Above the inversion

Andrea skinning up the Pink Pine ridgeline, with upper Little Cottonwood Canyon behind her

The Salt Lake valley was under a nasty, polluted inversion last week, so we were anxiously awaiting the weekend, to get up in the mountains and into the clean, fresh air.

On Saturday we started from Alta, intending to make our way to Mt. Wolverine, but visibility was just too low, so we skied 5 laps off Patsy Marley and Twin Lakes Pass. Overnight, about 3-5" of new snow (basically nothing) was reported in the upper canyons. We figured that E/NE aspects with plenty of trees were our best shot at finding soft snow, so on Sunday we headed up the Pink Pine ridgeline. It ended up being an absolutely beautiful day... the sun was shining in full force (which was great because it was otherwise freezing cold out), and we found some areas of at least boot deep powder. Fun skiing, and we got some good action shots...

January 8-9 Photo Gallery

Some of the better pictures below...


Andrea skiing off Twin Lakes Pass


Jake skiing off the east side of Twin Lakes Pass


Skinning up Patsy Marley, for lap #5, in whiteout/fogout conditions


Rime covering everything


Look at that inversion covering the SLC valley in pollution. Yuck.


Stats for Saturday... 4700 feet


Our GPS tracks: Up 1 dark red, down 1 magenta, up 2 yellow, down 2 blue, up 3 dark green, down 3 dark yellow, up 4 white, down 4 red, up 5 cyan, down 5 dark blue.


Sunday Jan 9th: Andrea skins up the Pink Pine ridge. Quite the views on this approach!


Tracks on lap #1


Meadow skipping on some lower angled terrain


We found some steep, untouched powder. I'm having fun here!


Perfect snow for linking some higher speed turns


Another shot off the top of the ridge


Andrea skiing in the open "bowl" area


Andrea skiing, with Red Stack and American Fork Twin Peaks in the background. Picture perfect on our last run of the day.


And the stats... a quick 3600 foot day. Easy breeze.