The Scythe

All of us managed to forget to set our alarms this morning, so it wasn't until 12:30 when we got up to Grizzly Gulch Trailhead. Forgetting to adjust my brand new Dynafit Mercury ski boots to my bindings put me back another half hour. The plan was to head up the summer road and meet  Justin and Koby at Catherine Pass (they have Alta passes). From there we would see what looks good and get some good turns. It took about an hour to get to get up there, past a few pissed off Alta ski patrollers. Turns out they still don't like you going up their trails. Justin and Kobe weren't feeling too hot, so I continued up towards Mt Tuscarora solo. It was about a fifteen minute boot-pack from Catherine pass up to the summit. Up top I spent a good time trying to get a good look at Seagull chute and other chutes running down Tuscarora Bowl. Due to some big scary cornices, I didn't want to get too close, but Seagull chute is definitely on the hit list for upcoming trips.

Summit of Tuscarora

 From Tuscarora I met two other skiers and continued along the ridge with them to the top of Mt Wolverine. Right as we were approaching the summit, the clouds started clearing away for the first time all day and we could get some good views of the sun starting to come down.

Salt Lake City in the background with the sun coming down

The plan was to drop south down to the parking lot and meet up with Kobi and Justin waiting for me at the car. However, that's a hard thing to do when your standing on top of Wolverine Cirque. Lucky for me, the two skiers I had met on the ridge offered me a ride home if I chose to drop into the cirque, a pretty easy decision. Right from the summit of Wolverine starts "The Scythe", a long thin chute that I've wanted to ski for a while now. Looks like today would be the day. Without too much snow so far this season, it made the descent a bit spicier. It started with 10 feet of down climbing to a sketchy opening to put my skis on. From there, a few tight turns to a mandatory little drop that got my blood going a bit. It was jump turns until the chute bent skiers left into the Cirque. The snow in the chute was pretty hard, but there was good powder to be found in the apron. Overall, the chute was a blast; The Cirque never lets you down. By the time I threw on the skins and made my way to Twin Lakes Pass it was about 4:30. I made some fun turns down the new snow in Grizzly Gulch while the sun was setting. After a late start and sketchy snow, it ended up being a great day of skiing. Lets see whats in store tomorrow. 

Looking down into The Scythe

Overall I was very impressed with my new boots. Big thanks to Sports Loft for doing great work on them. Also big thanks to Keith and Dane at Ski 'N See for the ride home!

Wolverine Cirque

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