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| Lane in Benson & Hedges |
On Sunday, March 21, the first day of spring, I set out for a proper day of steep powder riding in the Wasatch; the first this season, as a rare-for-the-Wasatch PWL issue muddied most ambitious plans up until recently. I was accompanied by Nick and Lane, who both rallied after a long week of skiing in the Tetons and ripping the resort, respectively.
I knew the conditions were going to be good but the storm kept delivering and my expectations were greatly exceeded.
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| The not so elusive Benson & Hedges Couloir |
We left the TH at around 7:40 and were at the bottom of Benson and Hedges a little earlier than 9. We waited around on the apron to let the first party clear and then began the booter. While booting, another party came in from the top. Not usually a big deal but the first skier was rad enough to spray us with snow on his way down. Luckily, his partner apologized for him, but let me tell ya, he was this close to getting a snowball straight to the noggin'. The Wasatch can be a proper zoo sometimes.
From the top we negotiated a short section of rocky snow and the rest of the couloir was patchy deep powder atop old avalanche debris. Just manky enough to make you take your time but deep enough for it to feel fun.
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| Big Nick ready to drop |
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| Nick entering Benson and Hedges |
The apron was some of the best powder riding of the season, and the only thing that could've made it better was goggles. I didn't anticipate a low pressure day so I left the goggles in the truck, but lesson learned: keep em in the pack.
After the apron, we reversed course and headed back up the booter for a run into Days. After some deliberation we traversed further south and skied Days Draw proper, which was dreamy, playful, and so wonderfully deep. The nice thing about slide path/tree skiing is that it's so straightforward and fun!
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| Spring in the Wasatch |
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| Freeride Lane about to get technical |
From the bottom of Days Draw it was heads down to the top of Main Days. The sun came out for the first time that day and we all threw on anti-glop and de-layered. This was short-lived, and we were back into storm mode within the half hour. This particular 2.5k climb took a bit out of me for some reason, so I plodded along behind Lane and Nick and dealt with some gastrointestinal issues along the way. So it goes. I'm still 4/4 in not needing to poop in LCC/BCC, so that's something to be proud of.
From the top of Main Days we dropped into Hallway. Lane skied it this past weekend and opted for the high entrance to spice things up. From the lower entrance, Nick and I watched as Lane negotiated the small, mandatory cliff. Any skis are rock skis if you try hard enough!
Hallway is excellent moderate couloir skiing. This was my favorite run of the day.
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| Freeride Lane anxious to scratch the hardware |
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| Nick in the goods |
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| Lots of gnarled pine in upper Days/Cardiff |
