Superior Saturday

Andrea looking down on Little Cottonwood Canyon from Mt Superior - April 2, 2016

I've pretty much all but forgotten about the dry spell from early February to mid March. The last couple weeks have been absolutely fantastic. I didn't think this week could top our Teton experience last weekend, but it just might have!

Another early week storm dropped ~20" of snow in the Cottonwoods. We were able to get out after work and ski powder on Wednesday and Thursday (thank you, Daylight Savings Time!).

We wanted to do something extra fun on Saturday, so we decided to climb and ski Mt Superior for the first time in years. Due to how warm (hot!) it was, the SE face wasn't even an option. I figured the skiing off the North side would be way more fun anyways, and that assumption proved to be correct, as you can tell by looking at the photos below.

On Sunday we did a shorter tour in Days Fork, trying to find whatever good snow was left (and we actually were pleasantly surprised there were so many good turns to be had).

Now we wait for another storm and hope it doesn't get too hot, too quick.

Recap of the week - the best photos starting on April 2nd...

Wednesday March 30

Quick tour after work - another midweek powder day. We skied two laps on Short Swing in Big Cottonwood Canyon and didn't really pause to take any pictures, except for this one...

Thursday March 31

Finished off the month in style. Headed up LCC after work and toured around Patsy Marley and Twin Lakes Pass. Got in 3 laps of nice, light, cold powder skiing. As good as it gets for this late in the year!

Saturday April 2

Back to Mt Superior on skis for the first time since 2011. We ascended via the standard route (East ridge) and then skied 3 laps through the Cardiac Chutes and into Cardiac Bowl on hero snow. It was so much fun. We did another quick north-facing lap into Cardiff Fork on the way back to the pass before skiing to Alta on south-facing summer slush. What a great day!!!

I'm pointing to the spot were we are getting married this summer. Maybe we should have everyone watch from down there via binoculars and we'll get married on top of Mt Superior instead :-)

Andrea is down there farming turns if you look close (on the left)

Andrea punching a line between lines in Cardiac Bowl

Back up for another

Sunday April 3

Spring turned to summer over the course of 24 hours, or so it seemed. We knew it would be hard to find any dry snow, but we did ski several fun north facing laps into upper Days Fork, and then finished with the S facing slushy run back to Alta.

Yesterday's playground

Plenty of good turns and open terrain in Days Fork

Our morning's work

Easter 2016 - Grand Teton National Park

Andrea and I skiing in Grand Teton National Park - March 26, 2016

I'm not even sure how to type words to describe our first time skiing in GTNP. We love the Tetons, and have made some fantastic summer trips to this mountain range. There is something magical, though, about seeing these iconic peaks covered in snow and traveling through this terrain on skis. The combination of the company, scenery, hero snow, and sunshine made this one of my most memorable ski days since I took up this sport lifestyle eight years ago.

On March 26th we skied a couple laps off a peak called "25 Short" - one of the more mellow areas in a region dominated by gnarly terrain. It was a perfect day...

I typically start clapping on the drive into the park when we get to this point

So happy to be here in winter for the first time

The most iconic mountain skyline

Taggart Lake trailhead

Making the approach

Up up up

Andrea on 25 Short

Andrea skiing our first lap into the main bowl / slide path

Symmetry

Back up

Unreal. Look close and you can see me on the ridge to the left.

Again, unreal. Look close and you can see Andrea.

Up to the top for another round

3300 feet down to the valley floor

Heading back to Taggart

We spent three days in Jackson over Easter. The rest of the trip is documented here: 

Easter 2016 - Jackson Hole

Easter 2016 - Jackson Hole

Grand Teton National Park - March 26, 2016

March is delivering the goods! Winter has returned to the mountain west, and even though we will be skiing for a few more months, some of the resorts will start closing down the lifts over the next couple weeks. Since we had two days of lift tickets on our Mountain Collective pass for Jackson Hole, Andrea and I made the drive up to Wyoming for 3 days over Easter weekend. I've been dreaming of skiing in the Tetons for years, and the weekend did not disappoint.

Wednesday March 23

Gotta start here with the "warmup" - another good early week storm (18") in the Wasatch gave us some after-work powder runs in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Wednesday afternoon...

Lower elevation trailheads are starting to present some challenges, even though the snowpack above 8000 feet is bomber.

Thursday March 24

We drove up to Jackson Hole after work and encountered a couple spots with challenging driving conditions. All good though - we are happy to drive slow if that means the next day will have fresh snow.

Friday March 25

A lift-served day at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. What an awesome ski area - tons of challenging terrain. It snowed about 6" overnight, which was enough to soften up the turns.

Saturday March 26

We spent Saturday backcountry skiing in Grand Teton National Park. This day gets its own post: 

Easter 2016 - Grand Teton National Park. 

One of my favorite days of the year... actually, of all-time.

Preview...

Sunday March 27

We went back to JHMR on Easter Sunday to ski with our friends Rachel and Greg. The resort was empty and we enjoyed a full day of skiing fast groomers in spring conditions before driving back to SLC. We didn't take any pictures on Sunday, but this one sums up the whole weekend:

#stoke