Adam was all kinds of excited. It was 3am. We were at a truck stop in Salina, Utah. The Yurt-on-Wheels was loaded up with our ski gear and we were en-route to the La Sal Mountains for some backcountry skiing on Mount Tukuhnikivatz and Mount Mellenthin. But the source of Adam’s excitement wasn’t about the pending ski days, but the fact that this remote, seedy gas station sold coon hats… and they were only $8.
With coon hat firmly in place atop Adam’s noggin, the three of us, including myself and Justin, continued to rally to the Geyser Pass parking lot high above Moab and finally rolled in around 5:30. Exhausted, we caught a few hours of sleep before getting up to ski our first objective – Mount Tukuhnikivatz.
The weather was perfect for a spring ascent of this most famous of Moab’s mountains. From the desert below it appears as a perfect, snow-covered pyramid and draws the eyes of all backcountry skiers. Today was going to be our day to tick Tuk off our wish list.
The skin into Gold Basin was fast and we soon began skinning up Mount Tuk’s main face. There was some debate about using the north ridge as an ascent route, but previous parties already put in a nice track and boot pack up the face to the summit ridge, so we figured it would be a shame to put it to waste. As we climbed, the views of Tuk, Tuk No, and the Talking Mountain Cirque enveloped us. One by one, skiers that summited before us skied down, whooping in delight on creamy corn snow. A couple from Montana made a second lap from the ridge, showing us our future selves as they flowed down the mountainside.
With renewed motivation, we quickly booted to the ridge then up to the summit with Adam, the coon-hat-Davy-Crockett-explorer showing us the way. At the top, our reward was a spinning view of Utah’s red rock desert, Colorado’s mountains to the east, and nothing but deep schmoo below our skis. Despite the warming temperatures and snow that was getting wetter by the minute, we soaked in the fantastic view and drank celebratory beers before switching gears and dropping into Tuk’s Northwest Face.
Skiing Tukuhnikivatz was the most fun I’d ever had in Moab. That says a lot considering I’ve climbed Castleton Tower, mountain biked the Whole Enchilada and the White Rim Trail, and drank mucho excellente beers at the Moab Brewery. But something about the timing, the bluebird skies, the aerobic hike up, the vibe from fellow skiers, and the incomparable views followed by a sweet ski descent of a long sought-after peak made this single adventure percolate to the top of my bro brain as the highlight of my Moab adventure life.
About that run – it was steep. It was carvy corn. It made you feel like you were skiing on the edge of the earth. It went by too fast. Standing at the bottom of the peak in Gold Basin, looking back up at our tracks, all three of us were completely satiated.
Up for more the next morning, we decided to go further north for a less obvious ski peak called Mount Mellenthin. Despite it being a Monday, the parking lot was surprisingly full of skiers with the same ideas in mind – that the La Sals are the place to be for spring skiing. It was telling that most of the skiers we talked to were from Colorado. After exchanging beta with other touring parties, we skinned up Geyser Pass Road past the popular enterance to Gold Basin and were soon by ourselves below Mellenthin’s massive north face.
One thing that stood in the way of our ski objective was the ascent. It looked steep, rocky, and windy. But seeing no other option, we strapped skis to our packs and started booting up the loose scree and styrofoam snow on the peak’s north ridge. The winds threatened to tear us off though, as our skis became sails, pulling us to the side with every gust. I had to plunge my whippet into the snow a few times to stop from losing my footing above a rock-strewn slide-for-life when the wind yanked at my overloaded back.
Above the first steep pitch, the ridge leveled out for easy walking until the final steep push on a scree field to the top. All three of us made it by early afternoon and once again had a few beers as we watched skiers descend Tukuhnikivatz across the range south of our perch. Getting to the top of Mellenthin was much harder and longer than Tuk, so we hoped the skiing would be worth the effort. But about 40 feet of rock hampered access to the main chute off the summit. We had to downclimb to that point before clicking into our bindings. Taking turns, we carefully edged out onto the face, then actively made sweeping turns through the choke onto a gigantic apron.
Once again we skied above the picture-perfect desert in the distance, but only on snow that was wind affected. The turns lacked any softness as those high winds kept the snow cool. But the slabby crust was breakable enough that edges would bite. It was a long run on the second-highest mountain in the La Sals, which is the second-highest range in Utah. If we ran out of reason to make the trek, we could fall back on that.
And that coon hat, well its striped tail proudly flew in the wind with every splitboarding carve Adam made. It was furry. It was warm. And it was the mascot of what turned out to be among the absolute best backcountry ski trips of the season.
Jared. Great adventures still going on . Love reading and see the places you guys are hitting . Adam. ( Davey Crockett) is funny guy with the coon cap. Fits him and his personality well. . Didn’t know he boarded Chat to you later TC
I knew Adam from Mount Royal College in Calgary when he kicked ass on our Cross Country running team. Good to see he’s still crazy as ever!
Hey Kim,
That’s awesome! I’ll be sure to tell Adam you said hello.
Kim, Good to hear from you. I heard that you were still running as hard as ever!!