Backcountry
Conditions Report
Report from November 24, 2023
I got back up and into Mt. Superior’s crevasses again yesterday.
Ski day #292 of my “300” project.
Suicide Chute on 11,068′ Mt. Superior, UT, specifically.
I’d just skied it 2 days previous and it was pretty damn fun.
Yesterday was a powder day with about 8″ of blower powder snow accompanied by dense fog and zero wind.
The Good News:
- 8″ of new snow
The Bad News:
- The new snow was too dry to contribute to the snowpack and help build up our base
I started up the apron at about 11am and there were already a ton of tracks.
Perfect.
I don’t love being first on a dry snow powder day when rocks and runnels and bumps and snarls still lurk beneath.
It’s better to let others find all that stuff and expose it and ski it up redistributing the new snow and filling in the cracks.
As I ascended into the chute proper the fog grew dense.
No sound.
You could hear a pin drop.
With head down and all my focus in the wonky boot pack a snowboarder slashed in front of me and made my heart lurch.
I’d thought I was alone.
Scared the hell outta me!
2 more came down with one yelling out to me: “Day number 291!?”
I smiled and yelled back: “292!”
The last boarder down was my buddy Juan.
We hollered back and forth and made a loose plan to ski together soon.
I continued on and the route was arduous.
The bootpack was beat up and loose then deep then gone then back and never easy.
I shouldn’t have done that 5K Turkey Trot the previous day…
I struggled to the top in 1 hour and 40 minutes – 20 minutes slower than 2 days earlier.
It started to snow.
I took a short break on top and dropped in.
The snow was pretty good!
I skied as fast as I could and even accidentally took a little air.
I put one of my cameras on a stick out of my backpack and it jostled out of its place and into my face.
Was a bummer to stop but it only took a second to fix the debacle.
The lower section was fun but dicey…
Rocks are on the prowl in there.
I arrived unscathed at the bottom of the chute (or at least as far as I was brave enough to ski down with the rock situation).
The walk down the base of the chute was easy in the deep new snow.
The walk down the apron was a bit trickier than 2 days previous as the snow deeper and stepped into more holes than last time.
I hit the road after about 15 minutes of downhiking dismounting into a slow-moving, foggy world.
5 minutes back up to the car and done.
I felt very satisfied.
It’s important to me to make every day of this “300” project as meaningful and stubborn as possible.
Suicide Chute checked all the boxes.
Thanks, Utah!
Recent Utah Reports
- 11/22/23: Trip Report: Suicide Chute on 11,068′ Mt. Superior, UT | Ski Day #290
- 11/20/23: Le Super-Mini Tour de Wasatch, UT: Wolverine to Tuscarorita to Sunset to Catherines + Complex Sun Halos
- 11/17/23: Park City, UT Report: Opening Day 2023 – Groomer Fun on the PayDay Chairlift
- 11/16/23: [VIDEO] Spooky Powder Day in Main Chute at Alta, UT | 6th Time Down Main Chute This Month – Ski Day #284
- 11/14/23: [VIDEO] “Spicy” Entrance Into Main Chute Leads to Chalky Snow on 11,000′ Mt. Baldy at Alta, UT – Ski Day #282
- 11/11/23: [VIDEO] “Nasty, Sketchy” Entrance to Main Chute on 11,000′ Mt. Baldy at Alta, UT Right Now… | Ski Day #279
- 11/4/23:Alta, UT Report: “Icy, Rocky, Sh**ty, & Sketchy” | I’m Done with Main Chute on 11,000′ Mt. Baldy for Now – Ski Day #277
- 11/2/23: Alta, UT Report: “The Dirty Entry Rainbow” | 2nd Day in a Row Down Main Chute on 11,000′ Mt. Baldy at Alta, UT – Ski Day #275
- 11/1/23: Alta, UT Report: Spicy Main Chute in Fun Low Snow Conditions – Ski Day #274
Photos
