Some people asked me, Why focus on the 3 star lines when rating systems are so subjective? Of course ratings are subjective. But there is something about McLean’s writing and style that clicked with me. The descriptions are hilarious. If you aren’t familiar with the book and you ski in the Wasatch, get it now. It will open your eyes to many new ski experiences. If you haven’t heard of Andrew McLean, check out his blog, Straight Chuter. For some strange reason, I trust Andrew’s judgement on ratings. From the book, “These are a subjective quality rating. They have nothing to do with the snow conditions, slope angle, the gnarl factor or anything aside from just general coolness.”

The 3 star lines: “Ta die for. A classic. Major in every sense. High quality. A must ski. Do it now.” So I did.

Here’s the list:

Y-Couloir, Coalpit, Lisa Falls, Tanner’s, Little Pine, Monte Cristo Directissimo, Mt. Superior- South Face, The Hypodermic Needle, Pfeifferhorn – NW Couloir, Roman’s – Wolverine Cirque, Lone Peak – NE Couloir, Main Chute Baldy-Alta

Other people asked me, why not wait for good conditions and make it a two-year project? Some of the lines I skied in good snow, others, not so good. But part of the mission was exploratory – to see new terrain, climb new peaks, to push myself beyond my comfort zone.

I’ve always had this inner mountaineer in me, I think we all do, it’s just hidden deeper in some. The voice inside of us that wants to get to the top of every hilltop or mountain. Like in the Sound of Music, “Climb Every Mountain, Ford Every Stream, Follow all the rainbows, until you find your dream.” (Yes I admit, I’m kind of a dork). It’s especially easy to nurture this inner mountaineer in the Wasatch, where dozens of amazing peaks are viewable from the city skyline. I’ve always wanted to ski all these lines, but have usually been so busy skiing powder at the resorts that I didn’t take the time or effort to make it happen.

The project officially started near the end of March when I realized I’d already skied a few of the 3 star lines. The thing with this type of skiing is that it’s addictive. The combination of adrenaline plus endorphin rush is intoxicating. After my first few missions, I’d get nervous when I didn’t have another one lined up. I started friending random people on Facebook that looked like strong touring partners (they have now become good real life friends). I obsessed over weather forecasts, strategically assembled teams and planned my objectives. Starting so late in the season was stressful, especially with so many south facing lines, but April came through for me in a big way. Little storms coated the Wasatch with fresh coats of paint, but not enough to create unstable avalanche conditions. A cold storm near the end of the month was the icing on the cake. I ended up skiing many of the lines in excellent conditions.

Here’s how it all went down:

1) The Y-Couloir

Feb. 15, 2013

I usually ski the Y once a year for a good workout and fun usually around Valentine’s Day. If you want to get into chuting, the Y is a good place to start. You can scout it from the road and it’s very straight-forward. With all these lines, you want to be sure to have 100% stable avalanche conditions. As McLean states in the book, “The most impressive aspect of The Y is that it hits 40 degrees immediately and never varies more then a few degrees in its entirety.”

A spicy entrance to the Y – Forrest and me booting up in lean conditions – usually this rocky section is filled in. Photo by Brent Benson

Forrest in the Y.

The Y and other lines as seen from Lisa Falls.

2) The next line I skied was a burly one, the NW Couloir of the Pfeifferhorn.

March 3, 2013

Local photographer Steve Lloyd loves this and organized this mission. It was my first time touring with Brody Leven and Alex Taran and they are some of the best partners ever. Brody explained the approach and made sure I knew what I was getting myself into before we left the parking lot. I appreciated the team’s attention to detail and safety.

The NW Couloir in all it’s glory.

Happy and excited!

This year, there were especially lean conditions in the NW Couloir and there was a lengthy rappel to enter the chute. photo by Brody Leven.

This was one of my favorite days of the winter, even though the snow was a mix of breakable crusts. This was a long day – we ended up skiing out of white pine in the dark, fading headlamp, out of water and nearly out of food (I was rationing gummy bears and Clif shot blocks to the group), but we were laughing and smiling the whole way back to the car. Good friends and a good day in the mountains!

3) South Face of Superior, March 4, 2013.

Superior is one of my favorite lines. It’s so iconic and is probably part of the reason so many skiers make their way to Little Cottonwood Canyon. We began on a cold, snowy morning at 4:30 am. It was the windiest ridge walk I’ve ever done, and I nearly got hypothermia waiting for the sun to emerge, but alas, the clouds parted ways and made for a breathtaking sunrise.

Adam Clark on the approach.

3 star line in 3 star conditions! Blower pow on the South face of Superior! photo by Adam Clark

4) March 24, 2013. Coalpit:

Another very fun day skiing a 3 star line in 3 star conditions. This time, we approached from White Pine. It was a long walk in. We came through the notch on Maybird and made our way up the apron of the Needle to the top of Thunder ridge.

Sunrises like these make the early wake ups worth it.

de-skinning at the top of Coalpit, photo by Lee Cohen

5,000 feet of good skiing await. More of a cirque or bowl than a chute. Coalpit is an amazing run that every Wasatch skier should do at least once.

5) Main Chute of Baldy, Alta

March 27, 2013

Always a fun one, and an easy one to get. If you don’t ski it from Alta Ski Area, you can hike it before or after the resort closes, it holds snow for awhile. Once I skied it near the end of July.

me hiking up to Main Chute. photo by Adam Clark

6) March 28, 2013. Roman’s, Wolverine Cirque:

Another relatively easy one to tick off the list. Forrest and I skied it from Brighton one hot afternoon.

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Even though we were in the middle of a heat wave, the snow in north-facing Roman’s stayed cold, chalky and delightfully carve-able. 

7) April 4, 2013. Tanners.

Now, onto the South-facing lines:

With hot temperatures everywhere in the Wasatch, I wanted to get on this line early. We started hiking well before sunrise. Even though everything was frozen solid, I got an eerie feeling as we headed up the narrow avalanche path in the darkness.

Top of Tanner’s, waiting for warmth. 

The entire chute was littered with avy debris, some of the boulders bigger than me. Here Forrest enjoys a small section of corn-like snow, the only unscathed portion of the line. Skiing down 3,000+ feet of frozen avy debris was a low moment in the project, but you have to ski the bad to appreciate the good!

8) Little Pine.

April 7, 2013

This day, it was cloudy and lightly snowing. We didn’t start until the afternoon and ended up skiing the line in great corn/slush like conditions! Soft and highly rippable, it was redemption for the heinousness of Tanner’s.

My crampons and ice ax came in handy for these south facing missions.

If you look closely enough, you can see us as little specks in the bottom. There was one choke we had to downclimb, but everything else was filled in! Overall, highly enjoyable turns in Little Pine! One of my favorites.

9) Hypodermic needle

April 11, 2013

Booting up in fresh powder.

Lucky to have a foot of fresh snow for this one!

10) Lisa Falls

April 18, 2013

Trip report here. This is the line I wished wasn’t in the book because it was such a massive undertaking so late in the season. Still, we got the upper section as good as it gets.

11) NE Couloir of Lone Peak

April 22, 2013

Read Adam OKeefe’s fantastic trip report here.

The NE Couloir (which is actually mostly East-facing) has this exposed Alaska feel to it. It suites my type of skiing. It’s wide, steep and committing. There are a ton of other cool lines off Lone Peak. The potential is unlimited – I plan to go back there another time with a tent, some food and spend a few days ticking away at these.

Lone Peak in powder (not exactly the conditions we had) when I scouted it from Coalpit. Fell in love at first sight.

Ascending, full ice ax and crampon mission!

On top of the South peak in freezing temperatures!

Powder-like conditions with a big cliff below!

And a long dirty hike out…

Monte Cristo Directissimo

12) April 25, 2013

For the final line, I asked Andrew McLean if he’d come with me. Amazingly, he said yes. Andrew is the man, and it was so cool to finish the project with him!

dropping in! – photos by Adam OKeefe.

And that’s it!

I would like to dedicate this project to my half-brother Martin who perished 12 years ago in an avalanche in Stairs Gulch and to Craig Patterson, Joe Timlin, Chris Minecci, all the many other friends we’ve lost. Martin was my mountain mentor, he taught me how to climb, ski, backpack and inspired me to become the mountain woman I am today. Whenever I go to the mountains, I remember him, his smile, his contagious enthusiasm. I know he wouldn’t want me to stop doing what I’m doing. I feel his spirit in the mountains and I see him smiling down on me. 
I poured my heart and soul into this project. And I know Martin would be proud. RIP to all our perished mountain friends.

I’d also like to give a big shout out to all my friends and touring partners who helped make this project successful:

Forrest Shearer

Andy Earl

Harrison Brickman

Alex Taran

Steve Lloyd

Brody Leven

Lee Cohen

Tyler Sterling

Tobias MacPhee

Carolyn Stwertka

Adam Clark

Jason Prigge

Adam OKeefe

Andrew McLean

And Noah Howell for inspiring this project!

Thanks to my awesome sponsors whose support allows me to ski my wild heart out.

Zeal Optics, Nordica, Patagonia, Sanuk, Leki, Thule

Petzl, Clif Bar, Sambazon, backcountry.com and Gregory Mountain Products

I learned so much by finishing the project and it’s just the beginning! Stay tuned for more exciting adventures ahead.

Here’s Andrew McLean’s description of Lisa Falls from “The Chuting Gallery,”
Lisa Falls (AKA The South Couloir of Twin Peaks)
Rating: S4 3 Stars
Pitch: 36-42 degrees
Exposure: SE-S-SW
Elevations: 6,500′-11,330′
Vertical: 4,830′

“One of the longest, most varied, interesting and fun chutes in the Wasatch, as well as one of the biggest undertakings. The initial 1,700 vertical feet is straight, lined with beauiful rock, a consistent 40 degrees, wide enough for a few independent lines and overall some of the best chute skiing anywhere. You then drop into a roller coaster of aprons, gullies, corkscrews and dips an drops until the run eventually becomes an unskiable creek bed. At this point traverse out to the skier’s left and begin some soul searching bushwhacking until you finally stumble out onto the Little Cottonwood road. A short section of rope is good insurance for lowering over and around obstacles.
The line starts right at the saddle between the two peaks that form ‘Twin Peaks’ (some mixed climbing may be necessary to get there) and is easy to find. The run can be approached either by going up Broad’s Fork on the Big Cottonwood side (longer but safer), booting up Tanner’s and traversing over (recommended) or going straight up the chute itself (shorter and some bushwhacking).
Since it starts so close to the beginning of the canyon and isn’t easily seen from the Little Cottonwood road, Lisa Falls is seldom shown on any of the ski touring maps. This combined with the magnitude of the approach means that few people ever ski this memorable line. You can get a great overall view of it from across the canyon in either the Hogum or Maybird drainages.”

We skied the line on Thursday, April 18, 2013. I tried to get there on Tuesday by going up Tanner’s, but we got turned around by deep wind slabs near the top. Because of that, we decided to go up Broad’s because we mistakenly thought there would be a skin track in. But it would be safer and less stressful.

We met at the mouth of Little at 5 am, dropped a car at Lisa Falls, and then went up to Big Cottonwood to start our approach, around 5:30 am. The first 30-40 minutes we were walking on dirt.
Having scouted from the Needle the previous week, I knew the line wasn’t getting sun until well after sunrise, maybe 8-9 am. The morning was January cold. I had on many layers (see end of TR for detailed gear info).

The East facing slopes getting blasted with sun and wind on the peaks.

It’s hard to tell from this picture, but if you look closely, you can see some of the yawning Glide cracks and recent debris. I was nervous as we skinned by these, but it was still early and we had a deep freeze the night before. I still put in a skin track high on the opposite side of the gully just to be safe, and we went one at a time across these sections.


Approaching this way, we were able to see how the snow was responding to the intense April sunlight. I didn’t see a single rollerball or pinwheel as we ascended. Just cold powder, I was excited!

We were able to skin most of the way to the ridge, and just had to boot up one small section.


Tobias MacPhee on the beginning of a spicy ridgewalk. It was slow going because of the amount of snow and windloading. I kicked a few cornices on the way to see how the snow would react.


Carolyn and I enjoying the spiciness.

Instead of perservering with the ridgewalk, with its overhanging cornices and waist deep windloading, we decided to traverse over and hike up a sub-couloir that would get us to the summit. There was a sun/wind crust for the first 15-20 feet below the ridge, and then it turned into nice, soft powder. Before committing to the slope and traverse from the safer ridge, we put Tobias on a rope and belayed him across (this shot is after the belay since I couldn’t take photos and belay).


Nearing the top.

Yah! We made it! We tried not to celebrate too much, because the summit is only the halfway point, especially with a line like this. The views were exquisite. We could see everything from the Great Salt Lake to Lone Peak! For me, the coolest thing about climbing a peak like this is that you can see it from almost everywhere in the valley.


Carolyn Swertka dropping in. The snow was starting to set up, but was still pretty light, especially when we stayed on the skier’s left side of the chute.

Continuing down, this really is one of the best couloirs in the Wasatch!

Until it turns into this!


If you look closely, you can see Carolyn rappelling. I thought the fresh snow down low would help the coverage and conditions in the lower part of the line. Turns out, the fresh snow on top of the smooth granite made a very slippery situation. Kind of like a waterslide. We found it easier to set up rappels than downclimb.


There was a lot of water running through the creek, creating waterfalls and pools. Here, Tobias is rappelling into a knee deep cold pool. Maybe if the water was frozen and the rock was smooth, you could downclimb more easily.

Carolyn following suit.

This rappel was fun, an overhanging ice waterfall into a shin deep pool of water. As we lowered, the ice would break away and expose more water. We made sure phones and other electronic devices were secured before taking the plunge. If it were warmer, maybe this would’ve been refreshing. But isn’t that part of the adventure? Carolyn smiles through it all. I called this day, C squared adventure camp (Carolyn + Caroline = C squared). After this rappel, there was another much bigger cliff. We weren’t sure our two 30 m ropes would go. Instead of continuing with the heinousness, I pulled out my iPhone and located us on Goggle Earth (with 1% battery remaining). I had scouted an escape route earlier. I saw we could do a short climb out of the gulch and get to a long slope of pure scrub oak that would put us back on the road. Carolyn put in the bootpack and we were on the way to freedom.

2000′ feet of bushwhacking later, we were back at the car.
Here’s my take on the line – the top couloir is amazing and definitely worth it. This stays filled in most of the winter. If I do it again, I think I will approach from Broad’s, ski the top 2,000′, bootpack back up and ski out the East Couloir of the Twin Peaks. That way you can go fast and light without ropes and harness. The bottom half would need a humongous snow year to get filled in. Even then, it’s questionable.

What I brought for supplies on this day:
5 Clif bar shots
3 Clif bar blocks
3 Clif bars
1/2 egg salad sandwich
1/2 litre Platypus with Nuun
2 12 ounce MFD collapsible water bottles.
Layering top:
Patagonia capilene lightweight merino
Patagonia Houdini
Patagonia Nano Puff
Patagonia Untracked Pullover Gore-Tex Shell
Bottom layer:
Patagonia Untracked Pants – Gore Tex Shell
Other items I brought:
Ortovox Beacon, Probe, Shovel
Petzl Headlamp
Petzl Ice ax
Petzl Harness, ATC, 2 Locking carabiners
Lightweight helmet
Zeal Goggles
Zeal Polarized Sunglasses
2 pairs Leki gloves, one lightweight, one heavier
2 pairs of Toe Warmer packets – I currently have the “hot hands” brand
30 m 7.8 mm rope
iPhone (doubles as camera and map)
2 Voile straps
Skins
Small thing of duct tape
153 cm Nordica Nemesis with Dynafit bindings
Leki Peak Vario S ski poles

So that’s it! Quite an adventure, and a long day. Curious who this Lisa is that Lisa Falls is named after… She must have been quite the lady.

The Dugway business aside, the Twin Peaks are a relatively big mission compared to simple approaches in the Wasatch. We thought it was a 1.5 hr drive, a 2 mile snowmobile in and then a couple mile hike to the top. With record high temperatures forecasted, we decided it would be best to meet the night before and snowcamp. Our journey began here, at the TA Salt Lake Travel Center and gas station in Tooele, where we met photographer Steve Lloyd. We loaded up on snack food and started making our way to the trailhead.

I followed these directions from Summit Post (note, picture will open a link to original page):

They were reliable and took us to where we needed to go, except that the road to Loop Campground is closed until later in the season (not sure when it opens). Our original plan was to snowmobile into the campground and camp there, but we decided just to sleep at the cars and make a quick exit in the morning.

We woke up at 5:30 am, packed up, and hit the trail on the sled; Steve took turns shuttling Forrest and me. The road was a mix of snow and dirt and it was rough going (mostly for the sled). We thought it was 2 miles but it’s actually 4.

Our ride in.

Deseret Peak Wilderness – I always love the typography of these signs.

Sunrise over the mountains. Beautiful feather cloud graphic print.

The old crusted trail. We didn’t see another soul the entire day.

Looking over the Great Salt Lake.

Steve Lloyd on the approach.

Forrest stopping for a drink.

Our first view of the Twin Couloirs.

Taking in the scenery and planning my approach. (and it’s already getting hot!)

Getting ready to charge up the mountain. Only two or so thousand feet to go!

Forrest Shearer and me skinning (I’m happy to say I broke trail the whole way)

I skinned as far as I could, booted, skied the top half of the left couloir, booted back up and skied the right couloir!

We were surrounded by beautiful Quartzite towers.

Mandatory selfie in the chute

Can you spot the snowboarder at the top?

Steve Lloyd nearing the top

Clif Bars are our favorite, they pair well with potato chips.

Lunch time view

Heart shaped lichen on quartzite makes me so happy! Love is everywhere!

Stoked and ready to shred!

Dropping in!

Skiing with a smile!

We were fortunate to enjoy nice corn most of the way down. Once we were off the steeps, however, it quickly turned to mank.

The loud rumbles of avalanches on the South and East facing slopes was unnerving, but we were out of harms’ way.

Here’s when you know it’s time to go, big pinwheels and snowballs were coming down wherever we went.

And then, the long, hot road out.

Stopping to check out some climbing projects.

When the snow ran out, we walked. Pray for more snow people!

Back at the car, we stripped down quickly and reydrated.

And a look back at the Stansbury range.

Obviously, on hot spring days, you have to use slope aspect and angles to your advantage. We were on a primarily North face couloir so it didn’t heat up like the rest, but had our objective been east, west or south, we would’ve needed to be on it much much earlier!

Overall, such a fun mission! Can’t wait for the next one. Have fun out there and stay safe!

Burgdorf is a remote, rustic group of cabins and hot springs in Idaho. It is 22 miles on snowmobiles to get in and there is no electricity or running water (but there is a nice hot springs).

We spent 4 days there doing a Zeal Optics shoot. I thought it would be fun to take pictures of all the men on the trip and feature them on my blog. Here they are:

Daniel Blom, Swedish photographer

Sean Aaron, or Sharon, as we like to call him. One of the filmers


Mike Henitiuk, Zeal athlete, pro skier from Whistler

Banks Gilberti, Zeal athlete, pro skier from Breck


Josh Tranby, pro snowboarder from Minnesota! So stoked to have him on the Zeal crew.

Joe Prebich, marketing director of Zeal Optics. He’s the adventure leader and Peter Pan of the lost boys. Originally from Minnesota, he’s my brother from another mother.


Kyle Schwartz, a snowboarder and filmer from Tahoe


Jussi Oksanen, Zeal athlete, pro snowboarder originally from Finland and now based in Cardiff, CA.

Austin Sweeten, Zeal athlete, pro snowboarder. Love his style!

Whit Boucher, Zeal athlete, pro skier from Aspen. So much fun to shred with!

Mike Filander, Zeal events/athletes manager. Could be a pro skier too. Thanks for taking care of all the details, Mike.

While I missed Kimmy, Leila, Molly and the other girls of the Zeal family, I still had an awesome 4 days of rustic cabin living, roughing it in the woods with a bunch of dudes that now feel like brothers. Thanks Zeal for taking me on another adventure! I secretly enjoyed man camp. I can’t wait to see the photos and videos in next years catalogs. Here are a few more of my shots from man camp:

We largely had the mountain to ourselves. We only saw two splitboarders and their dog. Throw in a spicy ridge walk in sugary faceted snow and a bit of bushwhacking and you have all the elements for a great weekend adventure. That’s what I love so much about the Wasatch- there’s always more to explore.