Honestly, I’m not sure where I first heard about the Kessler 4x4. If I had to guess, I’d give credit to Noah Howell. Likely, I was injured, sitting at my computer, building lists of bad ideas and big days in the Wasatch. Regardless of the influence, it was memorable enough to make last winter’s list of objectives and I managed to tick it off on a very fine February morning.

The goal was straightforward– ski all four of the big lines on Kessler Peak in Big Cottonwood, returning to the car each time and climbing the slippery Argenta skinner again and again. Total stats on the day hovered around 14,000 vertical gain and 21 miles.

I knew I needed a strong partner, and hollered at Brian Culmo. Brian was fresh off running 10+ laps on Granduer for RUFA the weekend before and begrudgingly accepted, at least for the first few.

The day’s final elevation profile

Iphone photo recap of the day:

The first shot was the East Couloir, which got the blood pumping and the hype rolling. It had a few tracks in it, but was still super soft and playful. A few weeks prior, Kevin and I scored first tracks on the East Couloir - video below.

On the second run, we went over to God’s Lawnmower and began figuring things out. I’d never skied Gods, as Kevin and I were denied on our scouting mission in January. The entire headwall is slab, so when there’s hoar (there was), everything slides and exposes cliffs. This time, I brought a rope just in case, but we were granted clear passage and had a hell of a ride through the 50-degree steeps and tree-poppers below.

I took a selfie and ate another burrito. Two down, two to go.

7 year old skins and a slippery afternoon skin track will test the nerves

On the third lap, we took Greaseball to Argenta. Snow had been lightly falling and conditions were prime. I threw on the GoPro, whooped and hollered, and created the masterpiece below. By this point, legs were getting sore and it was getting dark. We didn’t waste much time before hopping on the pain train and heading back up.

Not pictured: Third burrito. Also, Kevin came to meet us for our final lap and boost moral. Unfortunately, he forgot his beacon, so I ate the candy he brought and he went to Brighton.

The fourth and final run down the West Couloir was deep! Unfortunately, my goggles were toast by this point, so I squinted my way through the dark and blower, enduring brain freeze and smiling just a little bit.

We finished at around 11 hours and hitched back up the road and to the car. Cold and hungry, we high-fived and got the hell out of there.

10/10 would recommend to anyone looking for a long day in the mountains with a sick little kick. That being said, I haven’t skied Kessler since.