From Red Rocks to Snowy Summits
While Moab, Utah, is certainly known for its red rock canyons, arches, and towers, the nearby La Sal Mountains loom 8,000 feet above. Over spring break 2017, Kylie and I spent a week in Moab, mostly climbing and canyoneering. One day, we snowshoed up to 12,000 feet to the summit of “Little Tuk” in the La Sals. Many years later, I found myself returning, but this time with skis!
My timing in Salt Lake City was rather unfortunate, as strong easterly winds ruined the snow even below tree line. At the end of my visit, Brigette, Kelsey and I decided to roll the dice on the La Sals. We drove down to Moab and had a lovely run in the afternoon through the canyons. It felt wonderful to be back in such a unique place!
The next morning, we drove up to the La Sals. The road is plowed to over 9000 ft, already a vertical mile above Moab!
It was an easy skin through the aspens to Gold Basin, where many 12,000 ft peaks tower above. I had forgotten most of the details from the adventure 7 years ago, but the details quickly came back to me!
Once we got into the open beneath the northeast face of Tukuhnikivatz, we found no tracks ahead of us. We knew that a storm had dropped nearly two feet of fresh snow with decently strong east winds just a few days before. There were many crowns from recent wind slab avalanches, but the slope up the eastern saddle of Tuk looked less wind affected. We decided to approach hesitantly and turn back if it got sketchy.
As the slope steepened, we stopped and dug in the snow. There seemed to be no real layers of concern in the top foot or two. Since wind slab was the only type of avalanche problem in the forecast, this made us feel confident about continuing! Kelsey and Brigette waited while I cut a skin track across the steeper gully, onto a rib, and then tight switchbacks all the way to the saddle. It was one of my better skin tracks, ever.
At the saddle, we watched the summit go in and out of springtime clouds. It didn’t make sense to go higher with poor visibility, so we waited for a sunbreak and skied. The snow was delightful boot top powder – so fast and fun.
We went back up for a second lap, recycling the glorious skinner. The clouds continued to dance around us, casting shadows on the range. I was impressed with the big fall lines and relatively fat snowpack of the La Sals. Although its snowpack is continental in nature, it seemed much deeper and less wind stripped than most of Colorado’s mountains!
On our third and final lap, we decided to tag the summit, booting up the east ridge of Mt. Tukuhnikivatz. The snow was forgettable and the views never really cleared, but it felt like a proper way to end the trip!
The La Sals were a great way to make the most of rough conditions in Salt Lake City and wrap up our trip on a high note! Thank you to Brigette and Kelsey for hosting me and bringing positivity, stoke, and some great photography!