After a massive snowstorm that dumped 5 feet of powder in the Wasatch on Christmas week of 2015, hordes of backcountry skiers tracked everything out that was low angle and safe. (High avalanche danger kept the smart ones off open bowls.) A week later, without any new snow, untracked slopes in the Wasatch became scarce….
Tag: trip report
Backpacking to Cuberant Lake
Autumn is upon us, and backpacking trips to the Uinta Mountains may soon be in short supply. If you want to squeeze in a quick overnight trip, but don’t want to skimp on the scenery, Cuberant Lake may be just the trip you’re looking for. A short but stern hike leads to a uniquely shaped…
Kings Peak – hiking to the top of Utah
Kings Peak is the tallest mountain in Utah, so climbing to the summit is a rite of passage for any hiker living in the state. All serious hikers around the country have one thing in common: an insatiable desire to climb the highest peak in the state they live in. Standing atop the king of…
Spring skiing at closed Solitude
Last Sunday, I skied at Alta’s “first last day” with the full intention of it being the final day of the season. But a late-April shot of snow in the Wasatch gave us another foot or so of powder, and my skis in the basement started calling out to me through the heater vents. So…
Backcountry skiing at Idaho’s Coyote Yurt
Backcountry skiing from yurts is among my favorite things to do in the winter months. And my favorite place to go isn’t in Utah, but in Idaho at one of the Sun Valley Trekking yurts in the Sawtooth National Forest. This year, we booked the Coyote Yurt, known for its access to 2,000-foot descents through…
Backcountry turns on Super Bowl Sunday
It’s pretty much tradition at UtahOutside to go skiing on Super Bowl Sunday. This year was no different as we joined Ron Hall and Jamey Parks from Salomon to make some backcountry turns at Alta, and test out the new Salomon MTN LAB touring boots. It seems Juneuary is continuing into February, which mean we…
Backcountry Skiing Whitewater, British Columbia
One of the greatest joys of being a skier is the ability to explore mountain ranges you’ve never been to before. Sometimes the only way to rediscover your home range is to branch out and get lost in a new, wild place. So myself, along with Adam Symonds and Jon Strickland, loaded up the Yurt…
Hiking Upper Muley Twist and the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park
The Waterpocket Fold is one of the most unique geological features in Utah. A nearly 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth’s crust, the Waterpocket Fold offers stunning views of the classic Wingate and Navajo sandstone formations. And because it’s in a remote section of a lightly-visited park, it offers great hiking without crowds, especially if you go in winter….
Winter returns to the Wasatch!
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…
Boney backcountry skiing on Brighton Hill
Here we go again. The Wasatch is under a massive ridge of high pressure and temperatures were in the 50’s in the Salt Lake Valley on December 7th. Backcountry skiing outside Brighton was an effort in snow seeking, as the avalanche danger had calmed down, but the powder was nowhere to be found. Mason Diedrich…