My legs have been slow to recover from the weekend of racing, but there’s no better way to bounce back than getting out and moving around. Lars suggested we ski the West Face of Twin Peaks yesterday. We knew the conditions could be questionable, and the bushwhack out would be regrettable, but the excitement of skiing something neither of us had done won us over.
Lars on the final push tot the summit of Twin Peaks.
The overcast skies kept the frozen snow from softening. His face says it all.
Actually, it wasn’t that bad, very firm, but edge-able. And the views more than made up for the snow conditions. 
I had scoped this line from way down below, only like a thousand times over the past ten years. Hard not to stare at it from the valley floor and wonder. It looks really steep from way down below, but the face is a fun 40 degrees and the single choke was filled in. Plenty of room to turn! 
Lars is loving it!
Looking back up from the mellow bowl. It’s short, but sweet. Cool to be so close to millions of people, but not see a single one in an entire drainage.
Skiing through an eerie burn zone.
“Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice” -Robert Frost-
We found more corn that hadn’t thawed and some soft pow all the way down till the snow ran out and we were reminded why Deaf Smith has such a reputation for being one of the worst exits in the Wasatch.
In fact, I’d heard about the heinousness that is Deaf Smith many years ago and it has kept me out for 15 years. But I wanted to see it for myself and continue the trend of exploring new places this year. We found a trail, but it was narrow, poorly defined and covered with dead-fall.
Lucky for us some poor bastard on snowshoes had worked pretty far up into the canyon and we followed their tracks out.
Somewhere around here we realized we were not going to make it down by 11:30 and therefore Lars was going to be late for work.
It seems like the trail wouldn’t be that bad with a little bit of maintenance and if it wasn’t barred by private property. Then folks could use it and maintain it. Pretty rugged exit, but not really that bad, even in a low snow season. Worth doing at least once. We brought trail shoes, but only used them going up Broads Fork.
After shuttling back up to Broads Fork trail-head, Lars dropped me off and changed right from sweaty ski attire to business suit and headed off to work. Pretty funny to see him changing right there in the parking lot. True dedication!
We’re not giving up on winter even though it seems to be giving up on us. These warm temps are going to annihilate the little bit of snow we do have if things continue in this fashion.
Blooming flowers in the grass!
My take away from this….a snowshoer saved the day.
noah: what exactly is your understanding with the access up deaf smith? I have tried to walk up their a few times and have had the homeowners tell me to get off their property. Is their a sneaky way or do you just trespass?
Hey Spence,
Looks like it’s really well marked as private property. Tons of signage coming up the drainage, but we were walking out the canyon and there’s nothing posted in the exit direction.