Monday, January 14, 2013

Box Elder SW Face: Another Perfect Day

With looming responsibilities to shirk, Teague and I went south for the morning.  It was negative five degrees when we got out of the warm truck at 9 AM and we sprinted for a bit to warm up.  It didn't quite work and I kept my puffy on all day.   Breaking trail for over 5000 feet kept the pace mellow and we even stopped for a lunch break giving the day a "touristy" feel.  

With this proper winter we are having, we were able to ski all the way back to the trailhead which sits at a similar elevation as the Salt Lake benches.  And BTW, we didn't see a single soul or track on the whole mountain.  Not too bad for the so called Wasangeles.  Who knows what's to come this winter but right now, I have no complaints.  

The surface is already getting hairy with the bitterly cold temps
Teague and his Halo 
Nearing the summit on a gorgeous wintery day


Teague skins above the marble cliffs of Box Elder with Lone Peak and the Alpine Ridge beyond
I forgot glasses but luckily found my wife's cast aways in my car
Teague skis cold dry powder with the most scenic backdrop around
Heading home





6 comments:

  1. Love it! The last picture is wonderful.

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  2. those sunglasses are awesome.

    did you climb the east or west ridge? and what descent route did you ski? (i'm guessing not the main cirque, but maybe?)

    love box elder. funny you round the point of the mountain and suddenly you're alone. people hate an approach. spoiled by 8500 foot trailheads.

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  3. wait, was looking at your pic wrong. can see you hit the west face. very nice.

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  4. Hey Dug, We started up the standard trail from Alpine and then after a few minutes schwacked up the ridge and taking the very mellow western approach. We thought about the cirque but the snow actually looked better on the SW aspect.

    I love that people are lazy... it leaves places like Utah County wide open!

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  5. Want to know what "teague's halo" really is? http://www.oilfreefun.com/2012/12/save-planet-expose-geo-engineering.html

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