The plan for the day was to climb Kessler four times and ski the four main lines off the peak by working our way from the East Couloir to God’s Lawnmower, then Argenta and finishing into Mineral Fork with the West Couloir. 11hr days make for long blog posts.Pass on this one if you’re expecting a quicky.

Thanks to Joeseph Bullough for the next two pics found on Summit Post.

The East Couloir splits through the rocks near the summit.

God's Lawnmower on the left and Argenta on the right.

The West Couloir which is visable from the salt lake valley if the smog isn't too thick.

The days are still short so an early start was required. We hit the skin track up Argenta at 6am.

Andy Jacobsen rounding the corner near the summit. We tried to get this same shot on each lap so keep an eye out for it.

Round one on the summit, before the rise of the sun.

The East shot choppy and challenging.

These were Andy's first turns with a fixed heel in over a decade.

Good snow was found on the apron and all the way down the avalanche path.

Eyecicles can form if you forget to use your goggles for the ski out.

After a quick car shuttle from Cardiff Fok we were back to Argenta for another up.

We were expecting poor weather, but the skies cleared and stayed that way.

Nearing the summit a second time.

The full sunshine felt good and it was nice to have 7,000ft of climbing out of the way.

We traversed high from the summit and dropped into the Lawnmower.

Great skiing on the lower mower led to the river crossing.

Walking down the road a half mile or so (G's Lawnmower in the background).

After refueling at the car we started up the now very familiar and somewhat slippery skin track.

Fatigue was a factor, but I could still display the number of laps.

We went light with a little water, warm layer and snacks in our Bandit Avalung packs.

In case you were wondering what gear we were running.

Argenta was the best run of the day. Plenty of fresh snow in the main chutes.

AT is easy to get used to, skinny skis take some doing. Luckily powder makes everything easier.

Picnic time back at the car.

The sun was working it's way back down so we tried to keep up the pace to avoid skiing out in the dark.

I kept peeing in the same spot on each lap to check my hydration levels, but somebody skied through it.

Andy celebrates the last time we have to round this corner!

14,340ft of climbing according to Andy's watch.

Excellent snow was still found everywhere except the chokes in the West Couloir.

Made it to the road out at dusk. End of a long 11hrs on a very unique mountain in the Wasatch.

Leave a comment
6443