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The Dream gully is the looker's right thin gully system that terminates in rock slabs.
The rappel free descent takes the narrow snow ledge looker's left at the bottom to link skiable snow.
There is more snow now than when this photo was taken. |
Planning a midweek outing to take advantage of excellent coverage, I texted Ned about stability, since he gets out more than anyone in the Bitterroot these days. He responded and mentioned that he had just skied the complex gully system above Bass creek falls. I was intrigued. Less than 24 hours later, I headed up Little St. Joe to repeat his descent armed with spikes, extensive beta, and a convenient set of tracks to follow.
The climb up Little St. Joe was enjoyable and uneventful. I had a little extra time, so I went to the very top before gearing up for the 4,400(!) foot descent to the creek.
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| The top of the gully. Happy to have a set of tracks to follow into the abyss. |
The snow in the upper gully was just sun baked enough to make skiing challenging, but it was stable, and the upper gully was dreamy. Soon enough the shenanigans began.
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| The dreamy part. |
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| More of the dreamy part. |
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| And even more of the dreamy part. |
The skiing from about 6,000 feet down to the creek was full of special Bitterroot character. There was a little easy ice bulge, then a skier's left traverse to a second gully system, then a 3 foot hop into the crux gully that I was able to sideslip around. The crux gully terminates in a 20-foot ice step. Ned and Frank had boldly skied it the previous day, and I started into it thinking I might be able to sideslip with an axe, but that would have been way too scary. So I put crampons on and down climbed with one axe. The climbing was safe, and I was pleased with my decision. I'm sure one could build a suitable anchor and rappel this step. From the terminus of the crux, I sidestepped and wallowed up a slightly climbing traverse out of the gully system into the next major gully system skier's right in order to avoid Bass falls. The skiing down to the creek was just barely possible given the outstanding coverage. I followed tracks over several hundred vertical feet of thinly covered rock slabs, interesting sideslipping at the lower rock gully choke, and whipper willow skiing down to the Bass creek trail.
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| Below my down climb and Ned's straight line. |
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| Out of the gully. |
The trail exit was fast, and I was soon back at the car, grateful for the opportunity to safely repeat a run that I will probably never ski again.
Thoughts
It is pretty cool to see Ned ticking off new ski lines in perfect style that have been hiding in plain sight for so long. In addition to the Dream gully, he also skied and equipped the Wilderness gully with rappel anchors. The Wilderness gully is the gully system that takes off from the upper saddle on the Little St. Joe ascent. First descent, Ned Gall and Frank Preston February 21, 2019.
