Report from April 29, 2024

Yesterday I went for a jaunt at Alta, UT.

I went for Little Chute which I hadn’t skied this year.

I skied Main Chute (just next door) 6 times in November, but back then, Little Chute didn’t have enough snow to be skiable.

Alta is loaded with snow right now.

I strolled up the lowers, onto the shoulder, and up to the peak without issue.

2,500-vertical-feet in 1 hour and 45 minutes – which isn’t bad for me.

The main focus of this backcountry day was to see if I could still hike.

I’ve been in Alaska heli-skiing for the past month and living at sea level which is not a recipe for high mountain uphill success…

I was stoked that I was tired and slow but still able to make it happen.

My bad knee (left) is still pretty swollen and sore from my big fall in Alaska on April 13.

The knee did great on the uphill.

Dropping it was another story.

I was hoping for a sunny, corny, spring day but nature had other plans.

It was kinda hot and sunny, then it got cool, windy, and snowy.

I dropped into grabby, sticky, manky snow.

It was a challenge.

My knee didn’t love it…

I was able to flow the main part of the chute proper without stopping and that felt like a win.

The lowers were so bad…

The apron and lower mountain were so sticky I just had to go straight all the way to the car…

Utah is in a transitional phase right now but hopefully, the corn comes soon.

It is clear that these dry snow zones just don’t have the high-quality corn that you see in maritime snowpacks.

It’s time to migrate west…

Thanks, Utah!

Photos