“You guys know you have to pack out leftovers you pack in, right?” I nod in affirmation as Todd Chamberlain, a guide with Tushar Mountain Tours, loads cases of beer onto a sled. Clearly, he’s doubtful that six guys can put away all these fine microbrews in just two nights. But after running out of beer during our last yurt trip (which forced us to drink cheap box wine) my friends and I aren’t taking any chances. The fact that Todd is towing our brewskis behind a snowmobile gives us even more incentive to splurge, and we are dead-set on packing away the beers instead of packing them out.
Our destination is the Puffer Lake Yurt in the Tushar Mountains outside of Beaver in central Utah. It’s one of two yurts operated by Tushar Mountain Tours which includes the Snorkeling Elk Yurt. Both winter shelters are the highest in the state, and access remote backcountry skiing on high-alpine peaks that rival the Wasatch, Uintas and La Sal Mountains in terms of elevation. Puffer Lake Yurt is the lower (and smaller) of the two, where backyard skiing on City Creek Peak is just a 30-minute skin away.
After Todd motors up the snow-covered road with our gear and beer, we follow his sled tracks on skis and skins for only 2.5 miles to the yurt. It’s got to be the shortest approach to a backcountry skiing yurt in Utah, and the scant distance is most welcome as it gives us more daylight to ski. After showing us around the place and laying out ground rules (lean plywood against the outhouse door, make sure the stove pipe isn’t falling apart, etc) we head up City Creek Peak for a short afternoon tour to scope out the lines and aspects we want to ski for the next three days.
Climbing to the summit of City Creek Peak is remarkably easy. Simply switchback from the yurt southeast on a small ascent through an evergreen forest to the undulating summit ridge, then follow it northeast all the way to the top. Today, the wind is howling (typical for the Tushars) so we don’t dally on the peak. But we stay just long enough to choose the majestic east face as tomorrow’s objective. This evening, the west face will get us back to the yurt, and this line is no slouch either. Open faces alternating with tree shots, gullies, shoulders, and playful terrain features are all on the menu here. We take turns skiing the steep upper terrain, then descend together on safer slopes. With unseasonably warm weather for February, the snow is corn in the sun and powder in the shade. The line dumps us out at Cullen Creek Road, where we break trail southeast back up to the yurt.
Yurt living is pretty simple, and at the Puffer Lake Yurt, simple means downright spartan. There isn’t much to do but drink beer, make dinner, melt snow for water, chop wood, and just hang out while music plays on portable speakers. Mason Diedrich and Eric Ghanem prepare a savory barbecue salmon pasta, while Adam Symonds procures a whole peach pie that he carried, unscathed, in his pack. Somehow, we always eat better on yurt trips than we do at home.
The next morning we slowly get ready to ski. An overnight refreeze means the snow is crusted, and the sun needs time to work its magic. But when we do make it atop City Creek Peak by 11, the east face has turned into perfect corn. One by one, we drop in and make huge turns on edgeable snow for nearly 1,000 vertical feet. Mike DeBernardo explains that corn as smooth as this rivals even the best powder day. After a run of such quality, I’m inclined to agree. Quickened by the excellence, we hurry back to the top, where we have lunch and drink summit brews in the sun before dropping in for lap two.
That second lap is even better than the first as solar effect has softened the snow even more. We whoop and holler while flying down the mountainside, careful not to cross our old tracks. The east face now completely tracked out, we skin back to the summit ridge and traverse southwest in search of a new aspect with enough sun-bake to ski. We find it on an open, south-facing slope. I drop in, and dig my ski edges into creamy corn that shoots my tails out after every turn. The face spills down toward a large rock feature, where I veer left into a narrow gully that acts like a natural halfpipe. While the line isn’t as photo-worthy as City Creek’s east face, the snow quality makes this the best run of the day, and at the bottom, Eric, Mike and I high five with satisfaction before skinning back up to the ridge for a final ski down to the yurt.
On our final day, Jonny Monstrola and Adam take off early to poach the hot tub at Eagle Point Resort, while Mike, Eric and I skin back up the mountain for a quick morning lap. But instead of going left back up to the top of City Creek Peak, we go right and follow the Skyline Trail route along the ridge to a northeast-facing glade where we found oodles of protected powder. Weaving through the trees, I played slalom with the pines. Lower down, the powder transitioned to morning corn on a sunny face that was cooked to perfection. He laughed at our good fortune and timing as we ripped down the final pitch to the flats below. It was our best run of the trip and we could not remember ever having so much variety in one run where cold, recrystalized powder lead to some of the most edible corn snow one could hope to ski.
As for all that beer, I’m ashamed to admit that we didn’t even come close to finishing it all, and for the first time ever, we had to pack several full cans out to the trailhead.
To reserve your trip to the Puffer Lake Yurt, check them out online at SkiTusher.com