Backcountry Ski Mineral Fork

Salt Lake City, Utah

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Details

Distance

4.2 miles

Route Type

Out-and-Back

Description

Added by Jackson Smith

Mineral Fork offers a wide variety of skiing from wide open bowls, extreme chute skiing, to epic tree skiing. It can all be found in Mineral Fork; however, beware of its significant avalanche hazard. Avalanches occur often in Mineral.

Mineral Fork is on the right side of the road about 5.8 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon next to a cell tower and a giant brown Forest Service gate. There is room on the side of the road to park your car and throw your gear on. Once on the trail, you'll do a few switchbacks up the side of the mountain. You'll will come along a small stream that passes through the trail twice, so you'll need to take your skis off to cross.

After the switchbacks you will continue along the trail that leads straight into the Mineral Fork Basin. Eventually you will reach a fork in the trail. The left taking you up the side of the mountain into an area called East Fork and the right taking you up the end of Mineral Fork, a huge bowl called the Room of Doom. You can even hang even further right and skin up to the ridge line and ski some awesome chutes. That's the beauty of backcountry skiing, if you see a place you want to ski, make your own skin track and ski it!!! Overall elevation gain to the top is about 3,700 ft in about 4.2 miles.

Make sure to check to avalanche forecast for the day before you ever travel in the backcountry. Mineral Fork is notorious of avalanches. I don't recommend traveling through Mineral Fork if there is any risk of avalanches for that day.

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Features

Snowboarding

Photography

Skiing

Snowshoeing

Easy Parking

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Forest

Romantic

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