Trip Report: Hypodermic Needle

By Ben White

After waking up early, skiing the Pfeifferhorn and cruising down Hogum a ways to the base of Hypodermic Needle, Jackson, Kyle and I felt good. We felt like we had another 2000 vertical feet in our legs. After dropping the rope and harnesses needed for the Pfeifferhorn, we began booting up.

We went straight up until the needle got narrow, then we traversed right onto a hanging snowfield and got on the ridge that makes up skier’s right of Coalpit Headwall. The whole way up was very fun, with enough exposure to make things airy, but nothing more technical than a boot ladder with an ice axe. Once we gained the summit of the line, we threw down our stuff and looked over to Lone Peak. With the sun hanging low, it was beautiful.

Jackson booting up the bottom apron of Hypodermic Needle

Jackson and Kyle on the ridge right of Coalpit Headwall[/caption]

After a snack, I went and peered down the beast. I got a little puckered. Ski mountaineering legend Andrew McLean wrote a book with the best chutes in the Wasatch called The Chuting Gallery. Long, steep, narrow and unrelenting, this line earned itself the name Hypodermic Needle for a reason. It also is one of the crown jewels of The Chuting Gallery. Just wide enough to make hop turns in and having been sun effected and previously skied, a descent on firm conditions with necessary precision awaited. We clicked in and went, one by one.

Steep and narrow, Kyle makes a very precise hop turn, one of many[/caption]

Nothing of note happened while skiing. We all stayed on our feet, made a bunch of hop-turns and, while we may have been out of breath, smiled and high-fived at the end. Skiing out of Hogum Fork to the road was an adventure in and of itself, with a few sections of New Hampshire trees and thinning snow.

Ski boots met pavement and thumbs were stuck out while the sun cast golden rays of light as it set. Fourteen hours after setting out on a solid day of adventure and two epic lines, the three of us concluded, “damn, that was a good day”.

Hypodermic Needle is the seventh classic line I have skied out of the 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America. It’s got it all. While it stares the summit of Snowbird in the face, one with an untrained eye can easily miss it due to how narrow it is. It’s steep too. With a remote feel and a solid approach, it certainly keeps the riff-raff away. A fantastic line in it’s own right, the South Face of Mt. Superior is so easy access that anybody and their mom can walk up on it on any given Saturday. Hypodermic Needle separates the men from the boys. It’s a fun one and well worth the hike.

Hypodermic Needle is just to looker's right of the beautiful Dresden Face

Here is a video of the two descents of the day

Hogum Fork March 2014 from Ben White on Vimeo.