Little Cottonwood Magic: Mt Superior and the Y Couloir

I swear, I must have eaten something pretty crazy over the weekend because come Monday, all I wanted to do was get my thrill on.

monday: Mt Superior

After making plans with at least 3 different groups of people on Sunday, I got my plans together and started off on a nice morning stroll with Hannah, Kyle and Re up Cardiff Pass and onto the famed Mt Superior.

Mt Superior is a south facing slope that is across the road from Snowbird at an elevation of 11,132 feet, which has an amazing descent to the canyon floor, just opposite Snowbird.

looking down into cardiff

Telegraph Pole

After stopping to get a few powder shots on Cardiff ridge, we continued along the traverse track up to little Superior (one of the false summits).

looking down the back of the ridge into big cottonwood

Our little team didn't quite summit the top, as stopping to shoot took a bit of time and my time we were on top of Little Superior we all decided to ski down as the snow was starting to transform in the sun. The snow at the top was epic and hopefully Re got a few happy snaps!

Y Couloir

This little baby is a classic route approached from Little Cottonwood Canyon.

As one blogger explains:

'The Y Couloir sits near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon and offers up over 3,000′ of 40+ degree skiing and unbeatable views. If you’re into chute skiing, the Y is a must.'

Yep, I found that, especially the 3,340 feet of vertical! It is a steep mother flipper!

I have been wanting to ski this little puppy ever since I arrived in SLC, mainly because it is renowned as a brutal climb- most likely because the approach is 2-3hrs straight of boot-packing straight up the chute. Yay- challenge!

looking down into the canyon from halfway up the y

our trail blazers- god bless their souls, they broke trail for 2/3 of the hike

don't really know how I was feeling here

stefan was definitely excited about boot-packing: loves the pain

feeling pretty stoked at the top
looking into little cottonwood from the top

looking up at the bottom, so happy to be down

Now, dont get me wrong. I really enjoyed the 2.5 hrs of boot-packing and the top 1500 feet of wet freshies-- but I have got to say- hard, bumpy chute snow can be a real bastard. But we made it, in one piece, no wet slides, no broken limbs and I can still walk. GO TEAM.!

creek crossing! apparently that happens in spring. this was heaps easier at the end than at the beginning in the dark......