Bensen and Hedges Couloir

Canyons and Couloirs 

Another epic day was started in Salt Lake City when I met my friend Etienne.  We headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon with one major agenda, ski something gnarly and rad looking.  We choose to head up Cardiff Fork, because of the good possibilities and beautiful scenery.  We weren't sure what we wanted to ski and figure that we would play it by ear.  It was a beautiful sunny day with warm temps and a little fresh snow under our feet as we started our approach.  The approach was a little long and took us about 3 hours.  There is a shorter approach that I would use next time, now that I know where the entrance to the couloir is.  I will explain this approach in a later post. 

As we headed up the canyon I notice what seemed to be a small crack in the rock wall on the east side of the canyon.  My hopes and excitement kept rising as we continued up.  The farther we went the more promising the line looked.  Finally we could see all the way up the couloir to the ridge top, and our energy suddenly increased.  

We skinned up the mellow lower section and started boot packing up the Bensen and Hedges couloir.  

Climbed a tree root at the top to gain the ridge and spot the approach from the other side. 

Time to start the decent down this amazing couloir with 50 foot walls on either side.  

Etienne got after it and charged half way down.

The snow was quite plush as we slashed our first few turns.  

Slashin the last few turns.

And this is how it makes you feel...

This is the fantastic view from the bottom.  This is definitely a prime couloir to ski.  The lower section was really good too!  Super fun, smooth, and playful terrain!