Headwaters: North Peak of Mount Olympus

I have grown up in the shadow of Mount Olympus. It watches over Holladay, UT. There are few days that I haven't looked up at it. It is the first major peak I've climbed in the spring, summer, fall, and winter. I distinctly remember hiking to the summit of the South Peak on 1/1/2000 at the New Years Moment with my John Mecham. We then walked, slid, skidded, and tumbled down the mountain in the dark. I remember thinking how great it would be to ski down Mount Olympus. Well now I have, some 23 years later. The purists will say I didn't get to the very tip-top, and they are right. We were short on time and short on energy, especially for our worn down 47-year old bodies. The we here is me and my friend John Rich, who lives at the bottom of Mill Creek Canyon, with a backyard view of North Peak of Mount Olympus giving him good reason to study that mountain - in all seasons and conditions.

Actually, when we first set out at the Olympus Slab (Z-Trail) trailhead, we probably didn't expect to get much higher than the base of Medusas Face up Zeus Col. The mountain then sucked us in, or at least it sucked me in - admittedly, I was pretty flattered with this terrain in the winter. At about the halfway point while contemplating whether to go higher or turn around there, John said it best: "we better just go ahead and get to the top of this thing so we don't have to come back here again."

He was right. With each step, I was more intrigued with what would lie around the next corner, or beyond the next rise, or after the next clump of shaded trees. It was all so filled in and somehow felt very accessible, with 10+ feet of snow forming a solid base of ice, avalanche debris, and wind-affected powder, in that order - I just had to keep going, and so did he, switching off who was leading (i.e. pulling) the other person up that increasingly steep and narrow slope. The skins could only take us so far up the increasing angle, until we were forced to do the only thing we could to continue ascending - boot pack. In a masochistic way, I actually sort of like the stair-climb sensation of boot-packing . Hypnosis takes over, as the rhythmic steps continue - left, right, left, right. Do it 50 times, take a 2 minute breather, then do it again. And again.

Until suddenly, we were at the top of Zeus Col and the terrain widened a bit, even actually flattened out. Yes, you heard me - flattened out. At least for a 100' vertical section. So much so, that we could transition back over to skins and skis. Soon, we were on top of the ridge leading to the North Peak of Mount Olympus. We could have kept going higher to the literal North Peak Summit (which I estimated was 0.25 miles away, due East), but felt it was prudent to stop here instead and smell the roses, given it was now 7 pm and we didn't want to rush the long descent back to the Z Trailhead.

What a view.

What perfect weather.

What great air quality.

What an overall Natural High!

We were now looking down on a run called Medusa's Face in the winter, and Olympus Slabs in the summer. I have spent a lot of time in Olympus Wilderness, but had never been on this part of it before - let alone in the winter with skis. Looking down Medusa's it is one of the steepest runs I have ever looked down upon in my ski career. One wrong turn here putting you on your back and in a long, painful, scary slide-fall down several hundred feet of jarring rock. A few intrepid skiers had already done it that same day (and day before), with clear signs of avalanche sluff over these steep rock slabs, giving way to a solid bed surface. A few more intrepid skiers were at the top, getting ready to transition and make the descent.

We were definitely not physically or mentally or spiritually or emotionally in the mood for that run, so we decided to descend down Apollos Col instead. The top of the run was skiable and wide, with decent soft powder. The middle section was chewed up chop snow, but felt so cool to be hugging a line cliffs to the skiers left. The bottom third was straight up ice and frozen corn from the freeze-thaw cycle, with a classic Wasatch Exit in scrub oak and fallen trees - even in with this record winter snowpack we've had. It was typical Spring Skiing - and I loved every moment of it. If this is the last run I get this winter, it will be a fitting final ski adventure.

I drove south on I-215 along the east bench today, right in the shadow of North Peak of Mount Olympus. It is a drive I've done literally hundreds of times before. Each time I do it, I spend time gazing up at stoic and solid Mount Olympus. Only this time when I looked up at my old friend, I could clearly pick out Zeus Col for our ascent, the ridge leading to Medusas Face for our water break, and photo shoot, and Apollo's Col for our descent.

"I've just skied that," I thought.