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Report from Saturday, January 16, 2021

2 days ago, we hiked up and skied 11,045′ Mt. Superior’s south face and it was an unexpected treat after a freakish little 2-4″ storm made the skiing great up high.

Yesterday, I strode right back up there for another dose of Superior’s south face, and this time I skied a touch more skier’s right and used the skier’s right exit of the upper apron.

2 days ago, we were the only ones to summit Superior, on a Saturday, on a holiday weekend – it almost felt eerie…

Yesterday, by 9:30am there were at least 5 new tracks up on Superior – ahhh, back to normal in the Wasatch.

Yet, no one had yet skied the skier’s right side of the mountain, so I was pumped to get up there.

I ended up skiing the same run that avalanched on me on Jan 30, 2020 so I was a bit apprehensive (check out how much more snow there was this time last year in this link).

The upper turns were fast and fun and a bit rocky…

The exit chute off the first apron held rough, icy, punchy snow.

The middle apron was smooth, buttery, and powdery.

The lower apron was hot pow/cooked pow/a-bit-sticky-but-still-fun.

I was pretty pumped back at the road.

This was my first time skiing Superior twice in two days and both days were an absolute blast.

The hike up the East Ridge is extra spicy right now with some real consequence due to the low snow levels.

The Salt Lake area is sitting at 52% of average snowpack to date.

It’s still boney out there so please be careful.

I didn’t see any signs of avalanches nor avalanche activity out there yesterday but persistent weak layers still linger.

Recent Backcountry Reports:

• 1/16/21 – Wasatch Mts, UT Report: Mt. Superior’s South Face in Powder Snow
• 1/14/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Incredible Chute in Punchy, Weird Snow After the Big Rain
• 1/8/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Big Chute Fun, Perfect Snow, Pillows, & Stunning Vistas
• 1/6/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Pillows, Chutes, & Airs in Sublime Powder
• 1/5/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: High Avy Danger = Minimum Angle + Maximum Wind Lip
• 1/3/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: 12″ New Snow, Pillows, Chutes and Slabs
• New Years Day 2021 –Trip Report: Nez Perce, WY – “The Sliver Couloir”
• 12/29/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: Fun Chute, Big Smiles, & Great Tree Skiing Powder
• 12/28/20 –Teton Range, WY Report: 4,000-Vertical-Feet of Perfect Bluebird Powder
• 12/27/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: High Speed Fun in Immaculate Powder Snow
• Xmas 2020 – Teton Range, WY Report: 3,500′ of Christmas Day Powder Fun 🙂
• 12/23/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: 2 Steep Chutes + My Avalanche Decision-Making Processes
• 12/20/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: Warm, Wet, Windy, Slabby Skiing
• 12/18/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: Great Skiing on Touchy Snow
• 12/12/20 – Beaver Mountain, UT Report: Mini-Powder Day in Paradise
• 12/11/20 – Tetons Range, WY Report: Ugly Skiing in a Gorgeous Chute in Tricky Snow
• 12/10/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: Steep Skiing in a Tight Chute in Tough Snow
• 12/9/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: Schoodeling in Good Powder Up High
• 12/8/20 – Teton Mts, WY Backcountry Report: South-Faces Aren’t Exactly Corn…
• 12/2/20 – Wasatch Mts, UT Backcountry Report: Suicide Chute on Mt. Superior in Low Tide
• 11/28/20 – Teton, WY Backcountry Report: Good Turns + 3cm Surface Hoar…
• 11/25/20 – Teton, WY Backcountry Report: 6″ of New Snow | Not Bad for November…
• 11/13/20 – Alta, UT Report: Friday The 13th Wind-Buff & I Only Hit 6 Rocks
• 11/12/20 – Alta, UT Report: Deep Dry Powder in Main Chute & I Only Hit 12 Rocks

Avalanche Forecast:

Weather Forecast:

Photos: