Backcountry skiing has seen a popularity explosion in recent years, and a sure indicator of this is the current trend of ski companies releasing their own lines of alpine touring ski gear. In the fall of 2010, Salomon will enter the backcountry with new additions their Salomon Quest all mountain ski boots. There will be six…
Tag: backcountry
“Overconfidence Kills” means backcountry skiing an unnamed Wasatch peak
The North Fork of Mill D in Big Cottonwood Canyon is a very popular backcountry skiing area. Dozens of groups skin up this side canyon to get to places like Reynolds Peak, Big and Little Water and Powder Park. But a good place to avoid the crowds is an unnamed peak near Desolation Lake sometimes…
Photo essay: backcountry skiing White Pine
White Pine, located in Little Cottonwood Canyon just down the highway from Snowbird, is a massive valley surrounded by huge bowls, dramatic cliff-covered peaks, and lower elevation slopes filled with pine and aspen trees. There are several options when skiing White Pine. You can skin all the way to the top where couloirs await on…
Powder Mountain opens new terrain with guided “DMI” tour
Outside ski resort boundaries, there are many ways to ski fresh powder on untouched slopes. Heli and cat skiing are the usual choices, but Powder Mountain is opening up new out-of-bounds terrain with guided tours. The location in question is Wolf Canyon, known by “those in the know” as DMI (as in “Don’t Mention It.”)…
2010 Wasatch PowderKeg backcountry ski race
The Wasatch PowderKeg is the premiere backcountry ski race in Utah. But a lot of changes have been made for the 2010 event. New this year, the race starts and finishes at Brighton (instead of Alta as in previous years.) Also, a new splitboard division has been added to the competition lineup. The race division, the course this season is 8.9 miles with…
Practice avalanche transceiver skills at beacon training parks
Imagine you are in a group of five people touring the Wasatch backcountry. Then, the unthinkable happens and an avalanche sweeps everybody away, burying them under heavy snow. You are the only one standing and it’s up to you to find and save your friends who will likely suffocate in 15 minutes. This is a…
Video: Wasatch backcountry skiing 2010 season
The Utah 2009-10 ski season may have been less than desirable as compared to previous years, but if one knew where to look, then lots of powder could be found in the Wasatch backcountry while the resorts looked bare as a bone. Despite the lack of blower powder shots during epic dumps, there were still…
Clik Elite SLR ChestPack review
Photography has been one of my passions for years, which I guess is good since it’s what I do for a living. But even during my off time I always have a camera at the ready in case I see a cool shot. Recreating in the Utah outdoors presents uncountable opportunities for photography, especially while backcountry skiing in the Wasatch Mountains. For years I used a small point-and-shoot digital camera on ski-tour excursions, but those types of cameras never had the chops to capture good photos of my friends skiing by. Frustrated by too many images of skier’s backsides exiting the frame, I decided I needed a digital SLR, pronto.
The Dude abides at The Big LePowSki 2010
The Big LePowSki, despite the creative reference to the cult-classic movie, “The Big Lebowski,” can’t be any further from what “The Dude” would probably consider a good time. Something tells me the Jeff Bridges character would rather go bowling with a White Russian in hand than go skiing, although the bath robe may be an awesome-looking outer layer for skiing…
Backcountry skiing the north face of Mount Superior
Mount Superior is a beautiful peak that towers over Alta on the north side of Little Cottonwood Canyon, and the massive south face is one of the most classic backcountry descents in Utah. Often times, when getting a late start on a sunny day, the south face gets baked and wet slide activity becomes a visible concern. So the other option is…