Sometimes, you just need a good smack upside the head to look at reality. When it comes to ski season, that reality blurs and those of us unwilling to let winter go keep skiing until there isn’t a shred of snow left. A few good days of spring corn keep us going back for more,…
Tag: trip report
Summer skiing in the Uinta Mountains
Summer is a sad time of year for skiers. But what we lose in snow, powder turns and cold air, we gain in having a brief window to ski a place we can’t otherwise access. The Uinta Mountains is one such place. The Mirror Lake Highway, the main artery through the Unitas that goes from…
Trip Report: backcountry skiing the Wellsville Mountains
There is so much backcountry ski terrain along the Wasatch Front, it’s super easy to explore world-class terrain right in our own backyards. But somehow, certain areas, despite their ease-of-access, get overlooked. The Wellsville Mountains above the Logan Valley are one such place, but there’s no reason for it. These mountains are steep (supposedly the…
Backcountry skiing Lake Peak and Red Baldy
Spring backcountry skiing often means that approach routes are bare dirt, mud or even green grass. But one place that still hold snow from the car to the peaks is White Pine in Little Cottonwood Canyon. This high-elevation canyon is a corn-mecca with mountains like Red Stack, Lake Peak, Red Baldy and White Baldy all…
Backcountry skiing Lewiston Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains
The road ahead is rocky, rutted, steep, muddy, snowy and treacherous. Taking a deep breath, I put my older-model Nissan Pathfinder into 4×4 low, and slowly crawl up the mountainside. I’m nervous, but Adam’s enthusiasm about the Pathfinder’s off-road capability convinces me to drive a mile beyond the trailhead parking lot on a route that…
Boards and Bikes: Backcountry skiing Haystack Mountain in Moab
Moab is the world’s mountain biking mecca, so it’s no surprise that we draw stares from people when rolling down Main Street with skis on the rack. Well, spring is the season to both mountain bike and ski in red rock country, so the full suspensions are on the rack as well. On this trip,…
Oquirrh spring skiing on Lowe Peak
The Oquirrh Mountains, Salt Lake City’s “other” range on the west side of the city, is like the redheaded stepchild that gets no love compared to the Wasatch. But despite the range’s confusing access because of an obscene amount of private property, and very little in the way of developed trail heads and general information,…
Backcountry skiing Lone Peak
Lone Peak is one of those iconic, Wasatch mountains that just begs to be skied. If you look at her from the south as she rises high above the town of Alpine, gigantic ramps of south-facing slopes call out. Every time I drove north from Utah County in the winter, I would promise myself to…
Backcountry skiing Box Elder Peak
Years ago, on a mission to ski/rappel down the Northwest Couloir of The Pfeifferhorn, I first laid eyes on Box Elder Peak. After a long ascent up Red Pine Canyon in Little Cottonwood, my touring partners and I crested the ridge above Dry creek Canyon, and beheld I sight I didn’t know existed. If you’ve…
Backcountry skiing from the Castle Peak Yurt
Utah has dozens of mountain yurts, and I’ve stayed at many of them. From the Snorkeling Elk Yurt in the Tushar Mountains, to the Steam Mill Yurt in the Bear Rivers, I’ve sampled both the good and bad in terrain and yurt amenities. But my favorite yurt of all, by far, is the Castle Peak…