Fast Facts:
Base Elevation: 7,650
Peak Elevation: ~10,100
Days Vert: 3,995
Distance: 6.75 miles
Elapsed Time: 4:30
Date: Jan 26, 2024
This was my first time touring in White Pine but my ski partner had done several tours in this drainage and skied off the Spire and Pink Pine. We didn't have any objectives so the plan was just to explore and find something appealing.
To access the White Pine drainage, park at the White Pine parking lot in LCC and the trail is right behind the restroom facilities. Head across the bridge and the trail will head west.
At the 1.0 mile point, you will come to a junction and if you go right/west, it will take you Red Pine so go left/east to access White Pine.
Just beyond this spot, you can follow a steeper skin to the right which is shorter but more strenuous or you can stay on the summer road (we took the short cut but in hindsight- I would stay on the easier road). Along the way up you will see some other glade ski lines to your right which is Pink Pine which offers some quick ski access. We skinned for another .9 miles and elected to turn left/east at the base of West Scotties which was at about 8,700 feet. It took us just under an hour to traverse the 1.9 miles and 1,050 feet but now the harder part was about to begin. If you use the WBSkiing app, the upper part of West Scotties isn't red thus indicating it isn't that steep but the middle section is most definitely above 30 degrees and therefore susceptible to slides. Today's avy danger was considerable so we were cognizant of the risk. This is a very popular area so be aware that people can be above and/or below you. As we were going up, there was another party skiing down which adds to the risk.
The bottom 200-300 feet of West Scotties is fairly mellow but from about 9,000 to 9,400 - it is steeper and the angle is in the mid 30s. The skin track also becomes more technical and some of the kick turns are challenging. The skin track crosses over a gully/chute on the north side and once you are on the other side of the gully, it mellows out. At about 9,600 feet, it starts to open up and the spacing of the trees offers perfect glade skiing.
It took us an hour to get from the bottom of West Scotties to the top at ~10,100. The top is a ridgeline which is the boundary into Snowbird near Tigertail. From this ridge, you have an amazing view of Little Cloud and American Fork Twin Peaks as you look east.
Looking west offers spectacular views of Broads Fork Twin Peaks, Sunrise and Dromedary.
From the top of West Scotties, you can ski the north side of the gully which is skiers right or you can ski the left side which is basically straight down. We elected to ski straight down and the top part of the run is very gentle with perfectly spaced trees. After dropping 500-600 vert, it starts to get steeper and I suggest skiing to the left here because it opens up but keep in mind that this is definitely avy terrain.
We skinned back up for a 2nd run and near the top, we headed north/left towards the entrance of Scotties Bowl. Scotties Bowl is steep at the top
then flattens out and then gets steep again as you enter the main avalanche slide path. You quickly notice that the trees in the middle of the run are much shorter from being knocked down by avalanches so it is recommend to know the avalanche danger before venturing into this area. This bowl does offer almost 2,500 of sustain vert above 35 degrees and you can ski right to the parking lot so it is no surprise that this shot is very popular when the conditions permit.
Here is my West Scotties route:
Scotties Bowl route:
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