Dawn Patrol (photo: Will Wissman)

Sometimes things just don’t work out like you wanted them to. The snow had been ‘all time blower’ over the weekend, and the stability was good as-well. With clear skis in the forecast, we made plans to hike superior for Monday sunrise.Usually the biggestgamble for sunrise is that as the sun approaches a couple of wispy clouds will appear and block the early light long enough for more clouds to join in and totally screw you. Monday was different. When we got to the parking lot it was still really dark and the wind was blowing.It wasn’t too baddown lowbut we could see the ridges were getting ravaged. Of coursewind is a bad sign, not just forskiing conditions butfor avies too. Well,if the sunhad been up alreadywe’d have probablydecided to have breakfestand wait for the lifts to open. But, it wasn’t and the only way to really know what was going on was to get up there fora closer look.How bad could it be right?The wind was really strong, blowing most of the weekends fluff clear to Wendover. We’d climbed halfway so we might as well get up there and see for sure.

When I dropped in and made a ski cut,it looked like someone took astack of dinner plates and tried toslide them to the road. Nothing quite like hiking 3 hours for breakable crust. I tried a couple more turns, talk about awful, this was going to be my longest run ever. Oh well, at least there was nothing crusty about that sun coming up. It was one of the most beautiful sun rises I’ve seen in years, and it was cool to share a gnarely hike with some good friends. Down the road we’ll remember getting hosed on this one.

POV Utah, Canada, Alaska

Sunday Funday. Below: Jackson with a Hall pass

It was nice to be on a slow morning program for once. Sunday was Baahlue Bird,it would be a busy one up little. The later it got, the more people were bound to be crowding the slopes. I gave Jackson a call, to see what he was thinking. Although he hadn’t even openned his eyes he grumbled out that we should go for Hallway Couloir. Perfect. And it doesn’t get any light until late. The snow would still be good. We made plans to meet at 11:00, like 45 minutes from now. I gave Willy a call, knowinghe loves to shot Hallway. He thought itwould be tracked already, but what the hell, maybe it wasn’t.

We meet only slightly later than scheduled, collected 2 more by the likes of Drew Stoecklein and Brady Smedsrud, and headed up the road. It was pretty busy up there, a full lot at the goldminers, but as we started skinning it was clear that it wasn’t too bad accross the street. still only 2 tracks on cardiff, and nothing on superior. Almost too late for those now, the sun is blazing. We sweated it out (all of it) and made it to Hallway. Damn Man! All the tracks dropped right, Hallway’s still fresh. Almost fresh, there’s a booter coming up from the bottom, but it doesn’t go all the way to the top, so our shots are clean.

The clouds have started to form now, so we play the hurry up and wait game for the next hour as we ski our lines. It wasn’t that deep and a little firm underneath, but still, it was smooth and blower.Once through the top section, we regroup and drop one by one the final 1500 vert to the basin below. Jackson and I stay left and aim for the trees above the gully. Its deeper in there and shaded enough for cold snow. Sweeeet!

The Hypodermic Needle and Dresdens Face (photo: Will Wissman)

It was clear after our last endeavor up the south side of Little Cottonwood Canyon that we needed to get an earlier start and take less time in-route. Aaron Ward notified me that there was a booter going up the Y couloir and we could continue up the ridge from there. It was a good sounding plan and I was stoked to be out amongst the burl of this Wasatch zone again. Also this time we were going for Dresden’s Face and the Hypodermic Needle….and, Will Wissman was going to shot the lines from an opposing peak. Good Plan, hard to make this one work though, a lot of things need to come together. Timing and conditions must be right to get a worthy photo.

The boot pack up the Y saved us a lot of time, then we blazed on up the ridge, Ward doing the majority of theroute finding. It worked well, we only had to go down and around a few jagged rocks on the ridge. Along the ridge, we could see that the snowconditions in coal pit gulch were fairly scoured. We hoped that our lines were in better shape. Nearly 3.5 hours since we began hiking we reached the base ofthe final steep pitch. It looked steep, luckily there is an oldskin track which will give us firm hiking snow. Another hour and I’m looking down the Hypodermic Needle. Its fully rocked at the top but there looks to be a easy way in from 80 yards down the shoulder.Ward has hiked to his line, and I’m finally ready to drop. Will has said the snow looks good in thechutebutlooks firm inthe apron, and that my best bet is to stay skiers right as I come out. The chute its self is around20-50 feet wide and 40 something degreesso keeping the speed undercontrol willbe achallenge.

I start downthe shoulder, as the pitch increases the snow improves. I see my entrance, butI can also see thatmy sluff is going to be an issue. I decide to dive-in in front ofit and keep the rungoing. The snow is skiing like a dream as I make8quick fluid turns. By now however, I’m sensing that my sluff is closing in, one more turn andit’snipping my tails. Well, ‘so much for my sunday drive’ I think as I switch from mediium to long radious turns. I’m half way through the chute in another second, hauling ass, I know at this speedI’ve left my sluff trailing by a ways, but slowing down is nearly impossible. I’m probablygoing around 50 mph as I fly out of the chute and into the apron. Forgetting Wissmans advice to stay right, I stay fall line and my eyeballs start to rattle. It’s not that bad though and the angle is getting lower, but my legs are on fire. I start tomake my turns more across the fall line and bring my speed under control. I let out a couple of yells in celebration: what a sweet run! In the photo you canseeAaron and mylines. It was awesome to be sitting at the bottom, watchingWard drop, and rip this face. Notice the mandatory he stomped towards the bottom. Nice work Wardo! and Thanks for another sick day.

The Levitation Project, New Site

Sick New Site: www.thelevitationproject.com

Check out the “webisode” from our Mica trip

and click “media” to view athlete segmentson the “team” pages.

Murdock Peak, The Canyons UT (photo: Dan Campbell-Lloyd)

The Canyons, very nice

I’ve been riding The Canyons for years, but there are times when I get stuck in LCC and have a hard time going anywhere else. Monday was a great day to hitThe Canyons as there was plenty fresh snow, and hardly anyone fighting for it.A little hike and BAM: fresh blower pow.