Castle Peak with Three Daves and a Bob

From 2012

Matzo fueled quartet of Three Daves and a Bob heads up the southeast aspect of Castle Peak for some fine spring corn snow skiing.  We all met early at the Donner Pass Rest area off Rout 80 ( 7.280 feet) on the Westbound side, and followed the ridge line up to near the summit where the steep rocks stopped us.

The views down into the Euer Valley to the east and the Sierra crest to the south were a fine reward.  The weather held off and we peeled off two great runs before the snow softened and we glided back on a perfect trajectory and slid all the way to the cars finishing around lunchtime.

The Squaw patrol crew gearing up at the rest area - temps already in the high 30's at 8:30am. Dave, Bob, and Dave

From 2012

Climbing starts within a few minutes of leaving the car.  A firm surface and open terrain make the going smooth and fast. Route finding was a breeze.

From 2012

You can see snow is thin on the true south aspect, but where we are going, coverage is fine.

From 2012

Devil's Peak to the southwest as Bob skins steadily upwards.

From 2012

Bob and Dave discussing higher math concepts... you know you are hiking at the right pace if you can carry on a conversation while climbing....alright- they were not discussing math...

From 2012

Dave approaching the shoulder (8,800 feet) for a well deserved water and snack break. Tinker's Knob and Mt. Anderson in the distance.  Second run we launched from the rounded knob right behind Dave in this picture.

From 2012

Dave is saying... I guess this is the top... I ran out of snow. (8,731 feet) the precipitous eastern face of Castle Peak looms ahead, with a nice steep slope to our right.  A crew earlier had used a snow machine to do laps up to the top here coming in from Negro Canyon. Luckily, they went down a different way than we did, so we had no need to look out for there tracks.  Basin Peak in the distance beyond Castle Peak.  From here there are ski routes down on almost every aspect.

From 2012

Transition and a snack before skiing down....

From 2012

"Turbo" Dave sweeping big GS turns on a thin layer of corn...

From 2012

Bob heading back up for another lap.  Our second run came down off the shoulder in this photo, traversing around to the big rock on the looker's left. and down that ridge back to the highway far below.

From 2012

Dave, readying for the 2nd lap down off the shoulder.  What a view out across the Martis Valley all the way to Mt. Rose. Still thinking about that chicken liver from last week.....

From 2012

Putting the skins away - whose grandmother makes the best......what was that - chicken wontons?

From 2012

Hold me back...can I go now? huh? huh? Put that camera away and lets S K I !!

From 2012

"Turbo" swoops in on the next drop...

From 2012

Let's see, another lap or a milk shake in Truckee.....guess we'll head for the car.  That's Castle Peak behind us.

From 2012

East Side Mt. Judah - Backcountry skiing with Jeff

Yesterday it was 50 degrees and the snow surface had turned to cement and pudding. Last night the temperatures dropped fast, it was mostly a clear night and the snowpack consolidated and froze up - then miraculously, 4" of fresh, light powder appeared by morning.  The wind was howling over the ridges, but just below on the south east aspects, the air was calm, and the skiing was superb.  Apparently no one else got the memo, because Jeff and I had the backcountry side of Mt. Judah all to ourselves and repeated our run from the summit ridge 5 times with fresh lines each time, following the Judah loop trail down to the resort's base to catch a lift up to the top to repeat the fun.  Last run we did a modified Lake Run and found a steep chute leading to a break in the train shed that led us down to the wooded basin below the cliffed side of Donner Peak.  We climbed up to the train shed and back to Donner pass and finally hitched a ride back to the resort.  Wow!!!

From 2012

Skiers dropping into Judah's East face in the Sugarbowl backcountry...

From 2012

Creamy fresh snow on an untouched slope.  We managed 5 runs on this slope with no other skiers today... amazing.

From 2012

From 2012

From 2012

Wind howling over the summit - glad we could duck out of it just over the lip.

From 2012

From 2012

After an day of skiing we had completed 5 runs on the back of Judah - with no other skiers...These are all our tracks.

From 2012

Deciding on where to drop in next...

From 2012

From 2012

From 2012

Skiing on north east side of Donner Peak

From 2012

Can you find Waldo?  Look top of looker's left chute.  This chute drops right to a break in the train shed leaving a clear path with no major gaps all the way to the streambed.

From 2012

Climbed back up to the shed to find a way back to Donner Pass.

From 2012

From 2012

More Royal Gorge Tours last week of March 2012

Inlet to Kidd Lake

From 2012

Kidd Lake - Winter Lakeshore

From 2012

Stage Coach overlook to Devil's Peak...

From 2012

Stage Coach Trail above Palisade Lake with Devil's Peak

From 2012

From 2012

From 2012

My ski partner...

From 2012

And last of all - a brief movie.....

March 2012 Storm Cycle Skiing

I kept the Hero waterproof video camera with me in my pack this month and captured about 13 minutes of snow spattered footage chasing after my friends in the mountains nearby including ski touring at Royal Gorge, sidecountry alpine touring behind Sugarbowl, and some in-bounds skiing at Squaw in the Shirley Lake area and off of Red Dog lift.

Summit to Wildy - 5K / 10 K Nordic Race

See video embedded below....

Sublime Early morning ski tour to Point Moriah

Azure blue sky emerges after a night of freezing rain which left a fresh coating of snow on the saturated snowpack when we awoke.  Cold air in the early morning hours, just now rising to 20 deg. F sits calming outside the window like a beckoning friend.  The weather forecast called for rising temperatures during the day and possibly rain, so we pack up quickly after breakfast and head out to reach Point Moriah at the far edge of Royal Gorge's property before the weather turns.

Cold air caresses my nose and cheeks and seeps into the gaps in my clothing between sleeves and gloves as we get started.  I know from experience I'l warm quickly, but for now I relish the feeling of cold, cold air on my exposed skin, and feel it reach down into my lungs with each inhalation.

We are up early, and out on the trail before anyone else, including the groomers, so the fresh tracks we make  in the unblemished snow are alone, except for the regular crossing of rabbit, squirrel and occasional coyote tracks.  The fine snow with no wind, leaves perfect impressions and we can almost see the shape of individual hairs along the indentations made by these woodland creatures.

We are pulled onward, and upward, over Castle Pass and beyond to the Point. The snow still clings tenaciously to the tree limbs. The downhill slopes are smooth as we glide on the thin layer of fresh snow atop a well consolidated pack of dense winter snow.  On these low angle pitches and flat woodlands, the snow sits heavily and securely in place, whereas we can see on the steeper ridges where it has separated from the ground and tumbled down in small heavy naturally released avalanches.

As we move further and further along the ridge towards the edge of the gorge, more mountains come into view to our south and soon we can see clearly Devil's peak, Snow Mountain, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Anderson, and the full Pacific Crest leading to Olympic Valley and Squaw Valley resort.

Oh, what a day to be ski touring.....

From 2012

We walk a block from the house on unplowed streets, climb the steep bank, and head into the woods on skis. Glad we have a season pass and can slip into the trail system this easily.

From 2012

Once over Castle Pass Devil's Peak comes clearly into view and we wander along the trailside meadows looking at tracks and listening for springtime grouse.

From 2012

Once past the Point Moriah warming hut, Snow Mountain pops up clearly to the south. The trail has been packed and groomed a few days ago, and travel is easy in the new thin snow cover.

From 2012

Fresh tracks - too bad they have to be UP hill!

From 2012

Point Moriah - great to be here again.  We've been waiting all season for the right combination of weather, grooming, timing, and energy to reach here together.  A truly sublime moment with views of 20 miles or more in every direction.

From 2012

We meet one other early morning skier with the same objective in mind at the same place and we share oohs and ahhs, before turning for home before the rising temperatures can spoil the snow.

From 2012

Mark skates away and in flash is gone down the trail...

From 2012

One more quick lap around the button hole trail at Point Moriah and we point tips for home.

Diane walks along with Mt. Lincoln and the Pacific Crest in the background.

From 2012

These side meadows beckon as we stride back along Stirling Canyon.  There is so much territory to explore, and with this easy touring we will seek the quiet places out as the bulk of the skiers stick to the groomed nordic track.

From 2012

Stirling Canyon big trees and dappled sunlight.

From 2012

Returning on Reindeer with Mt. Rowton rising across the Serena Creek canyon below.

Big Sky Montana, Alpine Ski Trip with 7 good buddies

I took a break from the intense spring conditions of late February on Donner Summit and drove north and east 14 hours to meet up with some long time ski buddies in Big Sky Montana.  As I departed the summit, a huge spring pineapple express storm was bearing down, and subsequently dumped 5 feet of snow at the house before it petered out on Thursday.  Meanwhile, in the Bitterroot range of the Rockies in southern Montana, we got daily refreshments of cold dry powder.  Luckily the tree skiing is absolutely incredible at this well thinned resort and once off the exposed lifts, we headed for the trees and had the time of our lives.

Sorry about this long video - For those of you who love tree skiing and big mountains, you'll appreciate the steep chutes and bowls, and the windswept ridges edged with open sub-alpine glades.  This was definitely not a low energy trip full of mellow epiphanies of middle aged men with a mountain hall pass, but a highly charged, active pursuit of steep and complex terrain.  Big Sky is great for that type of enterprise with it's vast complex mountain terrain, and sparsely populated slopes.   I hope this video reflects some of the magic we experienced.  Keeping seven guys together is an amazing undertaking, and I thank each of my companions for not leaving me alone in the woods.

If you pay attention, you'll see Andy double eject into a tree well, you'll meet the blue buzzer, almost always seen from behind as one can never seem to get in front of the guy. You'll see cautious Bob, on all the difficult terrain - Bob, did you even fall once? Paul slides into home on a powder slope, and although you can't hear it, Dave D. waltzes down the slope with some Venetian tune repeating in his head. This is just to keep his RPM down to that more closely matched to our group's speed. Sam modestly guided us to all the powder stashes and new glades he has learned about since he started ski patrolling there last season. Thanks Sam for all the great ideas and cutting through the top-of-lift debates with a simple "stop gabbing and just follow me..."

See embedded video below: