I have been going to the Wasatch for years. All the trips have been "work" trips involving sales meetings, demo's etc. All my riding has been done at resorts but along the way I have compiled a growing list of lines I have wanted to hit but that can only be accessed on foot.
One line in particular that caught my attention my very first time up the Snowbird Tram 12 years ago (and has not lost it) is the Hypodermic Needle. The 6 to 8 hour approach that seemed impossible a few years ago no longer does now. TGRfilmer Pete O'Brien gave me the call that things had stabilized and the Needle was ready.
An 8 hour Desert crossing in my fancy Ford Focus and few hours of sleep later I find myself booting up at the base of the climb at 4AM in total darkness. With in minutes my mostly a sleep body is forced to negotiating a sketchy river crossing. "If I fall in I am going back to bed" I tell myself, half wishing I do.
- Halfway up a 3400ft chute I look back and realize this would not be a good place to fall... asleep.
- Ward leading the charge threw the crux. Every sick mountain has a few world class freeriders. Ward is Snowbird's version. You will not see them in the mags or movie's but they are legit. By working double time in the summer they can ride all winter and it shows.
- The top of the crux. 3400ft hiked before sunrise. You can see the car lights from the road below. This is by far the most direct 3400ft gain I have ever had from the car. It is right around here that I started seeing my surroundings for the first time and waking up.
- Although we had been hiking for 5 hours the final hour and a half up the ridge was the easiest thanks to the power of the sun. Ward soaks in the Vitamin D.
- The Reward in the upper right. A 2400ft straight down chute. The combination of Endorphins and Adrenaline was too much for me to handle. I ended up pointing the second half of the chute and redlining in fifth gear. Coming out the bottom I skipped trying to dump speed and ended up doing three top speed cartwheels. This resulted in a broken pack strap, broken camel back tube, ripping the strap and the lens out of my goggles, losing a glove and suffering my first "huck" neck of the season. Thankfully I still had 3500 vertical feet of powder below to heal my aching body.
