January is off the charts with powder dropping weekly at rates not measured in decades. The 136 inches recorded in December is the highest total in 40 years for Little Cottonwood. Today the canyon was closed again with Highway 210 blocked by avalanche debris in multiple slide zones. And the howitzers of Alta and Snowbird serve as siren calls to every powder skier within earshot in the pre-dawn hours. But the avalanche artillery is a story for another day…

No, faithful readers of Canyon Blog, this month’s installment is all about the pristine powder that lies tantalizingly just beyond the ski area boundary ropes and on the slopes that beckon as you ride Alta’s Supreme Chair or the Mineral Basin lifts. Once again your correspondent has risked life and limb to bring you firsthand reporting of the full Little Cottonwood skiing experience. Though today’s post incorporates Big Cottonwood Canyon for the first time in this space.

It all started last Monday when Alta avalanche forecaster/program director Dave “Grom” Richards called Canyon Blog and said, “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“Not sure, but you’ll know when you get here,” said the backcountry guide ominously. Canyon Blog’s skied with Grom many times before and one never knows with this guy.

So, properly outfitted with avi pack, probe, shovel, beacon and skins we met at Alta and caught the Supreme lift to the top. From there it was a short, but fun, low angle slope ski into Dry Fork which leads to Heber City should one choose to follow it down.

Cresting Dry Fork

Arriving back at the Alta boundary ropes we joined the trekkers hiking the Supreme summit hill to ski Katherine’s, which had just opened. But for us it was a transit toward the pass Sunnyside peak and Mount Wolverine where Grom’s plan was revealed in full.

“Let’s drop into Big Cottonwood and we can finish at Brighton,” grinned Grom.

Not one to miss out on one upmanship your correspondent added, “Okay, but then we have to hitchhike our way back to Alta.”

Agreed, it was off into the white. It should be mentioned here that the terrain, conditions and backcountry experience needed to assess our route and the morning all came into play. Backcountry skiing isn’t something to be taken lightly, and Grom knows all about that having spent his entire career studying snow. But it is something to be experienced.

For those readers of this column who enjoy the best lodging in Little Cottonwood, try Snowbird’s backcountry guides https://www.snowbird.com/guiding-tours/backcountry-skiing/  for the experience of a lifetime. That’s because you’ll do it as a ski-in ski-out adventure.

As for Grom and your correspondent’s excursion, enjoy this month’s photos that include Canyon Blog’s favorite backcountry critter encounter, the humble porcupine.

As for getting back, he’s happy to report that it took a mere two thumbs to arrive in Alta. You have to love skiers, they’ll take pity on anyone, even scruffy middle aged guys.