Backcountry skiing No Name Bowl on the Park City Ridgeline
No Name Bowl, located on the Park City Ridgeline, is a lesser known backcountry ski area that tends to play second fiddle to places like South Monitor or Radar Love. There’s no reason for this, however, since this little gem is just as easy to access from Big Cottonwood Canyon, features a nice pitch, wide open lines, and a quick skin up a ridge so you can go back for more.
Steven Clark makes a lap in No Name Bowl on the Park City Ridgeline.
No Name is directly to the east of South Monitor, separated by a ridge covered in thick pine trees. It sees less traffic, mostly because it’s a bit hidden from view while skinning on the Park City Ridgeline. As soon as you gain the ridge from Willow Fork, for example, The Monitors slap you in the face and say, “ski me!” But to find No Name Bowl, you have to lose vertical by skiing down the shoulder that separates No Name from South Monitor. That’s a difficult thing for anybody to do after working so hard to gain quality vert.
Eric Ghanem makes turns in the wide-open No Name Bowl.
Although it’s the redheaded stepchild of the Monitors, No Name still has great skiing. The snow is kept soft and protected on a shady aspect, and the pitch starts out steep but mellows into cruising turns toward the bottom. Avalanche danger is always a problem in No Name Bowl, mostly due to high winds on the exposed upper face, though it’s not as notorious of a slider as The Monitors which avalanches every time a skier sneezes.
The skin track above No Name Bowl, just below Radar Love.
There are many ways to get to No Name Bowl, but by far, access from Willow Fork in Big Cottonwood Canyon seems to be most popular. A quick skin up the ridge between Willow Heights and USA Bowl across from Solitude will take you to the Park City Ridgeline at the top of South Monitor. To the east is a cluster of communication towers known affectionately as “Radar Love.” Head for the towers. Once there, ski north down the almost flat pitch on the ridge east of South Monitor. No Name Bowl will appear on the right.
Although No Name Bowl isn’t a destination backcountry ski area, it can (and should) be incorporated into a Park City Ridgeline tour. A great day would be to ski West Monitor, then make your way east by hitting South Monitor, then No Name Bowl. Exiting by USA Bowl in Big Cottonwood back to the car caps off time well spent in the Wasatch backcountry.
As always, bring a beacon, probe, shovel and a buddy when venturing into the backcountry, and go with a knowledge of avalanche safety. No Name Bowl is in dangerous avalanche terrain and can be deadly during unstable snowpack conditions. Check the Utah Avalanche Center’s daily report before heading out.
Related Article: Backcountry Skiing South Monitor
UTAH outside
Promote Your Page Too
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by UtahOutsideChic, Utah Outside. Utah Outside said: It doesn't have a name because skiers want to keep it secret. No Name Bowl is revealed: http://fb.me/LICUoB3J [...]