I got up around 9 and checked the Utah Avalanche Center website (part of my daily morning routine at this point). The forecast was green/low danger, and in the current conditions it said "riding conditions are still excellent", even though it hasn't snowed in over a week. The last line of the forecast really got me, "Get out and bag that long-sought-after super-tour, summit, or line."
I gathered up my stuff, and my avy-rescue dog (in training) and headed up to American Fork Canyon. From Salt Lake, or the Point, or Orem, or anywhere you can see the Wasatch Front really, you can see this one, pointy peak sitting next to the long ridge of Mt. Timpanogos. That pointy peak just North of Timp is Box Elder Peak, and I'm absolutely fascinated by it. I want to summit it, and stand on the pointy peak. Then I want to take my skis and rip that mountain to pieces.
Going at it alone (well, with Jackson, but no other humans that could use a beacon/probe/shovel to dig me out), I knew I wouldn't be skiing any steep and deep today. But that doesn't mean I can't loooooook! So Jackson and I drove as far as we could into American Fork Canyon, and then started to trek.
Avy Jackson, to the rescue! Oh, wait, he's just chasing snowballs again...I fear the 'green means go' avalanche forecast won't last until my next day off- we have snow in the upcoming forecast, and this nasty surface hoar (AKA frost) was EVERYWHERE today. This stuff is known to be a persistent weak layer responsible for avalanches... the only hope is the new snow starts out wet enough to wipe out the hoar, or it snows a ton and the weight of all the new snow immediately collapses the weak layer. If not, better tread lightly for a while...
Surface hoar, AKA frost. Persistant weak layer. But it makes the snow nice and sparkly :-)Having not done this journey before, I wasn't sure how far it was, or which way to go. I've studied quite a few topo maps, and Google Earthed it dozens of times, but sure enough there were a few tricky spots where I got lost. Below is a guesstimate of how far I went, and the route I took (minus all the detours).
This is ROUGHLY where I went and how I got there The trip in looks long, but it was pretty easy. Probably 80-90% of my time west spent on hardpack snow roads, through the many campgrounds up there. Now that I know where to go and how to get there, I think I could get a group to the base of Box Elder in under 2 hours... maybe 3 depending how big the group is and how fast we move.
That's Box Elder Peak on the right, above treeline. The 'hill' to the left is barely visible on topo maps, eclipsed by Box Elder's additional 1,000 ft (Box Elder Peak is over 11,000 ft msl).Getting to the top looks like... work... to say the least. On the other hand, the skiing looks phenomenal. I saw some fairly easy looking descents, but also some great looking 'big mountain' lines. There are also some steep and narrow chutes that beg exploration. It's one mountain that has it all... and that's just on the North-Easterly aspect that I could see...
I think I've found my new favorite backcountry stomping ground. When the snow is right, and some other people are up for it, I'm heading back... I need to ski that mountain.
1 comment:
Hey Ryan. I found your blog a while back, but haven't commented on anything, mostly because I don't have anything to say about skiing.
I do have something to say about the area you were in on Tuesday, though. I drive up to the Tibble Fork Reservoir every few days, and go for a walk up there occasionally. I haven't tried climbing any mountains though; instead I like to walk along the stream that feeds the reservoir on the east end. The one longer hike I went on in the fall was to the south rather than the north.
Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that if you start hanging out around there you might run into me sometime. I have an annual recreation pass and I live less than a mile from the entrance to the canyon, so that's my usual destination when I feel like going outside.
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