Spring backcountry skiing often means that approach routes are bare dirt, mud or even green grass. But one place that still hold snow from the car to the peaks is White Pine in Little Cottonwood Canyon. This high-elevation canyon is a corn-mecca with mountains like Red Stack, Lake Peak, Red Baldy and White Baldy all ripe for the taking. The ascent route from the White Pine parking lot stays white long into the warm months, but if you have a Snowbird pass, then the backcountry gates in the Gad Valley get you to the goods in a fraction of the time.
My friends and I did just that as we caught an early tram at the ‘bird, and skied down to the now-closed Gad 2 lift and the backcountry access gate. A short booter up to Temptation Ridge found us traversing around lower Red Stack and down into the gut of White Pine in no time. What would have taken a couple hours from the White Pine trailhead was reduced to about a 1/2 hour of easy travel from the Snowbird boundary.
After a short skin up to White Pine Lake, we scoped out Lake Chute on the east side of Lake Peak. It looked good and soft in the morning sun, so we made our way around to the more firm, north face and proceeded to crampon up. The ascent was steep but easy, with only a few rock outcroppings to be negotiated near the top. On the summit, we lounged a bit to let the chute’s snow corn up a bit more and drank in the view of the slide paths across the canyon to the north, the expanse of high peaks like the Pfeifferhorn to the west, and the resort peaks to the east.
Good to go, we one-by-one dropped into the wide chute. Excellent corn gave way under our skis as we found edgeable snow in the upper chute that quickly morphed into slarvy turns that sent chunky rooster tails into the air with every curve.
At the bottom, with plenty of morning left, we decided what to do next. White Baldy looked wind blown and exposed, but Red Baldy beckoned. Decision made, we skinned up to West Pass and traversed the rocky ridge to a sub-peak near the summit of Red Baldy. Along the way, a couloir named “Rock & Roll” looked tasty, so we filed that option into our noggins and continued to the sub-peak summit.
After a Hobbit-like second lunch, a few beers, and another long swig of view drinking, we switched from lounge-mode to ski-mode and went back to the top of Rock & Roll. The upper section hadn’t been in the sun much, even though it was past noon. But after a few turns through the narrow hallway, we opened up our speed in the apron below and cruised wide, massively-fun corn turns all the way down to the bottom of White Pine proper. The descent had us all giddy by the end, and I chalked it up to one of the best ski descents of the year based on the aesthetics of the line, quality of the corn, and the happy enthusiasm of my friends.
The late season exit down White Pine was a bit heinous though, as mashed potatoes bogged our skis down. But coverage was good to the car, which I was very happy to see after so many exits hiking on dirt this year. Indeed, White Pine and her upper peaks like Lake, White Baldy and Red Baldy, are the kings of spring skiing in the Central Wasatch.