One aspect of snowboarding that has without a doubt been gaining a lot of traction over the past few years is splitboarding. For those that may be new to this activity, a splitboard is a snowboard that is cut in half down the middle so you can hike up a mountain using two skis like snowshoes, then you clip them back together to snowboard down. It is an awesome way to enjoy the backcountry because you don’t have to carry your snowboard on your back, but you still get to shred down epic, untouched lines!
Tyler Hubbell in his natural element. #SaltysTeam
This particular splitboard endeavor took place down South in the Tushar Mountains, right next door to Eagle Point Resort and Beaver, UT. For those interested in embarking on a yurt excursion, I’d highly recommend talking to Alec about the Puffer Lake Yurt. He’s the man and the location is truly incredible, even though it starts with a surprisingly strenuous hike up to the yurt. Alec takes a good chunk of the gear up in a sled, but if you miss the boat like I did, you end up splitting 2.7 miles with two backpacks of gear on, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that it’s a little exhausting. We arrived just as we were losing light, and seeing as it was New Year’s Eve, we naturally celebrated with fireworks, shotguns, and a little libations.
Who doesn’t love fireworks?
Day 2 was a full day of yurt life. After a hearty breakfast, we began to go over avalanche safety and rescue techniques. We were very fortunate to have Sara Valerious, an ex-ski patroller and current PR Manager at Solitude in the crew because she is well versed in all matters of safety. Safety is a MASSIVE, MAJOR, HUGE THING TO REMEMBER. No matter the conditions, or pitch, or direction of the slope, you can never be too safe in the backcountry. Slides happen when people least expect it, so you can never be too prepared. Be sure you at least have the following:
After practicing searching techniques, probe work, and beacon testing, we set out for City Creek Peak.
Tyler and Sara crushing a pit test.
Only a short distance into our trek, we came to a perfect clearing to do a pit test. This is an incredibly important part of any trip into the backcountry, because it’s the best way to get a read on the stability of the snow conditions. There are a lot of different tests and techniques you can do with a snow pit, so be sure you are well aware of them before venturing up a mountain. In fact, I would STRONGLY/HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you take an avalanche safety course like the ones offered by the Utah Avalanche Center, but there are a lot of resources out there to learn how to be safe.
The crew at the top.
We unfortunately didn’t get any pictures of the ride down, but that might have something to do with it being too good to stop and bust out a camera! We once again made it back to the yurt right around sundown and exhaustion set in quick, so after a hearty meal and of course some more fireworks, everybody passed out cold. A word of warning, be prepared to wake up every few hours to re-stoke the fire, because no matter how nice the yurt is, you’re high in the mountains and it’s going to get cold.
The next day was mellow and really consisted of cleaning, packing, and the trek out. Camp rules apply to yurt life as well, so make sure you pack out what you pack in. Thankfully the hike out was downhill and went by a lot faster, so after that there was nothing to do but head back towards civilization. All-in-all yurt life was an incredible experience and a great way to ring in the new year. To anyone interested, be sure to do a little research to find a good spot, but like I said, I’d highly recommend looking into the Puffer Lake Yurt.
Before I leave you, here’s a few final thoughts I’d like to pass along from this trip:
If this peek at the yurt life has got you jonezin’ to splitboard but you don’t have the funds to get into it, you’re in luck! We just so happen to have splitboards for rental so you can try before you buy! Thanks for reading and be sure to check back for more mountain adventures throughout the season. Cheers!
