Wasatch Solo: Rice Bowl, April 24, 2022

Fun skiing, upper Rice Bowl. Four to five inches of new snow overnight, thick, heavy and not too creamy so the turning was not effortless but still sublime. Ok, that sounds really stupid, who uses the word sublime with a straight face? Just know, skiing heavy powder is WAY better than going to church. With the dense powder I was thankful for an early rise tip because it would’ve been hell if the skis didn’t float, but it was supportable and not too grabby and the turns were fun.

Bike chained to a tree near the Sheriff’sCabin.

The Farmington Canyon gate is still locked but the road is open to bikers, runners, hikers, and ATVs small enough to ride around the gate. I parked at the Fire Break road lot, strapped skis to bike, pedaled around the gate and up the canyon road. From the start clouds dropped and the road was in a fog, and I was pedaling in a blizzard of graupel and cold wind. The pedaling was cold and wet and muddy, just plain miserable conditions, which brought on a mental debate: “this sucks! Go home and take a nap by the fire.” vs.“Keep going choir-boy, naps are for old men - the weather will clear!” It’s spring in Utah and the weather changes dramatically from minute to minute, so I pushed away the thoughts of quitting and taking a nap and kept pedaling. It stopped snowing about two miles up, although the sky was still gray, low and heavy, and a cold wind kept blowing, but every few minutes a bit of blue peeked through the gaps in the clouds. Was the weather breaking? When one is distracted by snow and mud it’s surprising how quickly a ride up the canyon flies by. I pedaled until the road was blocked by snow, which just so happened to be just above the Sheriff’s cabin, so that is where I switched to skis.

Ride up the Canyon:

5.99 miles,

2,450 total vertical gain (high point 6,878 ft, low point 4,780 ft),

ride time 35 minutes.

I chained the bike to a tree, tossed the skis over Farmington Creek, hopped over Farmington Creek and started skinning up Rice Creek. Near the upper beaver ponds I left the main drainage of Rice Creek and headed eastward, up the steep, timbered slope to the Mud/Rice Divide, then skinned straight up the divide to the top of Mud Peak (8,745 ft). From there I looked for the best ski options and today that looked to be the heart of upper Rice Bowl, so I skinned along the ridge westward a few hundred feet to the top of Rice Peak (8,730 ft), where I transitioned to ski. I made the right choice to keep heading up, the skies cleared and I had blue sky. It would’ve been a wasted day if I turned around and headed home for a nap.

Spring in Utah, either cold and snowy or blue sky and sunny. I got both today.

Upper Rice Bowl without a ski track in site.

Mud Peak and the stunted firs just blow the summit, as viewed from the upper Mud/Rice Divide.

View SW towards the Oquirhs from the summit of Rice Peak. That dark squall, sitting over Centerville, looked like it was blowing my way so I transitioned as fast as possible to ski and never launched the drone. As it turned out the squall didn’t blow in until I was pedaling down the canyon. I should’ve taken some drone footage.

View west towards Antelope Island. That squall just hanging out over the valley while I skied.

View north towards Francis Peak. The radar domes are the dark spot in the middle of photo.

View NW from Rice Peak looking down the west head-wall of Rice Bowl. Farmington Canyon the dark diagonal and Francis Peak (upper right).

Transitioning quickly, thinking I was going to get slammed with snow and wind and I wanted to ski while the light was still good. I’m the slowest transitioner I know, always screwing around with cameras, so friends are always waiting and irritated with me, another reason I often ski alone. Even when I'm fast I’m still slow.