Finally! After weeks of record-breaking warm temperatures for December in Utah, winter has arrived… again. With plummeting temperatures and 14 inches of new snow in upper Little Cottonwood Canyon, the skiing is exponentially better. With a fresh coat of fluffy snow on everything, Alta is a veritable winter wonderland right now. On Sunday, powder fever had become an epidemic as crowds converged on Alta, and the backcountry was lousy with touring parties.
Since Little Cottonwood Canyon got around 5 inches more than the rest of the Central Wasatch, Mason Diedrich and I skinned up Grizzly Gulch (with thousands of other skiers and splitboarders who had the same idea.) Despite the lack of solitude, we found plenty of fresh lines off the Brighton side of Twin Lakes Pass, and in the trees below Patsey Marley.
The snow was right-side up… a Goldilocks storm, with heavy snow falling first, followed by cold, light flakes on top. While the turns were soft and relatively deep, the snowpack is still shallow as we hit plenty of rocks near the crest of Twin Lakes Pass. First, we skied down to Twin Lakes, where multiple tracks has already been carved into the new snow. We found an untracked line to the left of the main gully. The new snow was shallow here and we sunk down to a crusty layer beneath.
After skinning back up to the pass, we ascended the ridge line to Patsey Marley. The mountain’s north face was very rocky, with stone gardens sticking out and old avalanche debris littered everywhere. Although low angle, the trees below Patsey Marley were very fun in the new snow. We made quick turns, jumped off terrain features, and passed dozens of large touring parties on the way back to the car.
It is so good to see winter return to the Wasatch. May it last the rest of the season.