The Abajo Mountains are the red-headed step child of southeastern Utah’s ranges. Everyone gives their love to the La Sal Mountains, and for good reason; they’re beautiful, rugged, offer world-class backcountry skiing, and are darlings of nature photographers as they provide a snow capped backdrop to red rock scenery shots. Meanwhile, the Abajo Mountains (also…
Category: Backcountry
Spandex up for the Wasatch Citizen Skimo Series
Skimo is on the rise in Utah, due in large part to the Wasatch Citizen Skimo Series at Brighton Resort. If you’re a longtime skimo racer, or just skimo-curious, then the Citizen Series is the perfect, low-key venue to check it out. So, what is skimo? Well, “skimo” is short for ski mountaineering. Also-known-as randonee…
Backcountry.com offers Women’s Avalanche Safety Workshop
Avalanche safety instruction is vital when backcountry skiing, and more options for learning pop up every year. Now online gear retailer, backcountry.com, is jumping into the fray by offering more than just gear with their S.A.F.E. A.S. Women’s Intro to Avalanche Safety clinics. Held 4 times in December, these clinics will be led by pro…
Avoiding the backcountry horde at Catherine Pass
Utah backcountry skiers are chomping at the bit. Before ski resorts open, most skin up Alta and Snowbird to get pre-season turns. But with Alta shutting off all uphill traffic on Sunday for opening-day preparations, the bounty of in-bounds skiing and riding was shut off. With a big storm that dropped over a foot of…
Video: 2012-2013 Utah Backcountry Review
Ah, those guys over at the Utah Avalanche Center sure know how to take a serious thing like avalanches and make them lighthearted and fun. Well, more avalanche forecaster Craig Gordon than anyone else. Of course he doesn’t really take slides lightly, but for the past few years, he and his cohort, Trent Meisenheimer, compiled…
Wasatch Backcountry Alliance gives voice to human-powered recreation
When I attended a screening of the new Powderwhore’s movie, “Elevation” at Brewvies, I sauntered by a table covered in stickers that said Wasatch Backcountry Alliance. Intrigued, and always a sucker for free stickers, I ended up talking to the folks and immediately signed up to become a member. So what is it? The Wasatch…
Eric Ghanem skis Gunsight at Alta in September
It’s crazy. A very, very early winter storm dumped 6 inches of snow on Alta, and insane skiers thought that was enough to drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon and make some turns. One of those skiers, our good friend Eric Ghanem, even went so far as to ski Gunsight. A bunch of that new snow…
Make plans for the Utah Avalanche Center Fall Fundraiser
Finally! I get so excited in August for ski season, because all the teases start. The first issue of Power Magazine comes in the mail, ski movie trailers hit the Internet, and the annual Utah Avalanche Center Fall Fundraiser Party is announced. This season marks the 20th year of the fundraiser at the Black Diamond…
July 4th in Alta: America and coreshots
The 4th is glorious, and it is great. But it’s also sweaty and crowded. Sometimes jamming into a public arena with half the valley to swap “oohs and aahs” over exploding ordinances as the temps just drop below 90 is less than attractive. Whiny me. So this year on the 4th, as they often do,…
On skiing’s end in the Uinta Mountains
I have a love/hate relationship with spring. Scratch that. I hate spring. I love mountains, but only with snow on them. Spring takes the snow away. I hate that. As such, I try to eek out as much skiing as possible as the snow melts to prolong the season. But there comes a time when…