The Coalpit

The Utah Transplants have made it to the Coalpit Headwall - and they can't stop going back!

We've been trying to ski the Coalpit Headwall for three years!

http://utahtransplants.blogspot.com/2014/03/getting-to-coalpit-headwall-is-tough.html

We failed twice to reach the head wall. Mostly because  2/3 of our group is from locations that don't have mountains or snow (Virginia and Texas). We eventually became moderately efficient at moving around on snow - and actually made it to the head wall, only to spend hours in the <10 foot visibility.

We've decided on the Bell's Canyon approach after our numerous attempts. While not direct @ 6 miles and 5800' - it's non-technical, so the only thing that can stop you is yourself. Which almost happened on this attempt - skinning w/ one powder basket is twice as hard.

The second best approach from a effort stand point is Coalpit direct. The downside to this approach is the avalanche exposure. It exists from all aspects at all times.

Brian skis out the apron. We were able to ski the middle line and the narrower gully lookers right. The Coalpit exit has extreme avalanche exposure from the sides of the gully - be very wary of making a late spring exit in this lower area. Name of the game is to start early - because the lower 500' before the waterfall is a dangerous place with warming snow. A good refreeze is key too - in order to bridge the creek all the way to the waterfall.

Brian nears the Coalpit from upper Bell's Canyon.

Usually in early May we have found snow and switched to skins at the upper Bell's waterfall.

This hand line seemed safer a week earlier w/ Cole. Much snow melted between then and our next trip. This is a much delayed post - from our early May exploits. Happy ski season. See you next year.

Neffs Canyon - Thomas Fork, Aborted Whipple, Hobbs Chute

Transplants + Nick went to ski the Whipple Couloir via Neff's Canyon.

Neff's Canyon is new to our group - but has been very well received due to its proximity to downtown and complex/rocky terrain as seen (below).

The Couloirs pictured here behind this gnarled tree jumped to the top of our list.

Brian preparing to ski Hobb's Chute.

Brian changing over at the top of the Whipple Couloir - too much sun was warming the south making the Whipple seem like a bad idea.

Hobb's Couloir from across the drainage.

Me in Hobb's. We dug several pits in this couloir ~8800 ft ENE, and noted a snowpack of 140-180 cm. With the exception of one localized spot under a pocket of small trees - we found rounding wet facets at the ground and were unable to activate the slab on these ground facets. We also probed several areas to gain an understanding of the snowpack depth.

We saw similar results on due N ~9200 ft except the deptch was 160-200 cm.

We have been into Neff's a few times before this winter. Most notably when Brian and I decided to extend a quick after work hike that started in Millcreek to around 1 AM. Dani called Cole to rescue us.

Nick below sking below the awesome rock slab that forms Hobb's Chute.

Thanks Nick for taking a lot of awesome pictures. We hope to ski with you again soon.

Birthday/Tri/Lake Chutes and Neff's Canyon

Skiing has been good to start the new year. First weekend back from Christmas activities. Brian, Cole, and myself went out to check it out. Above, quick powder basket repair.

We headed out to our favorite White Pine spots. Brian sported some new lightweight skinny skis by movement  - that seemed to ski pretty well.

Lap #2 of 3 up the Red Stack shoulder. Clouds were in and out all day making visibility a challenge.

This was one of our first big days of the year. We logged >6K of vert - Brian's knee keeps getting stronger.

Next Day - Cole and I headed over to Red Pine to approach the Lake Chute.

Skies cleared - and we were treated with incredible scenery.

(Below) Cole on top of Lake Peak. Off to the right in the sun is Red Stack the mountain that we skied on Saturday.

Remarkable timing led to this photo capture.

The Lake Chute. Utah Transplants favorite ski run!

The following weekend we explored one of the canyons off the valley floor "Neffs".

There was a lot of pre-storm wind and graupel blowing in - but the settled snow still skied well.

Some of the views from the ridgline shared w/ Big Cottonwood were really cool.

We spent a long time on the ridge exploring and doing snowpack analysis before skiing back out.

Want to get back up there soon!

Triple Traverse

 In September - Cole asked me to attempt the WURL - Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup

http://jasondorais.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-wurl.html

Cole in Stairs Gulch during a WURL preparation scramble

I did not want to do the WURL for the obvious reasons- but settled on a compromise. We would instead turn the ~25 miles of ridge hiking into a 2-day adventure broken up by a stay at one of Snowbird's lodges. We would also cut out the section of ridge from Cardiff Pass to the Tram. We would call this the WSWURL "Weak Sauce WURL". Needless to say we completed about 30% of the WSWURL - and have a long way to go to complete the WURL in its entirety.

Cole - Twin Peaks looking into LCC

To get myself ready - I started doing non-sensical things - like running at Liberty Park in the dark before work, a 5k followed by a day of DH biking, scrambling rock faces, climbing mountains. I even bought a pair of shoes that were billed for walking around on rocks!

Me - Twin Peaks with the city in the background

 Needless to say - I left a lot of good fall biking on the table.

We made it up Twin Peaks quickly and were moving fast towards Sunrise. All the training was paying off. However, it was not the fitness that ultimately had me worried - it was the scrambling.

Sunrise Peak

 There were two sections of the BCC ridge that had me concerned. The first was the section heading up Sunrise and the next was Monte Cristo. This concern was the reason I sought out several rock scrambling adventures prior.

Pano

However, what ultimately got me was the extended section of ridge line from the top of Tanner's slide path to the Little Pine Couloir. This section was slightly downhill for a sustained distance and knife edge. The fact that we spent much of this section not going up made it very difficult.

Tanner's Slide Path to LCC road

I was mentally exhausted when we reached the Little Pine Couloir -  and not feeling up for an attempt on the Monte Cristo section. We decided to bail towards BCC and Lake Blanche.

Time to bail

 Once I get a chance to do the Monte Cristo section I can confirm, but bailing was likely more difficult than continuing. ~3 hours later we made it down several cliff bands to Lake Blanche.

Somewhere above Lake Blanche

Lake Blanche is awesome.

Mount Nebo Wasatch High Point

Mount Nebo is the highest peak in the Wasatch at 11928'.

Above is a pano of Pole Line basin seen from the north. The couloirs on the left, "Champagne" and "Northwest" are the popular ski runs. 

Unfortunately the great snow conditions were negated by very limited visibility and new snow instability. Instead of skiing the peak we were relegated to the lower basin.

Above is a shot of Brian on the long bush"schwack' to the car. No one said it was easy.

Not wanting the season to end, I was able to come back the next week to a different scene with friends Keith and Matt. After a week of high pressure and 80* valley temps the winter wonderland was a thing of the past. Above is a shot of the peak from the 4 x 4 road.



With better knowledge of the lay of the land we were able to make good time to the lower basin in our tennis shoes. We then switched to skins until finally boot pack in the lower NW couloir.



Matt topping out on the NW Couloir.



On top there was another 200 ft of talus fields to the summit, where we lounged and took in the views. I scoped out the entrance to the "Champagne" on the opposite summit ridge. It was mostly void of snow.

Looking South on the summit.

Looking North on the summit.

Back at the NW couloir we took what is likely the last run of our season. 

It was 80* in Mona when we finished. Here is a parting shot of the mountain.

Back in SLC - Dani, Caitlin, and I packed up for a quick overnight in Emigration Canyon.

Secluded hiking and camping minutes from downtown SLC.