Report from June 4, 2024

On Tuesday, I drove to Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah with a plan to ski Main Chute at Alta.

I was tired after 188 days of skiing this season.

As I drove past Mt. Superior, I saw that there was snow from Suicide Chute right down to the road.

I hit the brakes and swerved hard into the dusty pullout at the base of Superior.

There were a few other cars there and I could see 2 guys booting up the chute.

I ran into a cool cat I know named Sam who said the Wasatch had been skiing “planar.”

I took that as a good sign.

I ditched my skins (actually I forgot them in my pack) and started booting up the apron.

After 33-minutes, I was at the base of the chute where I threw on my crampons and started up the chute proper.

The old bootpack was true and the walking was steep but easy.

I moved slowly, weighed down by exhaustion and a lack of focus.

I couldn’t stop dreaming of the surf trip I was about to go on.

I couldn’t stop fearing the next day where I was gonna go for Pipeline at Snowbird…

I hit the top after 1 hour and 18 minutes.

I took my time on top hoping the stationary cloud sitting right over Superior might dissipate.

I ran into Sam and his buddies as they climbed the South Ridge to the summit of Superior.

I ate, drank, played with my drone and hoped that damn cloud would abate.

It didn’t.

But I did find a solid break in the clouds and went for it.

Suicide Chute is basically a wiggle right now and enough people are skiing it that the snow was pretty good.

I skied it faster than I thought I would and enjoyed the entire chute right down to the apron.

The apron had a wiggle on it too before decomposing into a rash of dirt, rock, sticks, and discarded dreams.

I struggled through the muck and right down to the car.

This was the 7th time I’d skied Suicide Chute this season.

I felt grateful.

I felt the ominousness of Pipeline in the coming day…

Thanks, Utah!

Photos