Utah Mountain Adventures

The Lisa Cottonwood Traverse  By Lead Guide Tyson Bradley  Ten minutes after leaving the trailhead we start climbing.  Water-polished granite in a steep-sided gorge requires our full attention. Scanning for hand and footholds with headlamps, our bodies and minds must wake up, although it’s only 4 am! Most big mountain scrambles require a long, boring slog up a trail before the fun begins, but not Lisa Falls. It’s one of the many great attributes that sets  this class 4 scramble route at the top of my Wasatch summer fun list.  It’s also cool and shady here, and we’re wearing extra layers, in spite of a forecast high of 100 in SLC. An hour into the odyssey the friction moves on smooth, white granite gets even more committing. To avoid the beautiful pour-offs along the watercourse, we must climb up and right, away from the creek and stem up a flaring chimney feature. Pulling out of it onto easier ground I traverse back left then up again, catchin...

If you live or play in Utah and you aren’t backcountry skiing in late February and March, you are missing out! This is when it “goes off” in the Wasatch, if its ever going to. Granted, in some seasons, it’s just not wise to ski Bonkers and especially Stairs Gulch, but if the snowpack is going to get deep and strong enough, mid-to late-season is usually the time. March 8, 2009, was just such an occasion. To make it even harder to go to the office, and easier to skip out and go skiing, it was clear and calm, and there was a foot of fresh, windless powder icing the cake. Given this textbook-perfect situation, it just made sense to head for the greatest ski tour in the Wasatch. Broads Fork and Stairs Gulch offer the best bang for the buck in terms of big classic lines. One skin trail, two epic runs! It's really ski mountaineering terrain, but thanks to a 100-inch snowpack, we did all the climbing with skins on. The enormity of these glacial-carved north-facing bowls and cirques, virtua...

Obviously pumped, but exuding his usual calm demeanor, Paul hoisted himself onto the spacious ledge below the final pitch of the Sundial’s spectacular Northwest (aka Global Warming) Arete. He’d just pulled through the slightly overhanging 5.8 “crux” and he looked relieved, stoked, and in need of a rest. The move involves a finger lock and a strong pull without much for the feet, to reach a hidden edge deep in a pod. However, to climb into the pod, you’d need to be 30” tall! Instead, one must stare down the exposure and look for holds above and outside the alcove. Not terribly hard, but a couple notches tougher than any other move on the mostly 5.6 route, also known as Eleventh Hour. I call it the Global Warming Arete, because even when its 100 F in the city, this airy, shady, northerly climb between 9500-10,000’ stays way cool. I’ve never climbed it without having to put on a layer. Usually, I wear pants and a windshirt the whole way. Who says the Wasatch doesn’t have alpine rock? The ...