Salt Lake County High Point Trip Report
Date: July 6, 2003
Author: Ben Knorr
Parked at the Snowbird parking lot, went up the barrier-free trail (paved), and made my way up the various
roads/trails Snowbird has to the top of Gadzoom lift. This is in a cirque below the twins. I decided I
wanted to be further north, so I backtracked a little and made it to the base of the Little Cloud lift.
I headed west-southwest through some brush into the trees headed towards Gad Valley. I somehow didn't find the
top of the Gad2 lift (which was where I wanted to be), but it wasn't too much of a problem. I found several
pieces of shrapnel from the winter avalanche control guns on the talus in the area. I made it up an extremely
steep bushy hillside to the ridge that runs up on the northwest side of the twins. I saw a very faint trail going
up this ridge, and had a tough time getting up some sections. There is a fair amount of loose rock up there
making it a little harder. Eventually, I made it to Red Stack (peak just below the twins to the west) and up
to the west twin on a decent trail.
I found a register at the top and had a good time enjoying the spectacular view, and developed a sunburn
after a couple hours. I saw a helicopter rescue a few miles to the west around Pfeifferhorn and watched it
hover for a while, then eventually speed down the canyon to a hospital in SLC. Later I found out a woman
was struck by a falling rock in a talus field. I filled up my bottle with snow, then headed back down.
I found the down-climb a little worse since it was extra difficult due to the loose rock below some of the
overhangs that I was climbing down from. I descended the ridge further than on the way up, and found a
much better hillside to get down on. I then stumbled across the top of the Gad2 lift. Whew! Much better
climb to the ridge at this lift than the other. I was running short on time and jogged back to the car in about
25 minutes or so. Overall, I thought it was an excellent hike.