Monday, February 28, 2011

Provo Peak Highway Line

I'm not sure why, but even before I started skiing, I wanted to ski Provo Peak. I can see it from my parent's deck and from just about anywhere in Utah County. I tried to get up there a few years ago and due to a storm/hazardous conditions, we bailed. Today, the weather looked perfect so we went exploring.

We started at the Slate Canyon trailhead, followed an excellent trail for a few thousand vertical, and then broke through the brush to the West Ridge of Provo Peak.

Adam skinning out of Slate Canyon with Buckley Peak in the background:


The views to north of Cascade, Timp, and Lone Peak were pretty spectacular:


JD trying to dial up some County babes...all he got were a couple dudes:


Cool rime everywhere:


Adam feeling happy to be arriving at the summit.


Only to find a bunch of crappy ice skiing from the top.


It got better though.


Until the exit when I buried a ski and ended up doing some sort of front flip, landing facing back up hill.


We were able to ski about 5,950 feet of the 6,000 foot descent, earning us a trip to The Italian Place, Taco Bell, and Macey's for ice cream. I love Utah County.

View of Provo Peak from just off I-15 in Pleasant Grove. Our descent is the obvious line on the NW face.
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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 1, 2011 at 6:48 PM

    Nice suffering. Saw your tracks with my scope. Slate Canyon is an interesting approach. Used to live near its mouth in the early 70's and did lot's of skiing in them parts. (And to think Utah Valley nearly had a ski resort up there...) How did the east face look?

    -Jim K

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  2. SLC sherpaMarch 2, 2011 at 10:58 AM

    Hey Jim,

    Great approach. I thought it was a pretty direct way to get up there. It looked like there are some good lines on Buckley eh? Didn't look at the east face...cornices. When are you gonna show us around the county?

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  3. joeyMarch 2, 2011 at 12:18 PM

    Slate canyon is more direct and often has better snow (less foot traffic), but for some reason I love the Rock Canyon approach. I guess it's because the first time I ever walked uphill on my Asolo "Extremes" and Voile snake skins, it was in Rock Canyon. When I lived in Springville I skied Slate a lot, just up and down the trail for fitness mostly. Utah County... where else can you ski right to the valley floor all winter? I want to move back...

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  4. SLC sherpaMarch 2, 2011 at 7:55 PM

    Hey Joey,

    I also want to move back...

    Let's go ski something down there sometime.

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  5. SLC sherpaMarch 16, 2011 at 10:08 PM

    Hey Adam, Nice pic. Lines we stare at like this are so much better once we actually get up there. If only it would ever stop raining...

    ReplyDelete

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