Normally, by this time of year, I expect be writing more about skiing than mountain biking. The winter of 2011-12 has brought low snow conditions to most of the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. For that reason I have spent more time mountain biking to keep my mind off the lack of winter weather and powder snow. Finally, late February/ early March has brought a cold, moist weather pattern to the Sierra and the Wasatch Mountain ranges. Fortunately, I was in Utah for the second half of a 40-50 inch storm cycle and managed to enjoyo some good turns. The best day of the season, for me and for some folks I talked to on the lifts that had skied 40+ days already, was Friday March 2nd 2012. Knowing that the powder starved masses would be hell bent on getting up to the Cottonwood Canyon resorts Alta, Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton; I decided to head north. Powder Mountain has long been a sleepy resort but it's 5000 acres of terrain are what make it truly special. Pow Mow as it is called by locals gives a skier a backcountry experience with numerous in bounds hiking zones. Some of these areas will stay untracked for days after a storm. This is great in any situation, but it's even more sweet when the back country conditions are unstable as they have been most of the season in Utah.
When I arrived to Pow Mow a good deal of the mountain was tracked out. I did not make it up there until mid morning. This was ue to some indecision on my part. I already have tickets to Solitude resort which is only about 25 minutes from my home versus 1hr 20 minutes to Powder Mountain. Though for the issues noted above I knew that my best day was to be had at Pow Mow. Mid morning brought a relatively crowded Pow Mow. I know Utah is getting more skier traffic these days, but now that I look back on my days skiing this week I see that there something else going on. We are dealing with a snow starved country for the most part. Outside of the Pacific Northwest and AK it's been a pretty lame winter in the West and New England. Utahns by March actually start to back off on powder slaying a bit as by this time they've had at least a dozen epic days and can be tempted by other sports at lower elevations with warmer temperatures. This year, though, it's like junkies having withdrawals and I don't think it's just Utahns. I think powder starved fiends from all over the US are chasing storms and trying to get it where they can. I cannot blame these people. It’s been a rough winter.
On my way to Ogden I could see that most of the clouds and weather had already moved out of the Weber Valley and over the Northern Wasatch. Blue bird day and 16 inches of fresh on top of a previous 14 inches??? Sign me up. I started the day out on the Sundown lift which could be considered their lower mountain. It's got some good slopes and hike-able terrain. When arriving I saw some decent lines untracked and pulled into the lot, got my skis on, got a ticket and headed up the old triple lift. The lift was on and off, slow then fast then stopped over and over again Did two runs through some deep sun beat, heavy, submarining, powder snow and knew between that and the liftie not really caring about running the lift i had to get to another aspect with better snow. So, I drove with my ski boots on to the upper lot and headed into the belly of Pow Mow. The place was more tracked out than I have ever seen on a weekday. Again..I think it's because of the season not as much that Pow Mow is now on the map. Powder Mountain is far from SLC and on a shitty steep road. It reminds me of how Saddleback used to be in Maine before they updated the lodge.The road is likely still shitty.
I believe this was my 6th or 7th trip to Powder Mountain over the 8 seasons I've skied in Utah. Each time I have been there; there has been a zone I could see from the Paradise and Hidden Lake lifts that I never knew how to get to. Pow Mow is huge and there are several spots you need to hike or traverse some distance to and these hikes can take 20minutes to 1 hour depending on how far you want to go. Most of the times I've been to Pow Mow there has been at least one snowboarder along. Well, snowboarders generally don't dig skating or walking. This has made it difficult for me to explore and still be respectful to the folks I was riding with on those days. On this trip, I was determined to ski these lines. On my last trip there, last year, in talking to locals I mostly figured out the access point. Knowing this day would come I burned those directions into my head. The zone is called Sanctuary. It's shown on the trail map but not in any great detail. The faces that are skied are actually obscured on the map because of it's orientation. For years I have been drooling looking at squiggly tracks coming down long powder faces and suffering as I could not make it out there.
I'm happy to report that Sanctuary zone is about a 20 minute traverse from the top of the Poma Lift. What's kind of annoying is that I had been to this ridge before but never dropped in to skiers right always to the left. Something tells me that the folks at Pow Mow don't mind that this zone is not featured on their trail map. My first run I followed a local into a completely untracked area and made probably a dozen, fast powder turns into a gully run out. Full blast I pointed downhill and weaved through the trees and chased the fall line to make the most of the vertical. The goal is to get as many high speed turns slope and gravity would allow. I tend to find a run fulfilling when you chase that fall line and zones of new fresh snow keep opening up. This run had those characteristics. The snow was light and fast on top but a bit firm underneath giving that bottomless sensation. What's great about this kind of snow is you can keep momentum from the fast snow as the firmer lower layers give a little feedback allowing you to rebound,pivot and slash. The snow doesn't blow back in your face either which is great for visibility. I know no face shots, but face shots are a bit of a ski media cliche. Good powder does not require face shots. It was such a great feeling to have finally skied that zone and for it to be as awesome as I had imagined it to be.
The rest of the day I continued to lap this area and got about four more runs in as it takes nearly 45 minutes to ride the lifts, hike and ski the run. Every bit worth the effort and time spent. These runs were as good as any back country descent and even as good as some heli lines I did in Tahoe last year. On my last lift ride, I rode up with a transplanted fellow New Englander who had been at Solitude early in the week as well and had similar sentiments about the crowd being a bit aggro which was unusual for the 'Tude. His call was that this was the best day of the year in Utah. It also turned out that we have some similar flexibility in careers with being able to live near snow and take days off on short notice to enjoy powder. Given the fact that this skier seemed to be putting good vibes into the skiing atmosphere I took him on a run to this stash. We both were concerned that the lift may have closed as we were pushing it in terms time. Luckily the lift closed at 4pm and not 330pm. He and had to ride a few lifts to the parking lot and found some stashes along the way which made the last runs all that much sweeter.
March 12, 2012 was an all time day in my lifetime of mountain riding. Finished the day off with a $5 Little Cesar's Hot and Ready Pepperoni Pizza, Budweiser Tallboys while swapping ski stories of the day with my roommate in SLC. Pure Glory.
Below are some photos but unfortunately I only had my blackberry camera. Not the best quality.
First Run Down Sanctuary
Looking back at Cobabe Canyon from Sanctuary Ridge. Deep as you can see!
Sanctuary viewed from the Paradise Lift. This is the view that has haunted me for 8 years.
Just for fun:
