Hidden Chute: A long awaited line

Schedules really suck. Well... most of the time they do. I will be the first to admit that I have a terrible perception of time, and most of the time I like being late. I like not having to be in certain situations for a required amount of time. Knowing what time it is only matters when you are somewhere you don't really want to be. Time also tells you how much longer you have to be there before you can be where you really want. Thus I don't wear a watch unless there is something on the schedule that I need to be to, or I am somewhere I would rather not be.

I have to give schedules credit though. The amount that can be accomplished when tasks are planned is how our caffeinated, road raging, impatient society functions, produces, and progresses. There is also the added benefit of having to "roll with it," making sure an activity or task makes the most of the time set aside for it. Unless you fall under the lackadaisical portion of society that is subject to Murphy's Law (a task will swell in perceived importance and complexity in direct correlation to the time allotted to it). I guess my brain-clock works by going from task to task rather than from hour to hour. So today we had to "roll with it."

You are wondering why I am talking about schedules? Well, I am trying hard to adjust to having one. I have had a schedule my whole life, but now there are more consequences to my not keeping track of the time. Now punctuality becomes part of performance, and performance=$$.

Today I am glad I had a schedule, I had to be somewhere by 5 p.m.

After arriving at the parking lot to meet up with Forrest Shearer (who was in Jackson Hole at 6 this morning), we set out to do a line called "The Heart of Darkness" that lies just below the summit of Monte Cristo. The photos of that line are what made me really want to get into splitboarding. It kind of made me realize how much is out there to see and explore. After getting a late start we had to change our plans. So Forrest showed me the way to "Hidden Chute," a line I have been looking up at for years.

You stare up at these massive faces, you hear stories of people riding them, and you imagine what it would be like to be there. I truly believe that if you think about something enough, it will happen. All it takes is making the first step. It is that way with everything in life.

This little couloir was one of my favorite lines of the year. It wasn't epic powder, or even that great of snow for that matter, it was just something I have wanted to do for a long time. Now it is done.

Forrest on "Scary Traverse"

Summit of Superior

Monte Cristo

Traversing the ridge

Forrest going for it.

Hidden chute

A look back up.

I forgot to charge my helmet cam. So bummed.

Green=up and Red=down

At least the hike was fun...

Stepping into my newly finished splitboard in the crisp dark air at 5:00 a.m. was what I had been craving since finishing the thing. The morning had the promise of fun and a hope for some nice turns down the enormous south face of Mt. Superior. I met up with Forrest Gladding and Pouchy for the venture. I have ridden with Forrest a couple times at the Bird and this was my first time meeting Pouchy. I was definitely stoked to be there to tag along.

The morning was clear and the stars worked hard to be seen. Forrest stopped periodically for some star gazing and caught a couple shooting stars. We had plenty of time to get to the top and ended up being well ahead of the prime part of the day where the snow would be soft enough to ride and hard enough to still hold together.

We hit the summit just shy of 9 a.m. having taken it easy across the ridge line. A skier passed us in a hurry for the summit. We let him go ahead and summited just behind him. The ride down was not the highlight so I won't dwell on that, but I'll never get tired of watching the sun rise while perched atop a ridge line.

We got done early enough for me to make it to Canyons by 11 a.m. I originally went up for a contest but was so mentally done from the lack of sleep and the climb I just ended up goofing of until I had my fill. It was a long fun day on my snowboard, hopefully next time the conditions will be better.

Morning gear check. Is it all there?

yep.... way too early.

Forrest and Pouchy just down the ridge from Cardiff

Early Morning exposure. I wish I could have gotten some with the lights below before the morning twilight set in.

Still a ways to go.

Forrest and Pouchy

Forrest Gladding

This Knife was pretty sketchy. A lot of snow had melted of making it narrower than it was previously. Breaking trail across it was no easy task. On one side you had about a hundred foot drop across a rock strewn slope, and on the other a steep pitch of frozen snow with no ice axe in hand to arrest a fall, which would eventually find the cliffs below. I took my time getting across making sure my foot placements were good.

Stole these from Forrest Gladding. Click on his name to see the rest of his photos. He snaps some good ones. Pouchy also blogged the event check it out here

Me dropping in. It was about as loud as snowboarding can get. It isn't very often that you snowboard such hard snow on this type of slope.

Avalanche Footage

Ep. 4 Teaser 2 - Wasatch: The Official Production Podcast from Parker Alec Cross on Vimeo.

Here it is. Paker threw together this teaser for his podcast that should be done by early next week.

"Hey soft slab avalanche, thanks for not burying me."

4 a.m.: Wake up
4:15: Pour a bowl of cereal only to realize there is no milk.
4:35: Meet up with Parker
5:00: Roll through McDonalds for some breakfast (Basically today I ate everything I could get a hold of.)
6:00: Start the hike, I forgot my trekking poles. Not stoked.
9:00: Summit of Mt. Superior.
9:05: Break loose an avalanche.
9:06: Decide, "hey... I think it is time to leave."
12:00: Arrive at the Canyons resort for a fun time with some fun guys.
4:30: Leave the park to get home and take a shower because of my putrid smell.

Arriving at the summit of a mountain I have wanted to do for more than a decade brought with it an awesome feeling and then it was followed by another new experience. I had picked out a few chutes that I wanted to hit further down the ridge line from the summit. The snow pack seemed good and seemed stable and I had planned to ride down the main chute in Cardiac Bowl to gain access to the other lines. It was a lot lower angle than what I was planning on riding further down so I figured it would be fine. I did my cut across the top of the chute to see if anything would rip out. Suddenly I was traversing out of a river of snow. I stopped and watched a soft slab slide run a few hundred feet down out of the chute below. Needless to say that pushed the idea of riding steeper terrain right out of my head. I was lucky to have not gone for a ride.

We headed down the face of Superior and then headed up to the Canyons resort for some lazy park laps. As I sit here and write this, my brain is crying for me to go to bed. Today was amazing and I am thankful that nothing happened. Luckily I had on our new helmet camera so I will be able to share the experience with you all as soon as the new podcast comes out.

Parker at the trailhead.

Here come the sun.

Probably one of the best sunrises I have seen in a long time.







Making the summit push.




The summit.