The Badlands

The desert southwest of the United States is a magical slice of planet earth. Millions of years of uplift and erosion have sculpted some of natures most bizarre and brilliant features. Steep canyons, dramatic cliffs, arches and spires are the remnants of what was once the bottom of an ancient lake. The dominant sandstone contains iron and magnesium which gives it vibrant colors of reddish-orange, almost purple in some areas. It's a dreamscape during anytime of year, but when the high elevations are blanketed in snow, it becomes a visual and recreational paradise for backcountry skiers. Few people think of these high desert plateaus, also known as Badlands, as a place to find quality conditions.

For starters the layout is upside down since the logical approach is to access the descent from the top down. It's like skiing into an amphitheater with a maze of routes to choose from knowing that if you find a way through, you then have to hike back up to get out. It's a very different and potentially risky way to travel in the mountains. Normally you have the opportunity to calculate risk and identify safe routes from the bottom as you climb knowing that turning around is always an option. The climate so far south is another mark against this region's skiing potential. It's not called "high mountain desert" because it receives a lot of precipitation each year.

Nonetheless it can be just enough when the jet stream sags further south on a typical El Niño winter pattern. With elevations above 3,000 meters, temperatures can be favorable for snow instead of rain, but the latitude is just 37 degrees making for long days of sun that scorch the solar aspects on a clear day. So on a good year, the right day, if you know just where to look (hint: the exposition with best snowconditions mostly is the north-facing terrain) you might have a chance to experience the most extraordinary skiing of your life! I was 13 years old when I made my first adventure to southern Utah on a school backpacking trip.

Until then I hadn't been further south in Utah than Salt Lake City where I traveled from Idaho to ski race in the Wasatch Mountains. Utah was then, as it is now, remarkably unusual, and not just because of the rare of lake-effect weather that produces copious amounts of light, dry powder over the impressive terrain of Alta and Snowbird. It was a cultural experience, too. The people of Utah and the greater southwest are wonderfully kind and welcoming, though also controversial. When Brigham Young lead his tribe of exiled Mormons west and discovered the Great Salt Lake Basin they claimed to have found Zion.

The founder of the Church of Latter-day Saints, Joe Smith, fancied himself a visionary that would restore the early Christian faith, which had been lost in the great apostasy. Though his doctrine contained similar elements to Freemasonry and the Jewish tradition of Kabbalah, the self-proclaimed prophet is often criticized for his practice of polygamy. It's estimated that Joe Smith had more than 30 wives, a "divine commandment" that he would later deny, perhaps for the trouble it brought to his church. Followers of his religion were continuously banished from early settlements pushing them from east to west until they found permanence in Utah.

Although polygamy is still a common way of life for many communities in the southwest who adhere to a more fundamental practice of the Mormon faith, it's not how Utah's Badlands got their name. Rather it was because early explorers thought the area had no utilitarian value – no trees to harvest, no valuable minerals to mine – just a brilliant labyrinth of sandstone that would become one of the worlds most wonderful playgrounds. For those who choose to believe in having multiple toys instead of wives, the Badlands are full of goodness. From mountain biking, hiking, river rafting, climbing and even skiing there isn't a more beautiful place to participate in the outdoors.

Good skiing may not happen every winter or even one in ten, but when it does, you'll wish that you had a friend who knows when it's on and is willing to call you up and give you the nod. Photographer and Utah resident, Will Wissman, made that call to my brother in February of 2010 and I was lucky enough to join him along with our little buddy, Lexi DuPont. We hope you enjoy the photos at least half as much as we enjoyed shooting them. God bless the Badlands, and those loving Mormons who so willingly share that dreamland in their backyard!