Day 10 -- 12/09/10

[looking into the gullet]

[the movie]

[the Bond dude]

WE SKIED JAWS today, a chute funneling into Day's Fork.  With a 45 degree entry, the gulley presents three sets of rocky choke points, not much more than a ski-width wide, which give the 1,000 foot run its name and reputation for thrashing hesitant skiers like the fish or the Bond dude. Quality and plentiful early snow has made it possible to ski a lot of these lines that usually don't fill in sufficiently until January.

Dr. Fred Grimmer joined us for the tour.  Fred is a well-known pediatric ENT (always good to have an M.D. in your party) and we ventured in the backcountry, knowing that we had to have him back at the parking lot by 2:30.  As the clock ticked, we made our second descent from the top of Flagstaff into Day's Fork, then back to the top of Silverfork in a blazing 55 minutes -- fast travel by anybody's standards.  That put Fred on time for his patient consultation and we too had an early return from another day of untracked descents on some great terrain.

Day's Vertical: 3,700.  Season to Date: 35,700.

Day 9 --12/01/10

[from the tippy top]

I FIRST SKIED ALTA in 1980 and started looking up the Superior chutes and summit, wondering what kind of skills it would take to get up there and back down.  After years of skiing and climbing outside the boundaries of controlled ski resorts, I have finally pulled together the endurance and skill set necessary to accomplish this personal milestone.

[Sierra summits]

With the emergence of wide skis, lightweight boots and bindings, and technical clothing, it is probably less of a feat than it was for those few who accomplished it with skinny skis, flimsy bindings, and leather boots.  But Mt. Superior, at a little over 11,000 feet, and with it narrow avalanche funnels down its front face, is still a serious undertaking.

[this big]

Brad and I started up our usual track toward Cardiff Bowl, getting a feel for the snow, but not sure which line we would approach.  A half hour into the climb, a young woman  joined us and kept pace. In spite of climbing in stiff alpine boots, and only recently recovered from a five day siege of food poisoning, Sierra (no kidding) was full of spirit and looking for a route to the top of Superior.  We knew the route and conditions looked favorable.  "Let's go," we agreed.
The safest route actually winds around the back side and we skied a chute into Cardiac basin, a good test of the snow stability, as well as an irresistible line.  Skinning back up to the ridgeline, we could see a clean line to the summit.

[dropping to our entry point]

Intermittent cloud cover had cleared above about 8,000 feet and from the top, with a clear line to cell towers for hundreds of miles, Sierra called her boyfriend who was grinding ski bases at the Deep Powder house in the canyon.  "Hi, honey.  Look out the window.  I'm at the tip-top of Superior!"

[a milestone]

There were two sets of perfectly scalloped tracks down the back bowl and it was clear that the best skiing was probably on the northern aspect.  But the convergence of low hazard and decent snow made it a no-brainer.  After a few ski cuts to confirm the stability, we skied creamy, consistent snow, diving through choke points and into new chutes, finally breaking out across the broad apron that took us back to the road.  We looked back up before a cloud puff obscured the peak and had a moment to enjoy our three solitary sets of tracks, top to bottom.  The mountains are like that: your summits are fleeting, your story quickly concealed by clouds, melt, another layer of snow.
Though I continue to ski boldly and with my full physical capacities, it is without question that my ability to pursue summits will one day wane.  But as long as I am able to travel up this canyon, I will be able to look up Superior and take pleasure from the memory: "I was there, I did that."


Day's Vertical: 3,900.  Season to Date: 33,100.

Day 8 -- 12/03/10

[dr. Fred Grimmer]

FRED GRIMMER joined us for his first tour of the season, remarkably in his third month of recovery after major back surgery.  Fred showed good lungs and no pain as we climbed up to Powerline saddle, which is quickly becoming one of our most traveled entries into the BC above Little Cottonwood Canyon.
We moved at a sufficiently mellow pace to allow for some video of the day.  The little appreciated fact about shooting video in the mountains is that the shooter has to move quickly enough ahead of the group to get the approaching shot, then play catch-up after getting the gear shut down and packed for the climb.
The avalanche forecasters estimation for the day: "only the deranged would go out today."  for low hazard and mediocre conditions.  Usually, it's best to heed the forecast, but today they were off the mark and we skied  three great lines off Benson Ridge and had a good ride home down the Cardiff face from a high point on the ridge.  The exception was the lower mountain which was crusty and tougher  going.  But back country skiing certainly builds skills and strength for skiing all kinds of conditions -- some blissful, some brutal.

Day's Vertical: 3,700.  Year to Date: 27,900.