Le Super-Mini Tour de Wasatch, UT: Wolverine to Tuscarorita to Sunset to Catherines + Complex Sun Halos

Miles Clark | Post Tag for BackcountryBackcountry | Post Tag for Conditions ReportConditions Report

Yesterday morning we rolled up into Little Cottonwood Canyon after 20″ of new snow without a solid plan.

Our plan A was called off due to low snow and our plan B was overly loose.

Luckily we ran into Juan and simply followed him around all day and ended up skiing what we’re calling Le Super-Mini Tour de Wasatch.

Le Super-Mini Tour de Wasatch

  • 4,500-vertical-feet
  • 7.4-miles
  • 8 hours car to car
  • Wolverine Bowl
  • Tuscarorita
  • Sunset
  • Catherine’s

Wasatch Snow Coverage

  • To be clear, it’s still very bony out there
  • The best, deepest, safest snow we found was in Sunset and Catherine’s
  • We are gonna wait until the next storm before skiing backcountry again in Utah
Martin & Complex sun halos. image: snowbrains

The day started very foggy.

We rose up Grizzly Gulch to Wolverine Cirque then bushwhacked the ridge all the way to Wolverine Peak.

The sun gloriously came out.

Wolverine Peak bushwhack. image: snowbrains

Wolverine Bowl was short, flat, and deep.

From there we boulder skipped down and around Tuscarora.

We skied the lower flanks of that peak that we’re calling Tuscarorita.

Wolverine Cirque. image: snowbrains

From there we boulder battled up, over, and down to Lake Catherine.

Sunset was looking good.

The fog rolled back in.

Complex sun halos. image: snowbrains
Complex sun halos. image: snowbrains

Rocky Point was full of tracks and deep avalanches.

We climbed Catherine’s Pass and up onto Rocky Point.

Juan and Tali had to head home but Martin & I sauntered on.

Wolverine Peak. image: snowbrains

We skied a lap on Sunset and it was the best, deepest, most bottomless snow of the day.

We almost did another lap but we’d been out for over 7 hours at this point…

We climbed back up to Rocky Point and dropped down the Catherine’s area of Alta back to the car.

Texture. image: snowbrains

On our way back to the car we saw something astonishing…

A 22º halo, 46º halo, upper tangent arc, Parry arc, and light pillar all gathered around the fading sun.

We stood for 15 minutes attempting to digest the show…

Miles on Wolverine Peak. image: snowbrains

At times, the upper tangent arc was glittering like sunlight on a shimmering ocean far below.

We were awestruck.

Eventually, the fog shrouded the show and the sun dipped behind the mountain.

Mt. Superior, UT. image: snowbrains

We slid homeward.

Gratefulness washed over us.

Thanks, Utah!

Photos

Buried cars at Alta. image: snowbrains
Crusty trees. image: snowbrains
Rime rock. image: snowbrains
Layers. image: snowbrains
Rime tree. image: snowbrains
Juan. image: snowbrains
Rime grass. image: snowbrains
Rime grasses .image: snowbrains
Wolvy. image: snowbrains
Gnarnia. image: snowbrains
Wolverine Peak. image: snowbrains
Rime bush. image: snowbrains
Wolverine Cirque. image: snowbrains
Martin and the Cirque. image: snowbrains
Wolverine Cirque. Billy Poole. image: snowbrains
Marin. image: snowbrains
Scene. image: snowbrains
Wolverine Bowl. image: snowbrains
Wolvy bowl. image: snowbrains
Wolverine Cirque. image: snowbrains
Wolvy. image: snowbrains
Alta & Snowbird. image: snowbrains
Alta. image: snowbrains
Martin on Wolverine Peak. image: snowbrains
Juan likes it. image: snowbrains
Juan on the downclimb. image: snowbrains
Sunset. image: snowbrains
Boulders. image: snowbrains
Bouldery. image: snowbrains
Martin at Lake Catherine. image: snowbrains
Skinner. image: snowbrains
Sunset Peak. image: snowbrains
Sunset. image: snowbrains
Lake Catherine. image: snowbrains
Moon. image: snowbrains
Back of Alta. image: snowbrains
Skinny mini chute. image: snowbrains
Martin on Catherine’s Pass. image: snowbrains

Complex sun halos. image: snowbrains
Complex sun halos. image: snowbrains
Posted by Miles Clark |

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