visit Utah early June versus August?
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Sharon + I are thinking about our first Climbing visit to non-SW Utah. We've visited many times in winter for backcountry and cross-country skiing (which once included some fun outdoor climbing in the low Wasatch front on a warm February day). |
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kenr wrote: But Sharon wants mostly the 5.6-5.8 range with easy approaches on this trip, so I'm concerned that's going to be mostly Trad or difficult approaches if we arrive early June. I'm sure you'll get plenty of good responses, but I think the above concern is misplaced. I suspect you'll find as much or more moderate sport routes with easy approaches in Big Cottonwood than you will in Ruth Lake or other Uinta locations. Everything in Big is in season in June. You can find easy sport in AF and at the Clamshell in LCC that time of year also. |
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In May the uintas will likely be full of snow, and if not they will have many many bugs. Also not much there below 5.8 but it really shines at 5.9-5.10. |
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Theres not a ton of difference in the weather between June and August. Either way, it will probably be hot. Most snow has melted from most places by June except for the highest north aspects. The Wasatch mountains will be fading from green to brown in June as the spring grasses shrivel in the heat. They will be brown and dry by August. The sun sets pretty late in June so you can get more cool evening sessions in and otherwise just visit crags that will be in the shade. |
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Early June? I ski pretty much into mid and sometimes late June most seasons in the Uintas. There can be rock available to climb, but, the approaches will be snowy at and pretty damp at most locations. Most Uinta climbing is at around 10k' in elevation. And, when the snow does melt, the skeeters will be fierce until it dries out a bit. Upper elevation ridge traverses will likely still be snowy for sure in May, but, even into June (both Wasatch and Uintas). Tons of scrambles in the Uintas. Try "Scott" on summitpost for beta (he wrote a guidebook on the Western Uintas). Maple would be great. |
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bus driver wrote:The Albion Basin campground is a high elevation alternative to Snowbird but may not be snow free in June.Devils Castle 10 June 2018. This year should have more snow (we're hoping but on track!). The west-to-east traverse of the castle is one of my favorite scrambles in the Wasatch... |
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kenr wrote: Sharon + I are thinking about our first Climbing visit to non-SW Utah. We've visited many times in winter for backcountry and cross-country skiing (which once included some fun outdoor climbing in the low Wasatch front on a warm February day). Personally I always find that June is much more condusive to climbing than August for the wasatch, though obviously not for the uintas as they will still be snowed in. That said, while there is some fun climbing in the uintas it is certainly not a destination I would make a trip specifically for, the wasatch on the other hand would be well worth it. As far as the types of climbing you mentioned, in the wasatch you have quartzite in big cottonwood/mt. olympus, all over the Ogden area, and in Rock Canyon by provo. For Limestone you have AF canyon, Logan canyon or Rock Canyon with some additional limestone crags scattered around a bunch of other areas. For comglomerate you have the obvious Maple Canyon, but you also have Echo Canyon, and a bit more in City Creek Canyon. For sport climbing in the 5.6 - 5.8 range with easy approaches, I can't think of any area in the world better than Maple Canyon, but you can find plenty of that in all of the areas I mentioned above as well. As fas as easy ridge traverses, I'm sure some exist in the uintas, but because the uintas are a much older range than the wasatch, they tend to be less ridgy whereas there are a ton of ridge traverses that you can do in the wasatch. Hope this helps! |
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Thanks so much for all the help. |
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So now that we're getting into the details of thinking about reservations for flying + sleeping, we're running into that key point that always deterred us from even considering Utah as a summer climbing place: |
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Key stimulus in my thinking about northern Utah . . . |
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Get an air BnB in Cottonwood heights. It is right at the base between BIg and Little Cottonwood and right near Ferguson Canyon all those crags in are only 15 minutes or less. It’s hot but manageable. We all climb then. Both canyons have shady sides and sunny sides. Ferguson is a walk up but it’s a nice approach and shaded by trees all summer. (Similar to crawdad canyon in Veyo in SW Utah). Provo may be fine but it also may be hard to find a drink. |
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kenr wrote: Fwiw the quartzite in Utah ranks like this in my opinion: Big cottonwood < uintas < ibex...but ibex, which can be nice in May, is very isolated from other crags, harder to get to, and may be somewhat of an acquired taste. But it could be combined with corn skiing in gbnp which I heard is good... |
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Ibex seems rather interesting to me, since nowadays I normally reach SLC by flying into Las Vegas. And I've gotten into a habit of sport-climbing around St George. |
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bus driver wrote: Get an air BnB in Cottonwood heights. . . . Ferguson is a walk up but it’s a nice approach and shaded by trees all summer. (Similar to crawdad canyon in Veyo in SW Utah). We do like Crawdad, tho last I checked it's not open for climbing outside summer swimming season. So thanks for adding Ferguson to our list of options. Cottonwood Heights / Midvale "axis" we're very familiar with from skiing -- sleep near a stop on the UTA bus line. We started preferring to be near the rail line also, at the first stop of the bus, to be sure to get a seat.That certainly qualifies as "along the way" between BCC + Maple. I guess we were just looking to try something different. Sharon likes to do cycling on our trips, and I remember the Provo River trail as more interesting than the Salt Lake bike trails. And she might want to do some hiking around Sundance. . (Maybe also we were hoping the indoor gym at Provo might be better than Momentum). Ken |
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kenr wrote:. . . I remember being disappointed when I figured out that most of the skiing in Tyson Bradley's Utah backcountry skiing guidebook was not accessible in winter -- lots more than just the Wasatch - (Tushar? Henrys?) Not sure what you mean about Tyson's book...I think all of it is accessible in the winter. What good would a backcountry ski guidebook be if the routes described weren't? What specifically are you referring to? And, the Wasatch really isn't that much of a spring ski destination. We're not cold enough (ie lack of high elevations) for a good corn cycle. Backcountry is pretty empty of skiers in especially May. Conditions just aren't that great and certainly not dependably "good."That said, some of us ski into May and June, sometimes July every season. And, there's those that have an every month ski thing going for many many years. |
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Brian in SLC wrote:
> ". . . the Wasatch really isn't that much of a spring ski destination. We're not cold enough > (ie lack of high elevations) for a good corn cycle. Backcountry is pretty empty of skiers in > especially May. Conditions just aren't that great and certainly not dependably "good." Thanks for the warning. I don't have to decide to bring my skis until ilke May 14, so I'll have a reasonable clue about snowpack and likelihood of clear nights / refreeze cycles by then. Anyway based on the long-term forecast, May second half 2019 is not a good bet for northern Utah. Not sure what mountain regions you think _do_ have reliable spring-skiing conditions nowadays. Sierra is famous and does have higher elevations, but its higher peaks are notably farther South than the Wasatch or Uinta giants. And the Eastside Sierra faces overall ENE, while the southern Wasatch faces overall WSW. Both main ridges of LCC have obvious skiable S faces - (I have skied the S face of Lone Pine Peak). The number of skiers out on the southern Sierra is not large (and many turn out to be visitors from Europe who likely did not consider Utah as an alternate destination). Lots of days the Sierra spring skiing is on slush or "heavy" powder, not refrozen corn. Washington Cascades have only one peak higher than Utah, and notably lower percentage of clear-night-sky refreezes. Europe western Alps (higher) in recent years has had a big problem with cloudy nights and warm temperatures in May. Eastern Alps forget about anything resembling reliable skiing in May. Brian in SLC wrote:I mean accessible for "normal" semi-lazy backcountry skiers with roughly-normal vehicles, and without winter camping. I have skied with a lifelong SLC resident rather smart + experienced who was eager to explore more stuff outside the tri-canyon Wasatch, and his assessment was that lots lots more fun backcountry skiing could be enjoyed if a couple of skiers bought sleds for access. Or if some highway departments or land managers would just plow some key roads in winter. Tyson guidebook: My copy is in storage now. My recollection is that the Tushar range has some worthwhile ski slopes, but in winter it's a long slog in from Elk Meadows / Mt Hollow just to reach those peaks. For "normal" skiers, makes more sense to wait until spring for roads to melt or get plowed. Henry mountains: I did not notice how it was easy to get near the high peaks during winter without sleds (or helicopter?). Fish Lake plateau? I'm happy to be educated by those who know the details better. Anyway . . . my old impression was that France Alps just had way more skiable backcountry terrain than Utah. After reading the Tyson Bradley guidebook (which I am glad for), my impression changed to recognizing that Utah has a large quantity of worthwhile backcountry skiing terrain. Key difference in France Alps is that they _plow_ key access roads in winter - (and _maintain_ a higher percentage of roads drivable by non-high-clearance vehicles year round). Ken |
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kenr wrote: I don't have to decide to bring my skis until ilke May 14, so I'll have a reasonable clue about snowpack and likelihood of clear nights / refreeze cycles by then. Anyway based on the long-term forecast, May second half 2019 is not a good bet for northern Utah.Don't worry about that now. Long term forecasts for the mountains greater than 5 days out are essentially useless. Current example: A week ago the models all predicted dry and storm-less until mid-Feb. As of today we're expecting 2'-3' above 8K' by Tuesday. |
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kenr, it always helps when people post their hometown, if they have one, to get some perspective. |
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kenr wrote: Provo, while a lovely place, is not where you want to be based out of. You don't want to stay anywhere between Lehi and Spanish Fork because it is the heart of LDS country. Your food, bars, alcohol, entertainment, and fellow climbers will be very lacking. You want to be in Salt Lake County somewhere, and somewhere east of I-15. |
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grog m wrote: ^^^ What he said. |
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kenr wrote: I mean accessible for "normal" semi-lazy backcountry skiers with roughly-normal vehicles, and without winter camping. There is no better access to great backcountry right out your car door than the Wasatch, or very few places rival the Wasatch for that matter. Both Timp and Little Cottonwood can be stellar in May, it just depends on the melt freeze and snowpack (which this year, we’re already 120% of normal, with another 4 day storm lining up). You might wanna try the linkup of corn skiing in the morning in Little Cottonwood, then climbing in the afternoon. Hellgate is primed w many bolted routes, 200 feet from the parking lot at Alta. Or, Big Cottonwood Works as well, It’s all close. All that being said, nothing rivals the French Alps! +1 for not staying in Provo. If you’re eating out (maybe) or wanting a cool cerveza, the airbnb suggestion for Cottonwood Heights is a good one. |