Damn has it been warm. Crazy warm. With our last shot of snow a distant memory, and record breaking temperatures making January feel like April, it’s a depressing time to be a backcountry skier in Utah. Even worse, no fresh snow in a while means that even the backcountry is tracked out, and you have to search for soft snow. Good thing is, it’s not hard to find if you know where to look.
Aspect is the key. With east through west-facing slopes covered in crust, Mason and I ventured to Reynolds Peak in Mill D North Fork in Big Cottonwood Canyon where we would be happy to find even a shred of powder. The north-facing trees off Reynolds are usually a safe bet, and sure enough, they did not disappoint.
These perfectly-spaced trees of evergreen and aspen are one of my favorite spots to go to during dry spells. Although it is well known and can get tracked out, the sheltered terrain keeps snow soft and deep.
The trees on North Reynolds are mini-golf shots that spill down into Big Water Gulch. In a wide meadow where the slope flattens out at the bottom, it’s an easy skin back up to the Reynolds summit ridge for multiple laps. On this day, we skied one run from just east of the summit proper, then discovered an untracked zone midway up the ridge. It’s a spot that is not well known as everyone passes it by to reach the mountain top. We skied it twice because it was still ripe even weeks after a storm. It was only 400 feet of vertical, but who’s counting when the glade is untracked?
For a home run, we center-punched the main bowl on Reynolds. It’s a line that I rarely ski because its aspect, elevation and slope angle make it notorious for big avalanches. But when the avalanche report is green… well, green means go.
The lesson here is that even if it seems dreadful in the backcountry (and most places it is) there are always pockets of soft powder somewhere. You just have to go explore.