Grey Wolf West couloir for time

West Wolf!

After weeks of waiting for perfect conditions in the West couloir of Grey Wolf, it seemed like the next forecast warm spell might put the line out of good condition for the year.  Without any excuses to procrastinate, I rested up for a couple of days, packed carefully, and headed out mid morning on a warm mid week day do make a concerted effort from Saint Mary reservoir.  Soon enough, I was walking briskly up the Saint Mary climber's trail at a "this hurts a bit, but it isn't too hard.  Right?" pace.  Ski boot transition was at about 6,500 feet, and another push at a "this hurts more.  Moving fine, but glad I'm not racing anyone" pace had me ready to traverse into the No Fish lake basin well under two hours.  The ski down was sticky, but I managed to zip down and across the lake upright.

The couloir looked fairly runnelled and shiny, but with a sliver of sun on the north edge, I was optimistic that it would be safe enough on the ski down.  Considering there was no boot pack, the climb went fast.  I skinned quickly to the mouth, made the time consuming but ultimately very wise choice to transition to crampons early, and started efficiently pied a platting my way up.  The snow was supportable, and while I stayed vigilant to move with purpose, the ascent was fast. Next up was a slow crampons-off, skins-off, calories-in, safe ski brain-check transition.

The ski was pretty icy, but it was never really scary.  I put speed aside and stayed laser focused on carefull skiing. There may have been a lot of sideslipping.  Soon enough, I was down to soft snow in the lower couloir, and skating across the lake shortly after. 

Shiny but edgeable.

Done and psyching up to give my all on the climb out.
Insert siren song here.

Even though ski conditions were a bit shiny, the skiing was great!  I felt like I had good energy left, and pushed hard back to the sneak traverse just below the shoulder.  The exit was fine.  Skiing was fast, but snow line was high enough that changing to approach shoes was mandatory.  So I did it, then ran as fast as "I definitely haven't been running much this year" legs would allow back to the car.  I emerged at 4 hours, 20 minutes, and 20 seconds. Pretty tired, very thirsty, and over the moon happy with the day.  What a great outing.

Done.  Cooked.  Happy.

Thoughts:  I feel good about going light and fast with just enough reserve to be very solid for the entire outing.  Fitness is kind of average, and a combination of a lower snow line, a more reliable bootpack not requiring crampons, and faster skiing could yield a better time.  I also probably could have pushed harder, but I feel OK about the effort. And conditions were not bad.  They weren't perfect, but it's such a fickle ski line that finding fast and safe conditions is really tricky.  That said, my time is soft - I have no doubt that sub-4 is possible for a wide array of people.  Not sure I have sub-4 in me, or the desire to do it again fast, at least for now. I am really excited for someone to push the time way down. 

My previous fast time from the East was faster and a stronger physical effort, but I'm more excited about this as a FKT route.

Gear:  All the safety stuff but not a lot more:  Crampons, race pole/whippet combo, helmet, bear spray.  Plenty of calories, but only 0.5 L water (yes, that was dumb), no puffy, warm gloves, or ice axe.

Approximate splits for future reference:  Leaving Saint Mary shoulder outbound:  1.35.  Starting Grey Wolf climb:  1.50.  Start skiing:  2.45.  Leaving Saint Mary shoulder inbound 3.45.  7,650 vertical feet. 4/28/2021

McDonald Peak - Northeast face and McDonald Glacier

Nearing the summit of McDonald after the long climb from Post creek.

A good forecast motivated another mid week ski adventure to the Missions.  To my surprise, Ned was keen to join, even with a late start.  We rolled out from Mission reservoir at the very leisurely hour of 10:30 am, and were across Post creek and engaging the bushwack shortly after noon.  We climbed the peak via the Northwest face, and I was reminded both how big this climb is, and how the bushwack isn't that bad if you are patient and find the intermittent climber trail on the East side of the drainage.  Aside from a narrow elevation band of terribly gloppy snow, the climb went off efficiently, and we summited around 4 pm.  Ned was once again keen to ski the Northeast face, a run that I had wanted to ski for years, and of course one he had skied just the previous weekend.  There ended up being three-day old, foot deep slabs on the face, and while we felt OK eking the run out, I ended up just ski cutting a lot of it right at the base of the cliffs.  It was great to ski this fine line, but I'd like to return some day and ski it with better style.  We also cut the run off at the base of the mountain rather than taking it for the full 3k vertical in order to get out before dark.  

Up, up, and more up with some of the appealing Calowachan/Summit lake terrain in the background.

Ned guiding us down to the Northeast face.

A short climb put us at the top of the McDonald glacier.  We took an excellent run all the way down the McDonald glacier and exited straight to Post creek.  The run kept going and going, and the skiing was quite good.  We took skis off about a thousand vertical above Post creek, elated to have skied about 4,000 vertical feet of beautiful, moderate terrain with good snow top to bottom.  Such a grand, wild place to ski.  I was fairly concerned that we would be dealt a proper Mission beat down on the exit, but we only found "not too bad" bushwacking by staying just West of the drainage.  

First few turns of several hundred on the McDonald glacier.

Eventually we crossed the creek, found the trail, and took a break to snack and get bear spray out.  To my skin burning, eye tearing, lung searing surprise, I discovered that my bear spray can had exploded in my backpack, coating the contents in cayenne pepper.  So we hiked out with me in the back, and both brain stormed ways to drive home without fumigating ourselves with bear spray.  Fortunately, most of the aerosols dissipated on the hike out, and we made it to the car, then home without too much burning skin and completely devoid of consumption by bear.  Full disclosure: my gloves still have bear spray residue after two trips through the laundry and two thorough hand washes, and my beacon strap still makes my neck burn a month later.  

In any case, it was a fine day with a great partner.  Post creek is such a wild place, the trail is good, and I still think that doing McDonald from Post creek is a full value but quality way to ski the mountain.  I don't think that McDonald glacier will ever be a popular ski run, but it is a viable adventure, and the day was a treat.  And the Northeast face is a great ski run.  Exposed, but every bit as quality as anything on the mountain.

Sheepshead and McDonald ski for time

Moments like this are why we backcountry ski.

2023 update:  I now kind of think that this route was not complete.  I think that the East ridge run should be extended down to the tarn at about 8,300 feet, providing a natural, complete end point to the run.  A complete descent is more aesthetic than cutting the run short, and I think that this is merited since the East ridge of Sheepshead is a quality objective in its own right.  I guess the only way to rectify this is to go back and try again!

One of the first post-foot recovery outings I undertook was to go for a fast time on the Sheepshead/McDonald peak loop in the Missions.  I hadn't been skiing a lot, but had enough of a fitness base from biking that I felt reasonably prepared.  I think that the link up is one of the finest in the Missions, with excellent skiing, iconic peaks, and enough bushwacking and tricky routefinding in the heart of the Grizzly conservation zone to count as a legitimate Mission adventure.  It was forecast to be a hot day, so I timed the outing to hit the skiing on the firm side of corn o'clock, and started walking casually from a parking spot just above the canal at 7 am.  

At the upper trailhead, I took a nice break, switched into ski boots, set the clock, and started off.  I made pretty decent time to the base of the peak, and climbed efficiently to about 8,500 feet where the upper Northwest ridge becomes cliffy.  Unfortunately, the light overnight refreeze wasn't enough to be supportable, and I spent more time crotch deep in snow than I was hoping for as I ground out the last thousand vertical feet to the summit.  It did not help that I slightly botched the route and had to climb a tricky little mixed step.  It was OK though, I pushed as hard as reasonable while still moving with careful intention.  The East ridge and Southeast face skied perfectly.  

Feeling less than fast on the summit of Sheepshead...

...but definitely excited to ski and climb McDonald.

After a quick transition, I set off for the summit of McDonald, psyched for a hard push.   As it turns out, I didn't have as much gas as I had hoped for, so I slammed a few more calories and gave it all I had.  The South face was also excellent skiing.  A little icy, but not bad, and fast.  Since it was obvious that my time was going to be pretty soft, I skied at a reasonable speed, taking enough time to enjoy the day.  The descent to the lake went quickly, and the lakes were well frozen, so I made good time skating across them.  The exit trail was a bit of a disaster.  For starters, I didn't really find it right away and lost a few minutes fighting through thick brush.  The majority of the trail also had deep, punchy snow and a lot of downfall.  I moved through it as quickly as possible, but it was not fast.  Soon enough, I was fast hiking up the last little climb, yelling for bears.  And a few minutes later I was back to the trailhead.  It was pretty cool to be out by early afternoon, and at the trailhead, I took a nice long food/water/approach shoe break before walking casually out to the car.  I'm excited to do this outing again for time (I think that sub-4:30 is possible), and of course again many times at a more casual pace for enjoyment.

At the Ashley/Post creek divide, one of the coolest places anywhere.

Appreciating fast travel across well frozen Ashley lakes.

Route:  From upper trailhead, up Southwest ridge of Sheepshead.  Ski the East ridge and Northeast face to where the slope flattens out, about 200 vertical feet above the tarn (the length of this run is debatable.  Up Northwest face of McDonald.  Down South face and out to Ashley lakes.  Out Ashley lakes trail to trailhead.  I like the start/end point at the upper trailhead.  Even though it is a pretty crazy trailhead to drive too, it is a logical start/end point, and allows for a nice warmup if one chooses to park lower in the valley.

Splits for future reference:  First big flat ~50 minutes.  Sheepshead summit:  2.50.  McDonald summit: 3:30.  Leave lower Ashley lake:  4.05.  Trailhead 4:52.  Yes, the trail out was slow.

Equipment of note:  Crampons, whippet, bear spray, 0.5L water and about 1,000 calories.  Used everything except all of the bear spray and a few of the calories.  No ice axe, puffy coat, or approach shoes.  Nothing extra, but enough to deal with steep snow and ice, and to have a reasonable safety margin.

Mollman peak skiing

Excellent skiing on Mollman peak.

After two failed attempts, I took a day off of work in late January and rallied back to peak 8,632 for another attempt at the Southwest face, this time buoyed by the first Low avalanche forecast of the year and good weather.  Even with a late start, I was able to get the approach completed by about noon, and was soon romping easily up our skin track from the previous weekend. Eventually I split out right and made a climbing traverse to the avalanche exposed upper gully.  I dug a pit at 7,800 feet, and had stable results, which coupled with several other data points, helped my confidence in committing to the first serious avalanche slope of the season for me.  The skinning was tricky, but ski crampons helped a bunch, and I wasn't in a hurry.  

Moody skies and tricky skinning during the climb.

I summited around 2:30, excited to ski.  The run was splendid.  Visibility was adequate, the snow was good, and the ski line was great.  I skied 3,000 vertical feet, all the way to the shore of an unnamed lake below the summer trail.  After a short but definitely Mission-esque bushwack back to the trail, I pointed it east and walked most of the snow covered trail to the car in approach shoes.  I was so grateful to ski this run with safe and excellent conditions in January of a dangerous avalanche year.  It is a good ski line that merits more attention than it deserves.  It would also make for a good early spring ski objective (the lower face must melt out early), and could be easily combined with a handful of other ski runs in the immediate vicinity.

Let's do this!

Looking aback up at the face.  I skied the looker's right fork of the central gully.

The only but very significant bummer about the outing is that my feet were in very poor condition and hurt like a bugger the entire time I was in ski boots.  After one more day of painful skiing the following weekend, I would have to take two months off of skiing to let them heal.

I don't know the formal name for this peak, but Mollman peak seems fitting.  It is certainly the most commanding peak in the Mollman lake area when viewed from the Mission valley.

Previous attempt #1: Jeffrey and I attempted to ski a more conservative line on the South flank on 1/10, but were surprised when a pit at the bottom of the exposed entrance to the upper face produced unstable results.  Rather than second guess the pit results, we tucked our tails and spent the rest of the day crossing Mollman lake and skiing a more conservative but quality run on the Southeast face of peak 8,616.

Skiing deep in the Missions on Bail attempt #1

Previous attempt #2:  Ned, Kyle and I attempted the Southwest face on 1/23.  Avalanche danger was forecast to be low, but there was enough snow that I didn't have the confidence to attempt the gully directly.  In addition, poor visibility sapped both our assessment abilities and gumption.  We made a valid attempt to summit the peak via the safe West ridge, but were stymied by steep terrain well below the summit.  After skiing a great run back to the base of the peak, we climbed to near the summit on the South face/ridge.  We turned around about 200 vertical feet from the summit, with poor visibility and a biting wind once again sapping our gumption.  The ensuing ski run was also quite enjoyable, and I had a great day out with friends and appreciated our conservative decision making.  The day definitely lit the fire to return and get it done though.

Climbing the South face on bail attempt #2.