Around 8 on Friday night I heard from a few friends that they were planning on going up Superior. Still unsure of what I wanted to do the next morning, I thought heading in that direction would be a good start. Jon, Ren, Matt, and I took off early, around 4 a.m, because of a few late morning commitments that several of us had. As we made topped out on Cardiff Pass, we could see a long train of headlamps trailing us. Busy day on the Mt. Superior highway.
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| Jon and Ren making their way up the ridge |
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| Matt climbing the ridge after another gorgeous Wasatch sunrise |
We battled through some strong winds and made our way to the summit in about 3 hours. Having to make the booter slowed us down quite a bit but we were in no rush. The whole way up I was eyeing a peak along the upper section of the south ridge called 'The Dome'. I had seen several very cool pictures and videos of strong skiers charging through this line and knew it was a classic goal for Alta freeskiers. After enjoying a bagel and coke on the summit, we got ready to drop. I committed to skiing the dome and started off a bit earlier to get into position. My friend Jon, a really good photographer (check out his stuff at http://www.jonathonchandler.com/) got in position for a picture of this as I made my way through some rocks and steep snow to get on top of the dome. As I dropped I picked up speed quickly down the steep line. With each turn, my upper body would go into the sides of the wall. A hell of a lot of fun!
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| Photo: Jonathon Chandler |
Howling to the bottom of my line I stopped to watch the others drop. All three of them enjoyed great snow through the upper section and made their way through a system of chutes and gullies. Other than one ski that took a small trip down part of the south face, everything went smoothly. The snow was soft enough to go big on several cliffs all throughout the run.
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| Jon Chandler |
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| Ren Walkenhorst |
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| Matt Kestle |
A little more than halfway down the face I said bye to those guys and traversed right, into Suicide Chute. It was a quick boot pack up the upper section of the chute to gain the top of it. From here my intentions were to drop into Homicide Chute, which goes southwest off of the backside of Suicide. I had never skied it before but heard good things and wanted to check it out. It was also untracked and the snow looked great. It started off as a bowl with trees spread out across it, then moved into a chute that hugged the large walls of Monte Cristo to skiers right. A few chokes after bending towards the road and I was dished out into a gully that led me back. A great alternative to Suicide chute that has similar skiing but much less crowds.
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| Plenty of snow here! |
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| After being dished out into the gully |
I met my friend Matt on the side of the road, who had just barely picked up the car and gotten to me as I made my way out. We were back in the Valley by 10, perfect time to get a quick bite to eat before heading to work (taking students xc skiing up at Brighton). Great way to start off the day!
GH
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