Please make an appointment for bootfitting.
Not to be confused with a line of the same name in the Broads Fork drainage, the Diving Board is a spicy little Wasatch ramp that puts you out into a very exposed position hanging over 500 feet of cliff. Kinda like walking to the edge of the high dive, but not jumping, skiing instead. It starts off a non distinct high point on the LCC ridge where the upper slope is just fun skiing, but then it tightens up as you hang right and work through the pinch onto the angling ramp. This section can be rocky in some years and require a downclimb, but when it’s filled in it is very steep and an axe can come in handy for side-stepping through it to safety. The remaining few turns on big wind lips and steep rolls are a relief after the hairy crux. This is a very short run and a long way to go to get there, but it’s worth the effort and a fun place to make turns and test the sharpness of your edges and your fear of heights.
There are a few ways to get here, none of which are short, or direct, so pick your poison. Simplest and most direct, but longest is to park at the ‘S’ Curve in Big Cottonwood Canyon, head up the Lake Blanche trail till you hit the lakes, trend left to the east of the Sundial and enter the upper lobe of Mill B. The line is at the headwall, skin and boot till you can’t skin or boot no more. Another option is to boot up Little Pine Couloir in LCC, descent the southside angling towards the northeast to find a notch on the ridge with a short fun couloir to descend, this puts you in the upper basin, from here you can skin to the base. The third option is to park at Our Lady of the Snow church in LCC across from Alta. Follow the route up to Mount Superior from here one can drop off the summit to the northwest towards the Heart of Darkness (large cleft in the rock) descend this and it puts you right at the base of the Diving Board. A short piece of rope can come in handy entering the Heart of Darkness.
Tight pinch after upper face can be rocky
While you’re in the neighborhood link it up with “Rampage” a mellower and more fun, but also very exposed sister line that’s just a few hundred feet down and past the Diving Board. Starts on the apron of Diving Board. Connecting these two via the ridge is not recommended unless you’re very comfortable with loose snowy scrambling.
