Promise Land, Big Cottonwood Canyon- February 2019

What a month of snow it has been! 140" of snow in the Cottonwoods for the month of February. Conditions have been stellar to say the least. I was able to squeeze in a couple of days last week at Solitude for some lift served turns. First time on the lifts this season. Nothing like breaking corduroy and slashing up chalky cold snow. I picked up a couple of new pieces of gear last week. I got a new touring pack, the Osprey Kamber 32. This is a game changer as it has multiple pockets and much more storage than my previous pack. It has its own avalanche gear pocket. It helmet carries, and the main pocket for dry layers and such is so huge! I truly felt lighter and faster touring with this pack on. I look forward to many more days on the snow with it! I also purchased a new beacon, the Arva Neo+. This transceiver is digital with three antennas, will locate multiple burials, has a 70 meter search range, a group check function, ability to mark a victim once they have been located, and will return to send mode if it does not sense motion after a period of time protecting the wearer from rouge avalanches if you were in the middle of a rescue. I am very happy with it!

Promise Land Trip Report 2.24.19 from CPPhoto on Vimeo.

So with all this new snow and new gear, I decided Sunday to do a tour in the Cottonwoods and test out the new gear. I made my way up from the Guardsman gate and made my way up the Promise Land. There was still really good snow off the road, and I was breaking trail and setting the track all the way in. The new pack sure makes touring seem less hard as it really did not feel like anything on my back. I took far less breaks on the way up because I was not as tired. I also like the fact it has a insulated storage chamber on the shoulder strap for your hydration tube so you can keep your water from freezing and your hydration contained. Once I topped out I changed into my dry layers, activated my old beacon, dug a hole, threw my pack with my old beacon in it, and buried it. I then walked off and then went into search mode with the new beacon and was able to locate and problem strike my pack pretty fast. Its good to practice, and really fun to test your skills. After my beacon drill, I took a hydration break then made the switchover. I dropped into some really nice and soft settled powder. I narrowly missed a huge hole in the snow which you can see in this video of my ride out below. Other than that it was a really fun ride weaving in the trees and getting some soft turns. My wax job must be holding up, I was able to ride the road almost all the way to the Guardsman winter gate without having to unstrap and push. A great day in the Wasatch playing with new gear and getting some turns. Its been a great season. Looks like more snow for the mountains is on the way! Enjoy the pics and videos! More adventures to come!

Promise Land 2.24.19 from CPPhoto on Vimeo.

Grizzly Gulch, Little Cottonwood Canyon- February 2019

February has been a very interesting month. Since the first of the month the Wasatch has received over 118" of snow. I have not been out for a bit as the avalanche danger has been high, and we have a complicated snowpack. I had the day off on Friday and decided I would get out for a walk on the splitboard and see how things are stacking up. I decided to head up Grizzly Gulch for a nice walk on the skin track, and some low angle turns on the way home. I made my way up the Albion Basin road to the turn off for Grizzly Gulch. The wind was howling and transporting a lot of snow. The wind slabs were obvious so they were easy to avoid. As I climbed the wind was burning my face under bluebird skies. I rounded the corner and headed up into the gulch. The skin track is well established this year, and we have so much more snow than last year when I was here. I kept an eye on things as I climbed, looking for any red flags or recent avalanches. Surprisingly I saw none, so I proceeded to my spot to make the switchover for the ride out.



After some slope testing and a quick pit, yielding no results, I made the switch from touring mode to ride mode. I spent a bit of time up there, just taking in the view and watching the snow tornadoes whirl across the snow surface. Some clouds for an expected storm started pushing into the canyon so I made the drop. The snow was wind buffed supportable powder and really fast! Creamy turns which kept your board on the surface and was so fast and smooth from all the wind action. The ride out of the gulch was fun and the lower you got the more powder I seemed to be turning in. The exit was really fun with some creamy delights to slash it up to all the way to the Jeep. It was a great day out there! It was nice to be out on the skin track again. I really missed it. This winter is shaping up to be the best in years. Enjoy the videos and the pic I took of Patsy Marly being tickled by the sun as the clouds built in. I will never get tired of that view. More adventures to come!

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.

Christian Paul Photography 2018 Retrospective

Another year of adventures comes to a close. 2018 was amazing in so many ways. The Wasatch started the year with one of the lowest snow total winters on record. With that, and having a shoulder injury December through early February, my days on the splitboard were far fewer than I would have liked. But the bright spot of a low snow winter is that hiking and backpacking began much earlier this year! I had some amazing days on trail, nights by the fire, red hot fly fishing, and adventures with friends old and new. From the first weekend in June to the last weekend in September, I made the Uintas my home away from home. I visited new areas I had not previously been, and returned to the usual haunts that I just cannot get enough of. 2018 was a year of growth for me. I did the longest solo backpacking trip in the Uintas that I have ever done, which was to Ryder Lake. 19.7 miles round trip. Really taught me a lot about myself. Redeemed Hell Hole Lake which turned me around in 2017. Not this time, and it was a wonderful trip. Allsop Lake was finally knocked off the bucket list in August. I even got a trip to the Oregon Coast for my Birthday. Fall came and went rather quickly then winter returned. It's been a much better start this season than last, and the snow has been good every time I have gone out. I am grateful for all the time I have been able to, with good health and positive mind, spend in the mountains which I love so much! I even got a trip to the Oregon Coast for my Birthday. Grab a snack or your favorite beverage and enjoy the video below! Thank for stopping by to those of you who have visited my blog this year! Happy Trails for the New Year!

Promise Land, Big Cottonwood Canyon- December 2018

I decided to start my holiday out with a walk on the splitboard and getting some powder turns. I took a walk up the Promise Land in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Christmas Eve. There was about 3-4" of fresh that an overnight storm put down. I made the quick walk up the road and up into the Promise Land. I was breaking trail most of the way up. It was nice to be walking in the trees and the snow was really nice! I eventually topped out and made the switch over. The snow pack was a very stable and all tests showed I was in a good spot. I made the drop and had fun making turns in the glades and the trees on the way out. It was a great day in the mountains and so much fun to be out again on the splitboard. Its been a good start to the season! Happy Holidays everyone!

Christmas Eve in the Promise Land from CPPhoto on Vimeo.

Promise Land Tour 12.24.2018 from CPPhoto on Vimeo.

Scotts/Guardsman Area, Big Cottonwood Canyon- December 2018

Its been a a week or so since I have been out. In that time, we have had a couple of small storms to keep things fresh. The gap in storms has let the inversions build and that is not a healthy situation. I was determined to get out and go for a walk on the splitboard, get some fresh air, and do some poking around to see the depth in the snow pack and how things are looking. Generally West to South is stable, NW to East still has a persistent weak layer that has everyone lacking expert avalanche skills staying off those aspects. There is a lot of facets that this snow is sitting on. I made my way up Big Cottonwood, found a spot at the Guardsman gate. I put on the boots, sunscreen because it was hot and felt like a day at the beach, and pack and made my way up the track. Once you were out of the sun you could feel the cold temps. Once I made the first curve it was in the sun and very warm. I do not usually tour in December, in a trucker hat and no gloves.

I made my way to the last corner and up the Scott's Pass trail. Big temperature difference here once you went into the shade of the pines. I went up to the first meadow and made my way to the base of the slope. The top surface in the shady trees was supportable pow. I like this area because you can do some snow science, and there are not too many people who stick around, they just climb through to the PC ridge line. The sun facing aspects had a zipper crust on them that finally softened on the decent to the Jeep. I exited west out of Scott's and actually got some fun turns. I had to walk from the corner to the road and up to the Jeep, about a 1/4 mile walk, which was warm to say the least. Looking at all the south facing aspects, they have melted and their snow pack is thin in areas. North Facing or shady tree areas are still holding their whole snow pack but have not bridged. Another great Sunday in the Wasatch. Keeping the legs fresh until we get another storm. We just need one more big one and the terrain is really going to open up. Pray 4 Snow!

Scotts Guardsman 12.16.2018 from CPPhoto on Vimeo.