Amanda's Comeback and The Pipeline

Last night Amanda got out for her first run since September 2012.  I was feeling lazy and wouldn't have left my couch since it was chilly and rainy but her psych got me up and out.  Luckily the rain stopped and the clouds blew away leaving us with an amazing night for running!

Amanda's first run in 8 months! 

With all the beautiful rain over the past few days Andy and I figured the skiing would be pretty good. The other day Chad and I headed up to the Pipeline but got turned around by a no hiking sign Although we felt good about obeying the sign then, this morning Andy and I weren't feeling it.  Snowbird's closed so there was no reason to turn around.  I'm glad we didn't.

Andy on the Pipeline apron

Andy Mid Chute

As we worked our way up the Pipeline we found a mix of sun, clouds, dense new powder and old frozen mank.  We tagged the summit, briefly chatted about how cool the swirling clouds were, and then were treated to great wind buffed spring snow.  Is stayed amazing for a 1500' or so and then turned into wet slop.  If you're heading up anytime soon a fresh layer of wax might not be a bad idea.

Nearing the summit

Andy in the upper Pipeline

Andy hop turning the steep middle portion

2nd Anual Memorial Day Ski

Yesterday Chad and I went up to Snowbird with hopes of skiing the Pipeline for the second straight Memorial Day.  Last year we had a foot or so of new snow and a closed Snowbird working in our favor.  This year Snowbird was still open and the snowpack has been dwindling fast but we figured corn's just as good as powder and if we went before the resort opens then there wouldn't be anyone to tell us no.

Memorial Day 2012

Turns out Snowbird was a step ahead of us and posted a sign at the base of the chute that told us no.  For a moment we considered ignoring the sign but quickly decided blatant disobedience wasn't the smartest thing.  After all, they have been kind enough to let us work out on their slopes all winter so a little respect was warranted.  Still wanted to keep our young tradition alive, we made our way over to Hidden Peak to ask ski patrol for permission.  They looked at us for a second and then, as expected, shook their heads no. 

No worries, we headed over to Baldy and found a dry summit with moguls down Main Chute.  Not quite as good as last year and our hopes of establishing a Memorial Day Pipeline tradition failed. On the bright side, we had great weather and next Memorial Day when Chad and I ski for the 3rd year in a row our terrain won't be limited by a silly tradition.  

Chad heading up Baldy

Chad walking off a dry Baldy summit

Corn moguls in Main Chute

Grandeur Fun Run 2013

The Grandeur Fun Run was last week.  Huge thanks to the MRC crew for putting on this incredible gathering.  They provided pancakes, bacon, drink and raised $700+ for the Granite Education Fund!   I was surprised to see 80-90 runners show up even though it was 50 degrees and raining.  Maybe trail runners are tougher than skiers? The cool, rainy weather must have contributed to me feeling pretty strong for the majority of the loop but certainly increased to odds of taking a header into a tree/rock while running down slick trails.  Luckily I was able to squeak through the course without any mishaps.  Barry wasn't so lucky...

Mt. Wire - More Wasatch Love

Although there's still plenty of skiing to be had, the running in the foothills is fantastic right now.  Andy, Travis and I met up for a casual stroll up Mt. Wire this evening.  It was a beautiful evening and although we only had a phone we felt like a few photos were needed.  Again, what a great place!

Andy low on Wire

Andy and Travis pretending to still be running

Sunset from the summit

Main Baldy - Loving the Wasatch!

Andy and I wanted to get a few more days skiing before the temps reach the 90s on Monday. So with very low expectations we headed to Baldy Main Chute for a quick ski up and down.  What we found made for one of the most enjoyable mornings of the year.  We had firm/fast/icy snow up to the apron of Main Chute where the snow was turning to perfect corn.  There wasn't a touch of wind, the sky was blue, and we were once again reminded of how amazing spring skiing can be.  We skinned the entire chute (Andy booted the last 50') and then laughed the whole way down about how great the skiing was. We were then able to quickly make it home to enjoy other weekend responsibilities/festivities. What a great place to live! 

Andy looking at our skinner in Main Chute

Topping out (Andy quit on the skinning idea)

Skiing some corn/slush/icy shadows

Teewinot, again.

Basking in the sun last year

Last week we stood on the summit of Teewinot for the 4th time in the past year.  Weather was far from perfect this time but the psych was still strong. We wanted to ski the SW couloir and then head over to Mt. Owen to see what the Koven had to offer. 

Teague on the the summit of Teewinot from Jason Dorais on Vimeo.

After summiting we found ourselves in the clouds struggling to find the SW couloir. We made one false start down a chute that cliffed and then resorted to following our blue dot on the phone. In the chute we found rock hard snow which made for some slow, thoughtful turns down into Glacier Gulch.  So far weather was great. It was cloudy, cold and  had been snowing lightly all morning but no appreciable accumulation was present, yet.  

Andy high on the E. Face

Heading over the notch to the SW couloir

Andy in the SW off Teewinot

We headed up Glacier Gulch until we were standing directly beneath Mt. Owen.  The cloud cover once again led us astray and we found ourselves a touch too far up canyon.  Instead of backtracking to the base of the Lower Koven we decided to sneak in half way via the ramp that traverses under the large cliff band on Owen proper.  This turned out to be a very straight forward option that I'd take again.

Heading towards the Koven

In the Koven the snow was quite firm and we were all glad to have crampons and a real tools. After climbing the upper portion of the couloir and getting multiple solid sticks with my tools I decided skiing it in it's entirety would not be in my cards that day.

Mid Koven

Heading to the upper snowfields, Koven in the background

As we were climbing the Koven, the winds and snow fall picked up and we found ourselves on the East Snowfield with less than ideal snow.  There were isolated pockets of wind slabs that we wanted no part of.  To make matters worse,  the rate of snowfall and winds kept picking up.  We turned around right under the summit block and decided to down boot the snowfields to avoid taking a potential ride.

Sometimes it's good to force it through bad weather but that was not the day.  We were all feeling the growing strength of mother nature and were not excited about it.   

Bailing off Mt. Owen

I down climbed the majority of the upper chute.  Andy made a few turns and then opted to down-climb as well.  Teague was feeling brave and kept his skis on the whole time.  What a psycho.  This was STEEP and FIRM.  Props to Teague.

Teague easing onto the ice

Ready to get out!  Photo by Teague

Teague cautiously side-slipping over the ice I just down climbed with 2 technical tools and crampons

Teague, looking cool

GEAR:30 slideshow and the Grunge Video

For some reason Gear:30 asked Andy and I to do a slideshow about ski mountaineering and a few of the projects we've been working on.  When we got a copy of the of the flyer they put together we both felt a little embarrassed by a few things such as "mind blowing feats..." Oh well. Although the ski mountaineering we do is by no means mind blowing, hopefully we can show a few entertaining photos and have a good time.  If nothing else, OR will be handing out a few free knick knacks.  If you've got nothing going on, we'd love so see someone there who isn't related to us...

Also, here's another very amateur video I put together of Jared's and my day in the Grunge a few weeks ago.  I was all psyched on the stupid GoPro but after using it for one day am going to return it.  The battery last roughly 35 minutes and the camera freezes and won't start or stop unless you pull the battery out.  Those things are garbage.

The Grunge from Jason Dorais on Vimeo.