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Backcountry Skiing in Style at the Tornak Yurt | Smokey Mountains, Tornak Yurt, ID United States | 04/06/10, by snowNinjas

Last week, the SnowNinjas got together with six friends and rented the Tornak Yurt for some backcountry skiing in the Smokey Moutains outside of Sun Valley, Idaho.� This was a total departure from the SnowNinjas usual m.o. - we're used to hauling in our own wall tent, stove, and piles of camping gear, and setting up our own backcountry skifests.� This time, however, we went along with the suggestion of a sane friend and just unburdened our wallets for three days of fun.�

All we had to bring in was our skis, food, clothes and sleeping bags, all for the price of staying in a fancy youth hostel.� I gotta say - after a weekend of fun and warm, dry living with fancy meals, I could get used to renting yurts.
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The Tornak Yurt is run by Sun Valley Trekking, and out of the handful of backcountry huts I've stayed in, Tornak was by far one of the nicest.� It had all the standard features - sauna, outfitted kitchen, padded bunks, outhouses - but it was the little details that made it sweet.� Hooks in all the right places for drying gear, a well-laid floor that didn't make a racket when walked on, a wooden walkway to the outhouse that helped keep the floor dry and clean, and benches in the well-arranged kitchen/dining area that allowed the whole group to hang out by the stove, warm up & have cocktails while dinner was being made.�

The sauna had an actual sauna wood stove, which held a layer of heated rocks on top, and the bench arrangement allowed a lot of people to crowd in without feeling creepy about it.� Overall, the place was super-cool, and I commend SV Trekking for providing such a great hut.� They have a couple of other yurts for rent in the area - check out their website for more information.
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When we initally skied into the hut, I was stoked that it was so nice - mostly because the ski conditions looked pretty poor, and I figured that we might be spending a LOT of time in the hut.� The recent weeks of warm weather had created a hard crust over some decent powder, and with the omnipresent hoarfrost layer lurking at ground level, avalanche conditions were considerable.�

On north slopes, the powder was fantastic, but the second you sprang out of the trees onto any surface that had seen sun in the last two weeks, you risked one of those stunning crashes that tears off body parts.� We labeled it "variable", and concentrated on making a great supper and getting a good night's sleep, in hopes that we could find some good skiing in the morning.
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The next day, the crust was still rock-hard at 10 am, but luckily the delightfully sunny, warm weather worked in our favor.� Over the course of the day, as we toured around digging pits and skiing different aspects, the crust started softening into springlike corn, and we found a few powder shots in the trees on moderate slopes.� The terrain around the yurt was fantastic - multiple peaks and ridges surround the yurt at 8200', and in every direction we were beckoned by an endless array of possible tours.�

Three days wasn't nearly long enough - we'll have to plan another trip next year to check out some of the more distant lines.� The best part of this embarrassment of choices?� We could always find slopes that fit a moderate avalanche danger profile, and it was easy to find lines that were accessible to all the different ski levels in our group.� It was the perfect spot for a backcountry hut!
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Luckily, the weather stayed beautiful and the snow continued to soften - by our final day, the SnowNinjas and our friend Dave skied until almost suppertime before tidying up the yurt and skiing the four miles back to the highway.� The rest of the group had to leave in the mid-afternoon, but we couldn't tear ourselves away until the threat of darkness overtook us.� It was an easy trip out, especially since we'd divested ourselves of all the food and booze we'd trucked in for some fabulous group dinners (thanks, everyone!!), and we left feeling totally happy that we'd gotten some great lines in.�

Next year, we'll plan a longer trip - I can't wait.