hear the big piles coming off the trees and hitting the snowpack. I eventually topped out and found a nice place out of the wind to switch things over. The ride out was really fun. A mix of tree weaving and some really deep snow was so much fun. Supportable powder with some pockets of light snow. No instability noticed in the snowpack as I descended. No cracking, collapsing, or running sluffs. All signs were good for some tree exploring and getting some soft turns. I am loving this area. The more I explore it the more amazing terrain I find. Its a safe zone for when the avalanche danger is high. Sometimes you take a chance on an area and strike gold. I am very happy to have given it a change this season. Its still snowing up there as I write this! Enjoy the pics and videos! Happy Winter!

Promise Land #2, Big Cottonwood Canyon- NYE 2018

Happy New Year! The Wasatch got one of those over performer snow storms the day before New Years Eve. In fact it was snowing for a 24 hour period where it just kept adding to the totals. I decided to end my year the way I started it, in the mountains on the splitboard. The forecast was for arctic conditions with a balmy 9 degrees forecasted with a wind chill of -14. I for sure packed the cold weather gear. I made my way up to the Guardsman gate and got parked and booted up. It was pretty warm in the sun, so I figured it could not be that cold for the walk in. Once I got strapped in and moved from the sun to the shade it was about 20 degrees difference. Half way up the road to the starting point in the meadow my eye lashes were freezing together and I had to ditch the sunglasses so I could see. The snow was really good but a bit sticky meaning cold temps usually make new snow slow going. Something I would address on the ride home.

NYE Tour Report- 12.31.2018 from CPPhoto on Vimeo.

From the turnoff, I noticed there were some folks in the west meadow doing what I think were beacon drills. Possibly an avalanche class out in the field. It was cool to see people interested in snow safety. I made my turn into the trees and moved up the Promise Land. I was breaking trail all the way from the road. It seems to me maybe someone took the road to the false summit and took a line out because there was no skin track in, just two tracks out. I made it pretty quickly up to the spot that I went to last time, and continued up further to the ridge where the false summit connects. It was bitter cold in the wind up there so I actually skied in about 50 yards down into the trees to get out of the wind to do the change over. The cold was bitting and I put on the insulated jacket and a dry beanie, then proceeded to switch things over from touring mode to ride mode. When putting my pack together for the drop, I grabbed the hydration hose on my bladder in my pack and it broke! I have never seen a hydration tube do that! I had to empty my water out because It would have leaked on me all the way out. After getting everything finally situated I made the drop. The snow was deep and I was just crusing in the trees and making turns in really great snow. Once I hit the road I had to skate my way to the car because the snow was very sticky cold. A great day in the mountains despite the bitter temps. Enjoy the photo and videos! More adventures to come!

Promise Land #2- 12.31.18 from CPPhoto on Vimeo.