White Pine Fork Skiing

Page Type: Route

Location: Utah, United States, North America

Route Type: Skiing

Season: Spring, Winter

Time Required: Half a day

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Page By: TyeDyeTwins

Created/Edited: Apr 25, 2009 / Feb 6, 2012

Object ID: 508729

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Page Score: 86.78% - 4 Votes

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White Pine Fork Overview

White Pine Fork in Little Cottonwood Canyon is a must do for anyone who loves big mountain skiing on big mountains. All the great tours in this fork require long approaches, but each contain some of the greatest runs the Wasatch has to offer. This fork also contains some of the most avalanche prone terrain in the Central Wasatch Range. From couloirs to just plane old steep slide paths, White Pine Fork has a little something for every big mountain skier.

White Pine Fork. Photo Credit Ed F

Upper White Pine Fork. Photo Credit Dan Shorb

White Baldy and Lake Peak from the Temptation Ridgeline

Getting Up There

1. Start at the White Pine Parking Lot start up the trail. At about 1 mile you should get the option of left or right. Go left and keep heading up the next 4 miles.

Skinning White Pine Fork. Photo Credit Ed F

Troy skinning up Red Baldy

2. The other option is to start from Snowbird and leave the resort at their backcountry gates. The gates are closed more often than open but it can save tons of climbing when their open. If the gates are open ski patrol requires you to sign in and have a beacon/shovel/probe/and partner. Walk up the well established boot pack till you hit Temptaion Ridge. From here you can keep hiking up or ski in and traverse around till you hit your mountain of choice.

Troy hiking up the Temptation Ridge.

Temptation Ridge.

Ski Route Descriptions

Here are just a few lines White Pine Fork has to offer...........

1.Red Baldy. Sitting at the top as well as the dead middle of the fork, this peak is the "king" of White Pine Fork. Skiing this peak from the summit to the bottom of the fork is over 4,500 vertical feet of just turn after turn after turn. Red Baldy is in this tourers opinion...the cream of the crop for big mountain skiing.

Troy skiing Red Baldy

Me and Red Baldy

2.Lake Peak. Each face on Lake Peak is its own run all together. The 3 main runs off this mountain are The SE couloir, The East face and the North cirque. Each is unique and worth skiing.

Lake Peak's SE Couloir

Lake Peak

White Baldy and Lake Peak from the summit of Mt Superior

3.The Tri-Chutes. Just off the Temptation Ridge there are 3 avalanche gullies that come together and form the Tri-Chutes. Depending on the snow year is where you can drop in. More often than not this run does require a traverse to get into.

The Tri Chutes

Troy hiking back for one more on the Tri Chutes

4. Scottys Bowl. Within sight of the White Pine parking lot lies Scottys Bowl. This bowl (more like a series of rollovers and gullies) usually looks like a resort mid-season but if your lucky enough to get it first it can be worth your while.