Tag Archive for 'steep'

Pinball Alley (and Friends)

Published on May 14, 2012 by a ok.

Pinball Alley. Not a very wide alley.

Landed a decent photo of Pinball Alley when I was on Cardiff Peak with J-Bo last week, and it looked continuous upon inspection. Why wait? The days aren’t getting any shorter or colder. I proferred ski options during the invite process. Jason offered his own, suggesting ‘continuous pow.’ Hmm. Presuming that he preferred to avoid using the lengthy shoelaces for a descent, we agreed easily upon Mount Superior’s Pinball. It was a good choice, even if it didn’t offer either of his chosen descriptors.

We met up at the Park n Ride at 7am, and, following a quick drive up the canyon, were quickly in position to ascend. We agreed that booting looked favorable, and left skins in the auto. Some mixed walking – snow, then talus, then snow again – found us at the base of the couloir in short order. We donned crampons, pulled out ice axes, and began to ascend. Because there are shadows cast on the looker’s left half of the line, we found that snow to be quite firm. The snow on the right half was soft corn. Sticking Continue reading ‘Pinball Alley (and Friends)’

Located in 03 Adventures, Going Light(er) Fast(er) Far(ther) and Wasatch 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

The 2010/2011 Ski Season in Pictures

Published on August 16, 2011 by a ok.

Ah, the middle of August. A good time to reflect on less brutally hot times. That’s not too hard to accomplish when you’ve brought a camera along for many days of fun skiing on the snow. These may not all be the best pictures I (and others) took this year, but they’re among my favorites. Each one brings back plenty of memories. Good stuff. And a fine way to cool off in the heat..

We began the year with much the same ideal as we ended it - 'we don't need much snow to call it skiing.' Andy on the ridge between Sugarloaf and Devil's Castle.

I still think 'complete trust' sums up this shot just fine.

Well, I'll be...! Jason Borro was probably the first person to set foot into the Northwest Couloir of the Pfeifferhorn this season.

J-Bo rappels the Hellgate Couloir.

Andy Coyle is a funny guy no matter how you slice it. He set up this shot.

Red Baldy, rimed.

Zach Guy comes face to face with Jungle-whacking in the PNW.

A OK about to disappear over the edge, on the Pfeifferhorn. Pic by Jason Borro.

Jon Swain drives it down the Hallway.

Cold, lonely, and single. I'm talking about the tree. Zach Guy adds some companionship..

White Baldy ridge.

Andy Dorais takes to the backside of the Question Mark wall.

Fine scenery on Timpanogos.

Jason Dorais climbs a chimney. I'm giving it a 10 on the butt shot meter!

At least this tree has some company.

Matthew Turley on the other end of a camera for a change. West face of Timpanogos.

Greg Foster opens up a clogged chimney in a rime blasted winter wonderland.

Jason Dorais gets his hop on.

Beware of your neighbors. They may invite you to heaven. Jason Borro on the receiving end of an invite.

AD nearing full submersion in Country Lane.

Starting the day off near unfrozen waters.

Jon Swain sacks it up for his first ski rappel. First with me, at least.

Proving these pictures are in no particular order, this was the scene on July 4th. Aliens took all the people and left all the ski (and board) gear behind. Boy, did they ever get that one wrong!

'Uh, guys, the roof is caving in..' Never has a man pulled on his pants and exited a snow cave so quickly as Zach did following my morning greeting. And why, I wonder, did he have to pull on his pants? Mmm, maybe it was his boots...

Ansel OKeefe on the camera.

Andy Dorais searches for passage over the block on Cioccetti's Ribbon.

This picture still makes me laugh. Jason Dorais getting his inner monkey on.

I saw a lot of Jon Swain's hand(s) this winter.

Sometimes I even glimpsed other body parts. Often, just a powder flume. Or a powder sweater.

If you look close, you'll see JD.

Jon executing a smooth kick turn in a tricky spot on Mount Raymond.

Jon blows it down Red Stack.

Sometimes the stark, cold, grey nature of clouds and the landscape has absolute beauty. Maybe moreso in August, but I doubt that.

It really was that steep, in that section. A OK traversing Cioccetti's Ribbon. Photo by Andy Dorais.

Fresh tracks getting the black and white treatment. A new-to-us line on the Pfeifferhorn.

Timpanogos, from the north.

JD brings it down the lower half of the Pfeiff's NW Couloir.

And who is this avid proponent of lycra outerwear, wearing sensible and warm clothing in the deep mountain snow? None other than Andy Dorais!

JD going for it on Timpanogos.

Sunrise is fine when you've got snow on the mind..

A OK watching the visibility roll out.

The brothers Dorais trot up Provo Peak.

This is where I get all my ideas on lightweight ski clothing. JD getting air over the valley. A lot of air, it seems!

Jon Swain after having laid waste to Main Baldy Chute 9 times. He looked how I felt!

My favorite shot of myself skiing this season. Heading down Y Couloir. Pic by Jason Dorais.

 

 

 

Located in 03 Adventures, 14 Pictorials and Wasatch 8 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Untying Ciochetti’s Ribbon

Published on May 14, 2011 by a ok.

 

Ciochetti's Ribbon. Not your standard backcountry ski run.

To celebrate Friday the 13th in an appropriately spooky fashion, Andy Dorais and I headed to Alta. While it would be a stretch to qualify much of Alta’s terrain as spooky, the Devil’s Castle area does hold plenty of ‘boo!’ factor. Especially if one heads to Ciochetti’s Ribbon, which we did. This ski descent was more nerve wracking than the final episode of Lost. In fact, it’s so intense that if they’d canceled the last episode of Lost, and left everyone hanging on the prior episode – FOREVER – this would still be more nerve wracking. Of course, that’s just my viewpoint, and I rarely watch television, so it might be biased.

Having done a slightly sketchy, slightly sideways rappel on the Pfeifferhorn the day before, I can attest that the rope work on the Castle is completely sideways, and far sketchier mentally! Ciochetti’s is perhaps best described as Continue reading ‘Untying Ciochetti’s Ribbon’

Located in 03 Adventures, 11 Perspective and Wasatch 6 Comments Tags: , , .

Yet Another Pfeifferhorn Rappel Descent

Published on May 12, 2011 by a ok.

Hop Turns and Rope: Someone once derisively told me that steep skiing is ‘just a bunch of hop turns.’ Guilty as charged, but incomplete. On a good day, there are ropes, too. Today, Jason Borro and I stepped cleanly into that person’s line of derision, and brought along some rope just to add a bit of completeness to the picture. We headed to the Pfeifferhorn, where snow is often served up cold, and folks who deride steep skiing don’t show up.

We sat down long enough to take one summit photo.

Lines: Although all aspects of the Pfeiff are skiable, the majority of the steep skiing action from the summit takes place on the northern side, between the Northeast and Northwest couloirs. In between those two, there are several choice ski mountaineering descents Continue reading ‘Yet Another Pfeifferhorn Rappel Descent’

Located in 03 Adventures and Wasatch 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Powder Madness

Published on March 26, 2011 by a ok.

Auspicious beginnings to the day with the winds on the ridges howling like mad dogs and Irishmen. They were predicted to be around 18-20 mph. They were all that, plus a little extra.. Oh well. Onwards and upwards. It got better though, even with the wind remaining a constant theme. I found the powder to be deep and stable, even on steep slopes. That being a rare thing, I soaked it up. I could almost say I was shocked at getting it so good, since much powder has been blown to Kansas of late.

Wind? Yep, there was some of that on tap..

Managed to bag one line on Peak 11,137 – more commonly known as Upwop Peak (Un-named Peak West of Pfeifferhorn) – amongst several on the day that I never thought I’d get in anything bordering decent conditions (because, facing SW’erly, it gets a lot of sun exposure). It was steep, stable powder fluff the whole way down. Never mind that the slope was getting hit Continue reading ‘Powder Madness’

Located in 03 Adventures, Tetons and Wasatch 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Learning From Mistakes

Published on March 10, 2011 by a ok.

I’ve learned a lot in my life from observing the mistakes of others, and trying not to repeat them. This has, in my view, saved me a lot of grief. Today, others can learn from my mistakes. I made many, in sequence, which caused me to get hit by a fast moving wet slide in steep terrain. It was a very close call, as well as a wake-up call. Follow along and take mental notes – they could help you out in a big way. Further note that very few of my actions today were informed by ignorance. Rather, personal stupidity was the culprit. I’m not including pictures in this article because I want people to read it and learn, rather than simply look at the pictures.

Complacency – Following a 3 foot dump of snow in prior days, today was the first day that brought cloudless skies from sunrise, with resultant, immediate heat. While the snow had settled nicely following the storm’s conclusion on Tuesday, Wednesday was cloudy until late in the day, keeping wet slides to a relative minimum. That meant that little true snow flushing had yet occurred. Additionally, I was aware that it was going to be a hot day, and that south facing slopes would be particularly unsafe.

Overconfidence – Despite knowing that south facing slopes would be highly suspect, I figured that I could pull off my ski descent before the avalanches fired up, if I began early enough. That was probably true enough, but I showed up half an hour after the starting time I’d chosen. Further, with deep, relatively slow trail breaking, I was slower than I’d planned as well. I’d already chosen a ‘turn around time’ at which point I wanted to be heading down, in order to avoid any avalanche issues.

Ignoring Personal Guidelines – I ignored my ‘turn around’ timeframe. It’s that simple. Mentally, I told myself that the safe window could be extended by 30-45 minutes. I knew better, but convinced myself otherwise. Why?

Continue reading ‘Learning From Mistakes’

Located in 02 Personal Info and 11 Perspective 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .