Chute skiing is fairly popular amongst the more radical Wasatch backcountry skiing population. On bigger snow years much more terrain is available for this. Many times people choose to approach these chutes by ascending directly up them. Very careful avalanche and weather assessments are critical with this type of activity.

If you’re hiking directly up a chute, exposure time is a huge concern. You can be hiking directly in a violent avalanche path for 2 or 3 hours making you very susceptible to any avalanche that may occur. Often, many starting zones funnel into the single chute that you are ascending upping your chances of getting hit as well. At the UAC we get numerous reports each year of people getting flushed down a chute after a natural avalanche occurred above them during their approach. Here are some things to consider.

Cold snow conditions: Consider the weather for the day when attempting these approaches. Many times people have tried a route on a day expecting light snow. The problem is that it’s not uncommon to experience a short period of very intense snowfall here in the Wasatch even if it just lays down a few inches. These periods of intense snowfall can produce almost instant sluffing. These sluffs don’t pose much threat in open terrain where they would probably just run between you’re feet. However, even a very shallow sluff that runs 500 vertical feet into a confined chute packs a good punch. Also consider what the wind is going to do during the day. More then one Wasatch skier has been in a chute after it has stopped snowing only to have the wind load and trigger an avalanche above them. It’s difficult to judge ridgetop winds from the lower confines of a protected couloir.

Warming: This should be considered especially after any new snow especially in the spring. New snow rapidly becomes unstable during its first significant heating. Again, a few inches can pack a punch if it releases into a confined chute. Also, if you are in a north facing chute keep in mind that many of the starting zones above you will have aspects wrapping around to east and west facing directions which are more susceptible to heating and becoming unstable rapidly. The key is to start and finish early. Relying on cloud cover in the spring time is often a poor gamble as any break can produce avalanche activity within minutes not allowing you time to get out of the chute before it releases.

Snowmobilers with the most high performance machines also enjoy climbing some of the steeper chutes in the motorized terrain. Since they only spend minutes in the chute, exposure time is limited which is a huge advantage. Also, often desired conditions for traction coincide with more stable avalanche conditions. Heating is still a major concern. Remember that the low angle slope at the bottom of the chute may not feel especially damp but as you tilt up the slope angle on south facing slopes the snow can be much wetter.