Deseret Peak Twin Couloirs

As the ski season was winding down, I decided the Twin Couloirs (at least one of them) needed to checked off the list.  So, on Memorial Day weekend me and Andy Melber, a fellow grad student, drove out to the Stansburys and skied the southern chute.  We started hiking around 8 am in our sneakers and returned to the truck around 1 pm, very straightforward considering the past attempts.

Looking northeast towards the lake.

View from the top.

Our tracks.

End of May - Say Goodbye to Winter

Well winter is back. The upper elevations got close to 1 foot of fresh snow above about 8k Tuesday and Tuesday night. Cole and I got out on Wednesday morning before work to do the Main Baldy Chute, almost exactly one year to the day from the last time when my skins unfortunately glopped up causing me to sit it out while my friends skied late May powder.

Main Baldy Chute

The Main Baldy chute is a particularly aesthetic run for a couple of reasons. First, it is a pretty continuous chute with really high rock walls on both sides. Therefore, it holds and frequently accumulates great snow. Secondly, it is part of Alta "Ski" Resort, so even if Alta does open it during the season snowboarders are never going to get to ride it and tracked out is the best you could hope for.

The Main Baldy Chute

Wednesday morning the Main Baldy chute was untouched and looking very frosty.

A moment of clarity amongst the clouds.

Main Baldy looking down. As the clouds roll in and out.

The Pipeline

Thursday morning the plan was to be back out and attempt the "Pipeline" couloir, another often closed couloir off the American Fork twins into Snowbird resort. Since Snowbird is also closed at this point of the season. We thought we could possibly steal this run in great conditions like the "Main Baldy Chute" Alas, life got in the way and we had to reschedule for Friday morning. But despite the cool temperatures it is still the end of May and the snow was no longer soft settled power like we had hoped. The apron and the lower part of the couloir still held good snow, but halfway up we ran into death ice. Instead of continuing on with crampons we decided it was not worth the terrible skiing conditions and turned back around the lower dogleg in the picture below. 

This is the Pipeline in winter conditions

The lower half was great as was the apron and the ride back to the LC chair. The ride down from LC chair to the tram was down right treacherous riding on still frozen solid machine destroyed piles of crud.

Hayden Peak

The first day of June - Saturday. Cole and I went back to the Uintas, 3 weeks after our last attempt was blocked by snow on the mirror lake byway well before our objective. The objective was to ski several runs off the north side of "Hayden Peak" that I had been eyeing since first visiting the Mirror Lake area almost 2 years ago.

Hayden Peak from afar. Our route up was the snow field on the left side of the peak.

Just below the couloir 

Cole Booting up.

At the top with a beautiful view of Bald Mountain and Reid's Peak

The couloir that we climbed faces southwest and has high walls on the south side that blocked most of the morning sun. We were hopeful that once at the top there would be several runs of the northeast side of the mountain based on google satellite images. We were right as there were atleast 4 skiable chutes off the Northeast-East ridge. We were only able to do 2.

The view from the bottom of the runs of the Northeast-east ridge. We did the 2 variations on the left most snow field. Unfortunately neither of us did the narrow strip right down the middle.

I believe that this basin is the "Christmas Meadows" area. There were beautiful views of Kletting, A-1, and Ostler peak.

I was going to climb to the top until I saw how precariously this boulder was perched.

Dropping in for #2

Cole down climbing into the couloir used for the approch and exit

Cole on our exit run.

ditto

After our exit run - no more shade

Guatemala

Well we returned from Guatemala on Sunday, May 26th. Dani spent the dates of May 8-15 in Guatemala learning about Guatemalan and Mayan culture and the education systems in place in these developing countries as a part of her MAT program. I was lucky enough to join on May 15 and we spent 10 days exploring different parts of the country. We spent some time in "Tikal" checking out the Mayan ruins there and in "Flores" absorbing their beach town vibe and lake. Then we headed to "Semuc Champey", a famous river high in the mountains and far from the big cities, that is famous for its crystal clear limestone pools and caves. After an adventurous few days on the river, it was on to the "Lake Atitlan", where we spent the last of our days relaxing on the water and going on short day trips like the one to the market in  "Chichicastenango", where we picked up a cool hammock and chess set for the house.

La Playita - Flores

View from the hike up from the Semuc Champey Pools

Upper pools @ Semuc Champey

Our Accomodations @ the lake Atitlan

Swimming at the Lake Atitlan

Relaxing on the dock at the Lake Atitlan

Volcano Santiago on lake Atitlan

The Main Plaza in Tikal

We rode on a lot of buses.

Lower Pools in Semuc Champey. Where the river returns from under the ground.

Cool tree in Semuc Champey

No Caption Needed

Our Bungalow at the Lake

View of the Volcano San Pedro from the boardwalk on the lake.

Winter camping and Kessler East/West Couloir Combo

A Bengal tiger in the White Room.

The weekend of March 23-24 was a good one in the Wasatch. After spending most of January, February, and March starved of big storms, one finally came through and dumped a few feet on the mountains from Wednesday into Saturday. 

Cardiff Peak Winter Camping

Wednesday night Tad, Cole, and I got out and tested our winter camping skills on top of Cardiff Peak before descending "Two Tree" down in the AM in time for class at 9:00 am. The first wave of the storm hit in the early morning 1-2 AM and made for a pretty miserable night. Its hard to stay dry in a bivy sack @ 10k in a snowstorm. My 32* degree bag was struggling to keep me warm, and the faceted snow we dug a platform on was a terrible surface for sleeping. Uncomfortable is relative however, my bivy sac atleast kept me completely enclosed from the snow and wind. Tad's bivy sack only had a mesh face screen. All misery aside the snow in the morning was incredible, and the run down the "Two Tree" gully is always a fun one.

Kessler E/W Combo

With the storm finally on its way out after 2-3 feet in upper BCC/LCC Brian, Cole, and I headed up Kessler with the intention of skiing the East and West couloirs. We did just that and added a quick run down the Catcher's Mitt too. Note if anyone ever reads this for information...... the west couloir has a little cliff band at the bottom. In big snow years this may be continuous but on this day sitting at about (330 inches) it required a little bit of technical scrambling down the skiers right side.

Here are some pictures from the Catcher's Mitt and a short video of some turns and scenery.

Brian heading up the Catcher's Mitt

Cole and Brian taking a break on the ridge.