Granted, this easy access doesn’t come without its challenges. It seems that too many skiers and boarders slip into the uncontrolled backcountry without a worry in the world. Sadly, many “backcountry” avalanche incidents have in fact been in fact ignorant sidecountry adventures gone awry. So, just because the access comes easy (a $12 single ride ticket for us), it doesn’t mean you should let your guard down or go into those areas uninformed and ill-prepared. Phew… got that out of the way.

Sitting in the parking lot of Brighton, we contemplated our touring options. Converging on the Millicent ticket booth, we had intended to ride up the Millicent Lift and ski in the area near Mt. Wolverine, but we couldn’t get anyone to sell us a lift ticket. Nobody seemed interested in swiping our plastic, so we changed plans and headed towards the main base area where we purchased our tickets and headed for the Great Western Lift.

Backcountry gates from the top of the Great Western Lift accesses the Big Cottonwood/Park City ridgeline with several North and Northeast-facing shots off the backside of Clayton Peak and Peak 10,420 just to the North of Clayton Peak. Slipping out the gate, we traversed to the East, then made our way down the ridgeline and to the saddle between Clayton Peak and Peak 10,420.

After a quick skin to the summit of Peak 10,420, we ended up dropping into the North-facing pines down towards the basin just above Bloods Lake. That would serve as our endpoint as we then completed another lap into the sparse pines. Conditions were pretty good with crust layers here and there, but mostly consistent boot-deep and turnable snow on all North and Northeast aspects.

After summiting for the third time, the sun was getting pretty low and we all needed to get on with the evening, so we dropped back into the West-facing drainage just to the North of Brighton–landing us back at the Great Western Lift after the long, easy traverse. Not too bad for a couple of hours on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

An early-morning start at the Brighton parking lot was the launching point with the intended route deep in the mind of my buddy, Rich Lambert (he scaled the South ridge of Mt. Superior a few weeks back).  I trusted his instincts and we ended up hitting every shot as intended and making great time in the process.

We skinned up the groomers until we split out onto the well-trod skintrack up towards Catherine’s Pass. The track was efficient and fast, thanks to whoever laid it this time! Previous skintracks haven’t been so efficient. We made it to Lake Catherine just as the sun started peeking above the ridgeline.

If you’ve never seen a Wasatch sunrise in winter, then it’s about time you did. It is always one of the most amazing experiences as you watch the sun crest over the peaks.

From the top of Catherine’s, we could see the tracked-out runs at Alta Ski Area as we traversed and climbed our way to the top of Mt. Wolverine. Once there, we ripped skins and dropped into the Northeast flank of Mt. Wolverine where we were met with our first turns of the day and an understanding of which aspects to ski. A hefty sun-crust covered anything but the true North-facing aspects–thankfully all turns from that point on would be on shaded North-facing slopes.

These initial turns were good enough to bring on the stoke as we then traversed to the top of Stupid Chute.  Conditions were a little wind-whipped, but chalky at the top.

Once beyond the apron at the bottom of Stupid Chute, we were greeted with creamy pow and some surprisingly-light stuff here and there.

At Twin Lakes, it was time to slap the skins back on and ascend to Twin Lakes Pass and continue up to Honeycomb Cliffs and Fantasy Ridge. From there, the intent was to stick to the North-facing aspects as much as possible. We found the best turning conditions of the day within the widely-spaced pines down into Silver Fork from Fantasy Ridge cliffs. Our tired legs felt rejuvenated as we yelped our way down the 1200 vertical feet of knee-deep blower pow.

All that was left was a long track out Silver Fork and into the base of Solitude where we loaded up for home and 12:00 pm on-the-dot. Not bad for a half-day in the Wasatch. See below for a rough map of the route.

There’s a bit of mystic surrounding Square Top. Perhaps it’s because of the couple who were tragically killed in an avalanche in the winter of 99-00. Perhaps it’s because it’s notorious for sliding. But if you get a chance to hit it when it’s good, well, trust me – it’s good! After receiving a foot of the good stuff a small posse of Canyons locals nailed it, 3 times. Our buddy Johnny was there to snap this photo, after taking the lone ranger line to the skiers left. Which line would you like to ski?

Every time we hit the backcountry, I feel in awe of nature… its beauty and its unchecked fury. That’s a good feeling to have in the backcountry, because the second you get cocky and think you have it all dialed in is the second that you get into trouble.

Now, back to the point, aside from all the training and gear, the most important aspect of backcountry skiing is the people you ski with. Pick your touring partners carefully, but always be willing to show the ropes to someone new.

Safe backcountry travel is a skill that’s best learned with friends. Honestly, nothing is better than skinning up a slope alongside your bros, carefully picking a line and skiing it. The camaraderie built in the backcountry is unique, but most of all, the skiing can always be phenomenal.

As I always say, skiing groomers and most in-bounds terrain is just practice for when the powder comes. Because when the powder comes, you don’t want to miss it. The backcountry will keep powder longer and allow you to ski deep, untracked lines days after a storm.

It all comes with a price, however. Be smart out there… no run is worth putting your life or your friend’s life in jeopardy. Be safe and enjoy the bounties that can only be found in the backcountry.

This video was taken a few years after we stopped teaching at The Canyons, which was in 1998. Even though there’s a million-dollar home at the base of 12:30, we still love our little stash.

[quicktime]http://www.feedthehabit.com/videos/ski/twelveThirty1.mov[/quicktime]

On a recent spring powder day, this is how it went down…

So I didn’t get on the gondola until 9:25 and was thinking it was done. I’d missed the window and every local had come out of the woodwork to nail this spring powder day. I figured if I headed to Condor I’d still have a chance at getting some left over powder.

From the top of the Gondola we (Tim, buddy Sean, Nick and myself) headed off to Lookout, got off and headed right towards The Drain. I had seen The Drain a week or so before and had thought about nailing it the next powder day since I hadn’t skied it yet this year.The Drain was epic, 4th or 5th person into it. The whole way down I’m thinking to myself, “Man, this is too good to be true. Where is everyone skiing?”

We arrived at Condor and there’s not a soul to be seen. I’m looking around thinking, “Is this open?”
With a shrug of the shoulders and a nod to the lifty in the shack, we hoped on.

There’s not a soul in sight still. Nobody coming down Flume, just a few people standing up there at base of Snow Canyon. As we ride Condor we can’t help but notice that there’s not a single track on Apex.

Confusion is setting in until at the point when we’re about ½ way up Condor we look down to Snow Canyon just in time to hear a huge ROAR and to see the patrol dropping the rope. Following that is a Chinese Downhill towards Condor. We all look at each other and we bust up laughing and cheering as we realize that we’ve just scored better than first chair. We’re like T minus 40th chair. This is a dream.

We arrive at the top and make a quick b-line down Apex. To our left we see that Aplande is done (6-7 tracks from the one chair in front of us that had 4 people and some greedy patrol). The game plan is now set: I’m on a b-line to Thrasher. As I dive in I see that I’m the 2nd person into Thrasher.

It’s bottomless, blower, waist deep, sick, nothing but Utah’s famous light and dry. Over half way down I shoot a glance to my left and up to see my fellow partners in crime as they rob the masses of their deserved first tracks, the ones they so patiently and faithfully waited for while we inadvertently “snuck” on Condor.

So there we were, the 4 of us heading down Boa to the lift again with not a soul in sight, grinning ear to ear. I’m thinking to myself, “I bet those people on the lift right now are looking at us coming down Boa and are thinking to themselves that they didn’t get up early enough for first tracks.” Funny thing is, I didn’t get up early either.

Guess this time the early bird didn’t get the worm…I did!

Buy Now: Search for Powder Skis

OB at The Canyons opens a new world to an already sizeable and varied inbounds offering. During the winter of 1999, Kendall Card and I spent much of our spare time hiking OB. We hiked and skied lines with untracked pow days after storms when inbounds was bumped out and littered with Texans.

This season, Ken and Brigham Graff have, once again, been working at The Can. I graduated and decided to start working for real, so Saturday has been my only guaranteed ski day-except for, ahhhem, sick days. They have skied The Thirty plenty of times and always call my office from their cell phones just before dropping in.

Let me tell you about Twelve-Thirty. The first time Ken and I skied it, he made 30 turns to my 12 and it was just past 12:30 pm. As we stood at the bottom admiring our artwork, we knew just what to call her, Twelve-Thirty. At any chance we could, we’d hike back there and ski it’s perfect pitch. We love her.

Obviously, this run means more to us than it ever will to you, but every true skier has his or her stash that they protect and revere like a good friend. The sad thing is that The Canyons is expanding into that pristine backcountry area. Twelve-Thirty will soon be spoon-fed to the masses of vacationers from Texas or Georgia who will turn it’s perfect, usually untracked slope into an obstacle course of uneven bumps. We will be forced to hike elsewhere.

Brig, Ken and I gathered to ski Twelve-Thirty for what may be the last time-at least as a backcountry stash. We brought the video and still digi’s to document our last respects to our backcountry friend. I’d like to share that day with you using the video and stills we took.

I’m all for modernizing our ski resorts, but there’s a point where enough is enough and expansion must stop. We can’t spoon-feed the goods to the masses-anything good in life is worth working hard for. That’s what we did… here’s the video evidence.

By the way, guess what time we skied it… 12:30 on the button!