I love the north side of Big Cottonwood, the slopes and gullies that stretch from Mt. Raymond to Guardsmen Pass. It has easy access and it’s perfect for quick hits in the early morning, lunch runs, or after work. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of options for great terrain and great snow with some hidden treasures that seem to get missed by the huge crowds, and we all know that huge crowds are now the norm for Wasatch backcountry skiing. I’m not sure why but several small slopes, which will remain nameless, rarely get tracked out unlike others that are just yards away. One area I ski a lot, I’ll call it Area 51, is notorious for slides, it is steep and it’s hidden from the sun until spring, so the snow is always dry and prone to faceting, but the crowds stay away. When it does get skied, there’ll only be a track or two on a slope that can hold 50. It falls steeply from a rounded ridge and ends in a meadow with a semi-abrupt transition from steep to flat, which could possibly act like a terrain trap if the debris piled up where the slope flattens, but without an opposing slope it is not a trap in the classical sense. The last time I saw it slide the debris didn't stack, it fanned out like a river delta. When the snow is wet and less elastic, perhaps it could pile deep right at the base.
Still, why isn’t this slope regularly skied? Are other skiers just too smart and cautious to avoid it’s notorious instabilities?? Nah, this is Utah, where skiers don’t give a shit about slides. Yeah, they do the dance, they dig a pit and do the proverbial ECT, they say all the right things and preach safety to all who care to listen, especially their partners to ease familial stress, but, when the Utah powder piles deep they center punch every big line in the Wasatch, instabilities be damned. So I’m still puzzled, why is Area 51 largely ignored? Is it too short and not worth the effort? For me, thirty turns are better than no turns, so I ski there when everything else is toast, which is often.
Today I got away from work late, arriving at the Willows trailhead in late afternoon, the shadows already drawing long footprints. It was cold, mid to upper teens, but the sky was a glorious, brilliant blue and the winter sun was warm on my face. The snow was still early-season-thin, but yesterday's storm left a superb top layer, maybe six inches on a supportable base, but overall conditions were very unstable. I can’t remember the specific avalanche rating, but it was not good, and as I skied up the Willows trail, which is very low angle, I continually heard collapsing, even seeing some shooting cracks where the angle was steep enough for the snow to move. By the time I reached the lower pond I knew I would not ski Area 51. Instead I headed up the approach ridge to Area 51 but stopped short, on a plateau on the shoulder where I stopped and transitioned to ski. I was soon shivering uncontrollably, I didn’t wear nearly enough layers today, and was happy to start down even on a thin, sage-spiked south facing slope. The cold temps still couldn’t stop the power of the sun, the radiation putting a bit of stickiness in that thin snow, but I managed a few ugly turns back down to the pond. I was disappointed to not ski anything big and bold, but I’m confident I did the right thing. I saw much evidence of a more liberal avalanche mentality, steep slopes completely tracked out, which had me scratching my head given the days rating. With the instabilities I saw on my short hike, there's no way I would have skied anything steeper. Like I said, SLC skiers are luckier than they are good.
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