Started the day intending to do something I’ve never done, ski Mount Olympus Couloir (a.k.a. Memorial Couloir #2). I tried but unfortunately (and fortunately) I did not ski it because it was too sketchy to even get to it.
But I did do something I haven’t done before after I got home! Ate a peanut butter sandwich in the shower. I wanted my peanut butter sandwich so much, and wanted a shower just as much…
Written by: Tony Korologos | Sunday, April 30th, 2023
Categories: Backcountry Skiing
Heaven’s Half Pipe was an…. “experience” yesterday. Every part of my body hurts. I’ve got blisters on my hands from my ski poles. Cuts all over my hands, arms, legs from bushwhacking.
If you’re looking for professional ski shredding, move along! This was a very long, difficult, suffer-fest of bushwhacking, sweating, slogging, post-holing, mashed potatoes-slush, misery, muscle cramps, and falling through broken snow bridges into rivers…
A couple of days ago I posted a crazy video of the rope drop in Mineral Basin. The Twitter version is now up over 50K views and was even picked up by MSN and UnofficialNetworks.com.
Hundreds of skiers and snowboarders race to get first tracks on wind blown sunbaked crust in Mineral Basin. pic.twitter.com/ZSpbSQUj14
Today I imposed an interesting test on myself both physically and mentally. Lovely bride asked me why I like to do stuff like this and it kind of set me aback. I’ll have to ponder that.
Anyway… Today’s run was on Eddie’s High Nowhere, a special area where you can go in to skimo (ski mountaineering) mode inbounds. After lots of side-stepping and traversing you have to boot pack to the top, where you’ll almost always find a cornice as the winds howl in this spot. Today’s boot pack was so windy I couldn’t hold my skis in the typical place over my shoulder. So I crawled with my poles and skis ahead of me.
The top is an amazing spot. Super rugged. No-fall-zone in all directions. The drop from the cornice to the run is about the steepest thing there is at Alta. It’s practically straight down and today that drop was about as wide as a pair of skis. I chose no on that. I didn’t think side-sliding it was possible and I sure as hell wasn’t going to point a ski down it. So I went for the side entrance below the cornice. There was a steep drop there too. Because of the poor visibility I couldn’t tell if there was anything to avoid, bumps, ice, who knows. My mind wouldn’t let me point a ski down that either. So for perhaps the first time ever, I started thinking about how I was going to back out. I’d probably have to reverse boot pack down where I came from.
On the way out I checked the trees to see if I could find another way to enter Eddies, and I managed to find one. I had to traverse a section of trees that is extremely steep. The video can’t convey just how steep it is. Not even close. A fall there would result in a case of human pinball. So I took it slow and eventually found my way in. Once I was in, the skiing was on ice and breakable crust with wind blown dust on top. Did I mention the poor visibility? LOL So you don’t know if you’re going to hit a bump, slide on ice, or stop suddenly. It’s basically defensive skiing at that point.
It felt satisfying to get down Eddie’s today. That’s where my thighs cramped up a few weeks ago, so I had a bit of a mental demon to exercise.
Hilariously, after getting down one of the toughest runs at Alta, I crashed into a tree (yes I know, another tree) off the cat track at the top of Collins, in front of all the people who get off the lift. What a hack I’m sure they were thinking.
Stoked to hear that the final load testing of the new Sunnyside lift at Alta Ski Area is taking place. I’ve been watching the construction for months. See photo below:
A couple of days ago I watched the lift actually move. Load testing and brake testing is happening now and if all goes according to plan the lift will be carrying skiers this Saturday the 21st of January, 2023! Looking forward to riding it on Saturday!
Written by: Tony Korologos | Sunday, October 30th, 2022
Categories: Backcountry Skiing
2nd backcountry skiing session of the season was a little bigger than the first. 1800-ish vertical from the lower lot to the top of the Collins lift at Alta, via Ballroom.
Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, October 25th, 2022
Categories: Backcountry Skiing
It wasn’t much because I ran out of daylight, but I skinned up Grizzly Gulch and made some turns coming back, on snow. I skied! The season has begun. The base has some hazards but it is solid.
This was a tough video to make. So many awesome clips from the 2021-2022 ski season to choose from! Some of the clips feature pow on Mount Baldy, East Castle, backcountry skiing, Main Chute (Mount Baldy), Perlas, High Boy (Alf’s High Rustler), Jitter Bug, Stone Crusher, Gunsight, Deseret Peak’s Twin Couloirs and more.
Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, September 20th, 2022
Categories: Gear
Tags: GoPro • Video
I’ve been rolling with three GoPro Hero 7 Blacks for a few years so it was time for an upgrade. I now have my hands on the new GoPro Hero 11 Black, which I intend to use for all my mountain sports as well as some FPV drone flying.
I’m looking forward to trying some horizon lock, especially for skiing and biking. Hope to do some biking soon.
Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, June 27th, 2022
Categories: Misc • Reviews
In for review is Pickle Juice. Why pickle juice? It can help prevent muscle craps.
I love pickles, but that didn’t make it much easier to try my first shot of Pickle Juice. I took it right before a very, very hot and dry mountain bike ride in which I know I lost a lot of fluids. No cramps!
Subsequent shots went down much easier and it seems like I’m feeling the benefits each time. I’ve only tried a few but I’m going to keep at it and see how the results are when I’m done with about a dozen of them.