Spines to Slash

Dieciocho en Chile

2011-09-18T17:33:00.001-07:00

It's been quite a while since I last posted, so here's an attempt to get up and going again...
Since the last post lots has happened, mainly, facebook has taken over as an online photo gallery.

At the moment I find myself working for a gold mine in the central Andes of Chile, avalanche forecasting and control. This affords some good unreal skiing when the window is open. But today, I sit and digest copious amounts of meat. Beginning to wind down the season and working on our end of the season report. We now have a whole 3 years of data in digital form, so I can make cool graphs like this. The past two years I've been here, both below average snowfall seasons. Hey, we still had a few huge avalanches and some excellent skiing!

Random Spring Flings

2009-09-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

On the Front Range, were blessed with many upslopes which gave us a peak snowpack in late April/early May. Almost every line I skiied was probably a first...

Looking down the very steep "Baffin Couloir" near the Sharkstooth, RMNP 4/09

Baffin Couloir on Right

Taylor Peak. I turned around midway up at the major rock band in the upper middle of photo. It felt like an M4 move, and I was solo, and it was getting late, and it was freakin steeep! I made turns down to the ice cliff thing, then downclimbed to where I could ski again.

Peak Q, NE Couloir. Gore 5/09
Peak R, N Couloir. Gore 5/09

Jonny jumping down the "Desktop Couloir", Indian Peaks West. 5/09
Rapping off a bollard
Spire mid way down the Desktop
Jonny after the rap on McHenry's NW Passage. 5/09

Shelf Cirque awe
N Face Longs Peak, a tight passage. This photo tells the tale of gnar. 4/09

Pagoda Mountain 4/24/09

2009-04-29T20:44:00.000-07:00

Pagoda Mountain
"Arabian Ridge Via the Knife Me Couloir"

Wild Basin you say? I’m there! Said Moski
Sleep is overrated I say
I’ll sleep when I’m dead, said Erik
Holy shit…, said Johnny
This after I proposed we go ski a sweet intricate route on Pagoda that through a few pictures had decided would go, especially after the big upslope.
It was 7pm and we planned to leave 3 hours later at 11.
All it took for Dave to come out was a phone call and the words “wild basin”, even with only an hour or two notice. We were like troops that had been called in for a mission.

The sleepwalking went smooth, we couldn’t have asked for a better transition from dry trail to skinnable snow.

Near treeline the wind blew strong and cold.

We struggled to skin up a steep and icy slope without skin crampons.

We had breakfast to a lightening sky apartment sized boulders.

The bootpacking up the steeper slopes was tough with a thick, but still breakable crust with moist and dry snow underneath that would continue to give, like an elipse machine. The crawl method worked a little better, spreading weight over hands, knees, shins and feet in order to stay afloat.

Once on the ridge, more than one of us almost got blown off our feet from the strong and gusty winds. Johnny called it just before the last crux.

There were 3 main cruxes on the route proper. 1: the “Knife me couloir” 2: the wrap around slot thing 3: the hanging couloir.

Once on the ridge, we could skin again, very carefully. This was “no fall” skinning for sure.

The summit rocked with sick views and some shelter from the wind in the sun. Not sure why, but I had an urge to sing a song, so I sang: “Did you ever know that you’re my hero!” to everyone, individually. (Could’ve been the handfuls of chocolate covered espresso beans, lack of sleep, and crack?)

The descent was awesome with soft creamy corn

I was mildly delirious as I skied on in split mode through slop, but made it work.

We napped at the trail before finishing off the 14.5 hr, 5,100 ft push.

“You are the wind beneath my wings!”

Frisco descents

2009-03-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

My morning started with a 5:15 wake up. I headed east from Breck up and through the tunnel, and to the Stanley staging area. I was fortunate enough to join Lee, one of the 3 CAIC/CDOT forecasters for the Region 1 area, to shoot the Stanley with a 105mm Howitzer.

Unfortunately, despite 20" new snow in the past few days, nothing moved but a small sluff. The winds were out light and out of the E, which is the opposite of what it needs to build a slab in the SE facing starting zone. Oh well, it was cool to watch the precision of the operation. Look at the size of those shells!

I headed back over and through the tunnel to where the skies were mostly clear. I had a few things in mind, too many actually. Then I decided, why do a long approach when I can ski some great looking lines from the town of Frisco?

Lapped this shot twice, then further up on Tenmile Peak, then over to Royal Mountain to finish it off.

Lines skied 3/27 and 3/28, all names I made up, not sure if locals call them anything else. Pretty sure Stupid is as Stupid Does was a first descent.
A: The C shot
B: Blondie's Folly
C: Stupid is as Stupid Does

Close up of the C shot

View down the C shot. Sick turns right on top of town.

Blondie's Folly
Named after Blondie the dog, because she should've been there. She is a longer haired dog, and I didn't want her to ball up in the moist snow and roll down the steep chute like the cartoons.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

This is a route that I dreamed of since seeing snow on Royal Mountain in Frisco. I was stoked to actually be following through. It required one rappel to get down some big pillows up in the trees, though this might be manageable if you came in from skiers right more. It felt like a big, exposed north face. Then I looked down on the city of Frisco. I had awesome snow in couloirs connected by narrow chokes that I had to negotiate before a handful of turns on the hanging snowfield. I tucked in behind my first anchor, a nice veluptuous pine, and rapped down. The coolest part was going down a 65 degree ice rib. It felt like the Eiger. A full 60m later I pulled the rope, then packed up and made a handful of turns on a rib. All the snow that I thought I could ride on sluffed out to not nice gneiss slab. I then decided to climb back up and made another rap off a tree. At this point, the dogs in town were barking at me, and I didn't look, but I could sense a local sitting on a bench watching me. "Stupid is as stupid does" he thought...
I was briskly deposited on the flat sidewalk after popping some pillow lines in the runout. An older gent walked by and said, "where did you come from?"
"Up there" I said, and pointed.

Chiefs Head: The Royal Ramp Couloir

2009-03-06T22:51:00.000-08:00

I spied this line a while back, and hadn’t given too much thought into the details. Thursday night I found myself searching for pictures of the right angle, with a little snow. I found one or two that led me to believe it would go through, likely with a little ice step to get onto the ramp.
All week the temps had be warm up high, a stable atmosphere, and mostly stable snowpack. It was on. The search for partners proved useless. Found out from Jason Mauwer that Phd (Miller) may have ridden the line. The closest I came was getting some interest was from Kroiss. “That looks like a really cool line”, he exclaimed after checking out the shots. “But, I think I’m going to have to decline cuz I have some work to do, and besides, NOAA is forecasting for 70mph gusts and a little snow. Definitley another time though.”
I remember thinking, “he made the right decision”, as I tucked behind a house sized boulder, attempting to hide from the wind on a flat alpine expanse. The wind almost blew me over while I tried to take a leak, and I was on the leeward side. Snow from the sky blended with snow blowing on the ground, it was an official white out.
I switched my caked shades for goggles, put the puffy on, covered the nose, and continued on. I just had to get a look at this thing. I had to find out what that peculiar looking sliver was. Was it 100ft. of WI4 on granite slab? Or was it a nice, hidden ramp?
Deep in the cirque, switching skins for crampons, it started to break up. What the? Is that the sun? Amazing! I was pretty sure this squall wasn’t a squall, it was a full fledged storm that was supposed to go through the night. Lucky me, much more fresh and I would’ve had to retreat. I love visibility too.
My heart pounded with anticipation as I neared the crux. I think it… looks like…yup, it’s a ramp! Stoked, I left the rope, hardness, protection, and other deadweight hanging from a crack in the fine granite. Then a cliffshot was all I needed to cruise to the top and hit the ridge.
I took a moment to check out the snowpack on the hanging snowfield on the traverse up. It hung over a 200ft. cliff. Rough shears, great structure. Snow surface was mostly 3-6” of large crystals. The old surface ranged from firm, carvable windpack to soft NSF. The steepest angle was 50, right below the ramp. The ramp was 45, and the couloir was 35 at lower section to upper 40’s in upper section.
Stoked, I even ran to the summit and back. The riding was excellent, more consistent that I expected, even got handfuls of faceshots. I made it down the ramp and its narrow rocky ledge section with the board on, one foot out. The cloud deck didn’t lower rapidly like I thought it would. Don’t know how or why, it just didn’t. Made it back down the nice frozen slick trail to the TH before dark too.

Coming out of the squall, and into the view of the wall.

Might as well keep the stuff out of the snow

The exit ramp. You can see my gear stashed against the cliff below.

Dark tint? I should've known

The couloir proper

Chiefs Head Peak. Summit: 13579 ft.

Awesome angle of the route below

The infamous "Rabbit Hole Couloir" on Mt. Alice. First skied by Reed, Moskowitz, and Stevens 6/08.

A bony exit

Green Lake and Keyboard of the Winds

McHenry's Notch Couloir- The best the Rocky Mountains afford

2009-02-08T18:10:00.000-08:00

"...The best the Rocky Mountans afford" was what B.F. McHenry called the region where the peak named after him lies. This after his failed 20 day expedition attempt to climb the peak in 1898.
Over 110 years later, on this early February day, Moski, Dmandave and I headed up Glacier Gorge enroute to Solitude Basin and McHenry's Notch Couloir.
The day was warm, winds calm, and the sun was blazing in the morning.
We made good time up the trail, passing a few parties, and took the now common "short cut."
Skinned across Mills Lake on patchy snow, and interesting textured ice.
The winter route up the gorge stays in the snow covered stream bed, and has some cool overhanging granite walls in parts.
We turned right and skinned up the steep 800 ft. or so to Shelf Lake, complete with some waterfall ice avoidance. (note, good ice bouldering for later)
Passed a large ice dam coming from the banks of Solitude Lake, and headed towards the imposing canyon. Skimmed on the lake, over the rocky bottom of the basin, and up towards a neck craning cirque. Dave even blurted out something along the lines of "My neck is hurting from looking up all around us."

There are no apparent continuous lines in this entire cirque, more of a trad climbers venue. That is, untill you get all the way back up against the granite slab coming down from the NE face of Powell. "Where is this thing", one thinks as they head deeper and deeper, getting swallowed up. McHenry's Notch Couloir finally reveals itself, along with a branching SW facing slot coming off Pt. 12836.
We stopped at a point where we could go for either option. 1" of new snow in the lot turned to 8" up here, and winds had been from the SW recently. How fast? that was the question (fast enough to build a slab at the top of the couloir?) Dave busted out the binocs and we got a better look at the snow texture, scanning for visual clues. A few loose sluffs had come down, not entraining a whole lot of snow. This was a good sign, it meant the surficial layers weren't cohesive enough to propagate a fracture, at least from as high as they started.

The consensus was to go up and poke around, dig around, and climb the couloir unless we find a reason not to.
We spiked up, stashed the skins into a crack, and started kicking steps. Up and up, the couloir steepens to 45+ right at the bottom, and stays sustained 50 to the top. The upper hundred feet I measured at 52 degrees.

The snow was deep, the new snow fairly well bonded, but we wanted to find out what was beneath. I excavated a spot to sit and hip belay Moski out to the middle and he dug a profile. Compression tests showed hard failure at 30cm or so down, and a rough shear. The probe "penetrometer" revealed an optimal snowpack structure, low density on top, and became more and more dense all the way to the firn below. I checked the shear strength of a few layers with a shovel shear test, and for propagation with an extended column. Results were favorable for continuing.

Up top, we made the hard decision to not try and climb the sick south facing couloir across the way, and instead went for the summit of Powell Peak. It was already 4pm...
The "3rd" class climbing proved too dangerous with snow and ice over the route, and we decided to get back to our couloir.
I offered to ro-cham-bo for the ski cut, but nobody else wanted it! I roped up and took it.

No results, as expected. There was very little, if any wind deposited snow. Optimal conditions in a very steep couloir, mid winter!
The turns were incredible, make a handful, come out of a cloud of face shots, pull over and let the sluff pour down. All went smooth besides a quick scare with Dave's ski binding.

We leap frogged down, and yelped for joy as it echoed in the deep, and darkening cirque.

Made our way out of the basin at sunset. I flew across Mills Lake on propelled on low friction smooth ice. The ice cracked and made weird collapsing noises from far and wide. I kept on cruising...

One scary luge run on the trail through the trees, lit by only moonlight and a dim headlamp, brought us back to the lot, 9hrs and 45 minutes later.

Closest Continental Divide

2009-02-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

Jason, his dog Butters, and I headed straight for the continental divide via the closest route possible from Boulder. It took us about 3 hours to get up there counting drive time from Boulder... not bad!
Was great to get up into the alpine, as Colorado doesn't allow conditions like these midwinter all that often.
We took a run on ol' Frosty, the broad mellowish E facing ridge, then headed up to ride a sweet looking NE facing spine. This run was one of my favorite of the season so far, beautiful snow, steep, and open.
The snowpack has been slowly adjusting to some newer loads, and warm weather to come should only strengthen the bonds between layers. It takes a long while for these things to happen in the cold continental climate of Colorado, but when it does we love it.

A snow totem

Heading for it
Jason

Jason and Butters prepare for a descent on the divide. Looking north toward Pt. 12110 and James Peak in the background.

My spine track

View down the "death crust face" to the lot.

The sun drops behind "Chutes and Ladders" Peak

Sunset on a mountain wave cloud

Climbing Lumpy Ridge classics

2008-10-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

Incredible Fall colors from a delicate and precise mixture of Chlorophyll, Carotenoids, and Anthocyanin.

Twas the last weekend in September, 08, and I was finally headed to Lumpy Ridge, CO for the first time. The area has a vast history of climbing, from Layton Kor to Tommy Caldwell.

After the early morning wakeup call, Jason picked me up and we set off.

Jason led the first pitch of Melvin's Wheel (II 5.8)
He snagged a small tree on the way up, and did battle trying to whip the rope off of it. Ha!
I followed, and found that the big #3 had walked up and gotten very stuck while protecting the crux move through a small roof traverse. I mustered, pushed, pulled, delicately worked with a nut tool, and still it wouldn't move more than 1mm. Sadly, I left it to be worked more on the descent.

Next, It was my turn to lead the amazing flaring crack that was the trademark pitch. Gear placements were good, maybe a few were a little tricky. Very enjoyable climbing up a lone crack with not much but clean granite surrounding.
Photo: Jason follows the second pitch
We rapped off, and got to work on the cam. After 15 minutes of swearing, sweating, and blood, Jason called it. Then he gave it one last full fledged yank and it popped out!
We were stoked, to leave a # 3 BD Camalot would've been a sad day.

We ate lunch and headed to Backflip (II 5.9)
I led the first pitch, a sweet right facing flake/dihedral, the crux a desperate stem, reach, and grovel. I linked the 5.6 second pitch to the base of the incredible textbook right facing dihedral. Jason led this with steez under darkening and spouting skies. You lieback up the finger width crack, then traverse right under a roof for a good 35 ft. Incredible!
I ran the last pitch out on less than optimal granite, arriving at a cool rappel spire.
Lumpy Ridge, ahh, what a place.

workin on the mountain

2008-06-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

Living in Cascadia at the moment. Much of my nights are spent at Camp Muir, the second picture below. These pictures were from my first summit climb trip, and we were above the sea of altostratus clouds known locally as the "Marine Layer". The sunise is from the top of Dissappointment Cleaver, the steepest section of the standard route.
The third photo is from Camp Muir, a long exposure at night. You can see the movement of the sea of clouds, as well as Mt. Adams on left and Mt. Hood in the center right. Cascadia.
The fourth photo is from Columbia Crest, the highpoint of the mountain, looking down at the crater and the world.

click on photo to enlarge

Le Grand Teton

2008-06-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

Thar she blows!

5/31 to 6/2
Heres the pics, for TR go to http://www.backcountryclub.org/1/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=26&func=view&id=375&catid=5

Day 1 and 2
Slog in.
South Molar Tooth Couloir east of the Otterbody Route, and Middle Teton Glacier Route up to the east ridge saddle.

Day 3 The Grand (Ford/Stettner Route), and slog out. Poached a great camp spot in the valley

Spring 08, Peaks and Pictures

2008-05-30T12:11:00.001-07:00

Lots of pictures of lots of people, peaks, and places from May 08.
If you need to know where a certain picture is from just ask,
Enjoy - Matt

Bolts Lake Couloir

2008-04-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

Lackawanna and Brumley Peaks, CO

2008-04-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

I awoke to a glorious alpenglow on the peaks of Independence Pass, the day was 3/26/08, and it was to be one of the best tours of my life.
I gathered the gear, then started the long skin up a south facing 3000 ft. avalanche path known as Everett D. This eventually leads to Pt. 13823, also known as Lackawanna Peak. I felt a little tired and sore from the many previous days, but soon I was atop the ridge, making my way to the summit. When I crested the ridgetop I came upon this view of Pt. 13660 "Brumley Peak"
I was stopped in my tracks, and knew I had to return soon to get it.
Eyeing the east face of Lackawanna Peak on the map, I soon got to see that it was indeed a nice series of couloirs and spines. The summit of "Lackawanna Peak"
View of my descent route down the east face of Lackawanna Peak.
I dropped in to soft ,well bonded snow. Very carvable. The descent was sick, I slashed the spines, and laid some out on the apron.
I had a cliff shot, my new energy source, and put the board on my pack. From here I was able to climb on a rock rib up to a saddle. Then I decided to head north, towards pt. 13660, also known as "Brumley Peak" for that amazing couloir I spotted earlier. This whole time that thing was in my head, and I was planning my return trip to get it on another day. I'm not sure what got into me, but I decided while I was here, it was there, and the snow was stable, then we might as well tango. I gained the saddle ,and followed the long corniced ridge to the summit. I felt like I was on Denali for a while, climbing these monstrous corniced ridges, the final section being quite steep.
I had a look around, spotted another line that I would defnitley have to return for, then dropped in. I swung low beneath the cornice, but above a band of cliffs, then found the entrance.
It narrowed up, and steepend to about 48 degrees. I defnitley didn't make any turns in the choke, as my board barely scraped through.
I made a little traverse over something resembling a chockstone, then continued down. It was a fairly long couloir, and was stoked to have passed through this thing. I laid down on a patch of grass, admiring this view of my new route. I decided to call it "Fat Cat with a Little Throat" in regards to the looming cornice, and the narrow choke. I felt like a hairball being coughed up.By now I was throughly tired, so I chugged my red bull to keep my strength up. I made the final 1000 ft. climb to the ridge and ended up right on the top of Everett D. 3000 ft. of corn ensued, silkier than a smooth babys bottom. I hooted and hollered for the Lynx that was watching me, and didn't stop untill I hit the truck. At this point, I limped across the road with leg burn, and collapsed in the back of my pickup for a while, gleeming with that feeling you get after the best ski tour of your life.

Mount Aetna

2008-04-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

A view down the Taylor/Aetna Saddle run
Decided to finally nail a classic line on this day, 3/25/06.
I popped out of the truckbed along HWY 50 near Monarch Pass just before dawn.
Used the facilities at the Monarch Lodge, then geared up and headed out.
I was amazed at how much snow was in the area, and passed a few cabins that were completely buried. This was at low to mid elevations! Cruised up Russel Creek Basin and skinned up to the saddle between Mt. Aetna and Taylor Peak. I spotted a nice line, and was feeling good so I decided to hit it, skin back up, and then bag Mt. Aetna's huge SE gully. The SE gully can be seen from Monarch Pass, on the pointiest peak around. Its a definite classic of the Sawatch Range, and I'd even say for the state of CO, running a continuous descent of about 4000 ft. Heres a stitched view of it.

Heres another view
I was done harvesting the corn at 1pm, and hung out in the warm sun and dried my gear on my truck. Next I headed north for my favorite area in the state, Independence Pass.

Defeat on the Crestone Needle

2008-03-31T22:58:00.000-07:00

Jamie skins below Broken Hand Pass

On 3/20/08 I drove down to the Sangre De Cristo range with friends and fellow rippers Jamie and Craig. Our primary objective was the South Couloir on the Crestone Needle. This we found out could either be a nice, steep, continuous line from the summit, or a 55 degree chunky frozen ice slopes interspred by a cliff infested nightmare.
Driving out to the trailhead was cool, snowdrifts along the road down in the valley were over 10 feet tall in places! It was apparent these southern mountains were having a rediculous snow year.We left the trailhead at 5 pm, and arrived at our base camp at about 11 pm, skinning under a full moon.
We got up and out fairly early, by not nearly early enough the next morning. By the time we had skinned and bootpacked up the steep and deep slopes of Broken Hand Pass, the dry wind was pounding us, and clouds had filled the sky. Heading up Broken Hand Pass We decided to continue along the 3rd and 4th class ridge just to get a look up at it if anything. This is precisely what we did. I used a kiwi coil and led some short rope pitches with excellent friction belays. Looked up inside the beast with a strong steady wind blowing down it, and hard ice grains stung us as a warning to not enter this beasts throat today. We climbed to where the arrow is then turned around. Skiing down Broken Hand Pass was fun, and we returned to camp at sunset tired, dried out, and hungry. A sunset low cloud extravaganza followed.

Radiobeacon Peak's NE ramp 3/6/08

2008-03-06T21:57:00.000-08:00

This snow alien told me to go up Radiobeacon Peak, so I complied.

After a mind workout with my SnowHydrology midterm, I felt ready to get after it with a physical workout. Headed up to E Portal, planning to ski the "frosty bowl" off the divide near Arapaho Lakes. Left the TH at 2 and managed to get through the strong winds and into the trees. Saw an older lady on fat skis with two twin dogs. She confirmed my beliefs by saying "the snow is freakin awesome!" then she added that it wasn't too windy, but defnitley a few degrees colder up high.Sepia Aspens

There was no trail up to the frosty bowl, and didn't feel like breaking a one time skin track through knee deep snow, so I followed the Forest Lakes track up. A snow alien told me I should go up onto Radiobeacon, and check out its NE ramp, so I did.My ascent route

The conditions were full on scottish, with sustained winds of 30 mph or so, and I took a temp at ~treeline that read -17 C, or about 1 F. Thats a wind chill of about -26 F, and I could feel my eyelids start to freeze when I blinked. My camera froze, and I had to force the zoom lens closed.
There was 20-30 cm new snow on a slick high density layer on the NE ramp, with a thin slab forming. The new snow was not very well bonded to the old. Luckily, it wasn't cohesive enough to propagate a fracture, and the slope is only 30 deg. An awesome bowl to scribe some turns, especially on a nice day when you get to see them! I witnessed a sunset below the cloud ceiling on Winter Park, then headed off. Got to the truck at dusk.My descent, the NE ramp

At the TH I saw a rando racer gearing up with a red one piece, and ultralight AT setup, a helmet, and a headlamp. It was going to be a cold one for him.

Adventures of Sativa the dog

2008-02-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

"hurry up and get skinnin"
For some reason I keep finding old pictures, and many of them are from 05-06, so, heres another one from then. I lived in a rotting old house, now burned down, on Kiowa Circle on the outskirts of South Lake Tahoe. There were 4 of us in the house; Aaron, the deadhead from western NY, Hazel, the ski patroller at Kirkwood from Alaska, and Bree, a girl from a coastal area of Massachusettes. Aaron had a dog named Sativa, black as night. Sativa, like her name suggests, got stoned quite often with her owner. Sativa never went on any real long walks or hikes, and I felt bad for her, because I could just tell she was dying to get out and test her own stamina. And what did I do about it? I took her out to ski some powder on the best damn day of her life!

Sativa contemplates the cornice

Sativa gettin some freshies. Now look at that dogs face!When I came upon this snowshoe hare, I feared that Sativa might scare it away, but all I had to do was tell her to "stay", and we snuck up pretty close for a good picture.

When the hare's eyes turned red and it gave me a snarling evil look, all I had to do was say
"get it"! and Sativa defended me.
Sativa the wonder dog would'nt mind jumping across the deepest of creeks, even if it meant smashing into the snowpack on the otherside head first!
When it was all said and done, we had hiked and skied about 6500 vertical feet, and she just wanted more. Every time she'd see me getting ready to go out for a ski after that, you could just tell that she wanted more than anything to escape the wrath of her stoned owner and go for a real walk, a real world adventure to the snowy peaks of the Sierra.

Wheeler Peak, NV 5/2/07

2008-02-16T00:14:00.000-08:00

I jetted across the lonely state of Nevada on the first of May 2007, my route was west to east, 95 to 6 to 50. The landscape along here is characterized by islands of mountain ranges that run north to south, separated by mostly dried up alkaline lakebeds. At one time these mountains might have literally been islands between ancient lakes, a time when the climate was a bit cooler, and much wetter.
Sand Dunes near Sodaville, NV
The lone rider. This guy was riding for Jerusalem. I passed his truck and horse trailer 40 mi down the road.

I found my way into the Snake Range, and my objective, Wheeler Peak, the tallest peak in the eastern 9/10 of the state loomed thousands of feet above the valley floor.
It was apparent that this area doesn't see many people this time of year. This guy came up to me for a pet. There was 2 other vehicles at the campground, one of them was the host.
It looked like rain, and with my truck (second home)packed with all my belongings, I stretched a tarp between a couple trees. The clouds dried out when the sun dropped and the convection dissipated.
Bristlecone Pine, probably 4,000 years old. The oldest living things on earth. When this tree started growing ancient Egypt was peaking as a civilization, early Stonehenge was just being started, and its likely they didn't even know this continent existed.

Wheeler Peak and its huge north face.
Guardians of the Couloir
I climbed up to the eastern ridge, then followed that up.
View down my climbed route with my descent across the cirque on left
View down Andrew McLean's "Cortex Couloir" to the rock glacier far below. No thankyou, not this year. He gave it a rating of S6, which is: Most of the route steeper than 55 degrees. This is extreme terrain that's safe for only the elite athlete if turns are made. Sideslipping and ropework may be mandatory. Loose snow avalanches are common, especially after new snow accumulations; slab avalanches are uncommon.
By the way, that was on a year when the snowpack was well above average.

Just a moderate steady breeze at the pyramid like summit, over 6000 ft. above the valley floor
Some steep turns off the top
silky smooth creamy corn
Route off the NW ramp
This was quite a route finding adventure on the face, and I had to scramble over a rocky rib to connect the snow. This trip was inspired by the late Galen Rowell, one of the best adventure photographers ever. Check out his site Mountain Light Photography
Endless potential exists in this range for couloir shooting thanks to the amazing fault block geology. When it looks like there might be a line, there probably is, its just tucked away in a bend or fold in the rock. While far from a normal destination, its a great hit while traveling from the Sierra to the Rockies.

Sierra At Tahoe Photoshoot in Huckleberry Canyon, 4/06

2008-02-15T23:15:00.000-08:00

I was invited by my patrol director, Doug Schwartz to observe a photoshoot, and act as a spotter for avalanches or first aid if needed. I gladly obliged to come in a few hours early and get paid for hanging out. Little did I know I would join in. I observed the first round of steep skiing with Jim Bittner. Brady walked around on and launched off the biggest cornice around without it budging, so I decided it was safe to ride.
If these pictures remind you of alaska, good. This is Huckleberry Canyon, soon to be part of Sierra At Tahoe Ski Area. I have been fortunate to help in the annex process.
Heres the section called Pancake Rock, 2/07
Here I am slashing a ribBrady killing it

Doug Schwartz, patrol director below
Myself busting a method, jumping for joy
all photos copyright SAT

Lovers Leap 3/06

2008-02-15T19:26:00.001-08:00

In 05-06, I started working at Sierra At Tahoe on patrol. The winter started slow with lots of rain, not much snow, and warm temps. The season fully turned around in March, with snow falling everyday but 2 in the month.

I left the Sierra boundary one day and headed west bound for the popular climbing area Lovers Leap.

The snowpack was 2.5 to 3 meters deep, and I remember exhaustively breaking trail through knee deep snow, even with the fat skis of a splitboard. I rode the west facing wind lipped terrain off West Bowl, crossed the creek, and made a long traverse up to the next ridge.
I found some ghosts and hoodoos in the hemlock forest.
My second descent was down this old tree cut path, which actually was the old Sierra Ski Ranch back in the day. Like the present day Sierra, this place had no shortage of pillow lines.

The thick forest made the routefinding a trick, but eventually I popped out at the top of Lovers Leap. Looking north at Horsetail Falls and Desolation Wilderness.
Incredible exposure on this very aesthetic line combined with California sun and warmth, with excellent snow made for some awesome riding. Lovers Leap is a granite batholith, a dome of exfoliated rock. Makes me want to ski all of the granite domes in this state.

Heres the first part of the descent, on the side of a 600 ft. cliff where the ski base jump contest takes place
The second pitch and the steepest, is known as the West Wall.
From the bottom of the West Wall, its a quick skin up to the top of Hogs Back.
These were some excellent turns . I waded through the upper South Fork of the American River because there were no snow bridges, and proceeded to the highway for a hitchike back to Sierra. Wet, muddy, and smelly, I was picked up by a father and son crew with a clean rental sedan. They were nice, and I felt bad for them to have to smell me.
They dropped me off at the junction of the highwway and Sierra At Tahoe Rd., then picked up by a shuttle cruising by less than a minute later.

I would've had a long walk up the road, but lucky for me some fool followed my tracks out from west bowl, and ended up swimming in the deep powder, lost in Sayles Canyon. Two of my fellow patrollers Dan and kiwi Johnny Rotten were sent on a search for him. Ended up the guy broke into a cabin less than 1/8 of a mile from the highway to "warm up". They found him alive and well, and called for a pickup, which is where it all comes together. We all celebrated our very different adventures together at the bar, the lost guy bought patrol a number of rounds...