East Saint Mary to Greywolf scramble

Looking along the ridge from High Park to Greywolf.

 I took advantage of mid-September snow free conditions to scramble around the head of the Dry Lake Creek and link up East Saint Mary, Lowary, High Park peak, and Greywolf.  I parked at the Riddell lake trailhead, ran roads to the East Saint Mary trail, and spent the morning in familiar terrain ascending ESM and bumping over to Lowary.  I descended to Freeman Pass, and then made the easy scramble to High Park Peak.  From there, I covered new to me terrain along the interconnecting ridge to Greywolf.  I tried to say true to the ridge, but ended up detouring to the East in several places, notably around a significant tower/notch just shy of the peak.  

Surprisingly nice fall glissading to Freeman Pass.

I made a valiant attempt to stay true to Greywolf's Northwest ridge, however I encountered several sections where I couldn't find a solution that was less than mid 5th class.  So there was a lot of bumbling around and down climbing.  I think that the most expedient and fun route is to climb near the Northwest ridge on the lower third of the face to gain access to the upper face, then follow natural weaknesses trending East across the upper North face.  I found the descent along the conventional East ridge route to be surprisingly tricky and slow.  Soon enough I was back at the car, full of gratitude for a new adventure in a familiar place.  I think that this loop is not as high quality as some of the other link ups from East Saint Mary because of the inefficiencies associated with getting off of Greywolf.  However, it is logical, logistically simple, and very much worth checking out.  

North face of Greywolf peak.

Looking back to High Park peak and the Mission mountains from high on Greywolf peak.

Heavenly Twins, complete North ridge

 I devoted one of the many dog days of summer 2022 to make an attempt at climbing the North ridge of Heavenly Twins from Kootenai creek.  The line is intriguing, climbing 4,000 feet from the banks of Kootenai creek.  A moderate amount of internet sleuthing and inquiring among friends didn't really disclose any good beta, so I went into it without much knowledge of route or difficulty.  Fortunately, giving it a blind go didn't feel reckless since bailing is possible for the entirety of the route.

I dropped a bike at the Saint Mary trailhead the previous evening, and and rolled up the Kootenai trail at first light.  The trail run was nice and cool and fun.  After a big water refill, I crossed the creek and attacked the bushwack.  It ended up being fairly stout but not too long, and I was soon meandering up slabs low on the ridge.  

Looking up the lowest bit of the ridge.  I climbed the most open visible slabs.

Still a long way to go.

The ridge soon became more defined and easier, and it was nice to grind up toward the alpine.  The middle third of the ridge has quite a few characteristically slow Bitterroot gendarmes, and I deviated from the crest several times when it became too slow or technical.  The steep upper mountain ended up being easy (easy 4th class) and quite enjoyable.  I arrived on the summit about 5.5 hours after leaving the creek and took a lunch break to enjoy the position. 

Final bits.

I traversed to Saint Mary peak via the normal high route.  The only two unusual aspects of the return were that I was low on energy, and it was absolutely scorching!  The bike ride down the Saint Mary road and back to Kootenai was smooth and fun.  With the return bike shuttle, it ended up being a solid 12+ hour day.  I think that descending straight to Kootenai creek would be faster than setting up the shuttle and traversing to Saint Mary as I did, but it was certainly more enjoyable to stay up high on a hot summer day and only bushwack once.

Classic view back to the Heavenly Twins from Saint Mary peak. 
I climbed the low angle skyline ridge.

This was a great day.  The ridge route was long enough to provide a good challenge, and the climbing was pretty good.  It was cool to see a new side of this iconic mountain.  I think that it could appeal both to climbers looking for a long, technically easy moderate alpine route and mountain runners with a climbing background. It does have epic/disaster potential for sure since bailing would necessitate a long and unpleasant bushwack back to Kootenai, followed by a long walk out to the car.    

Taylor-Hilgard High traverse

Traversing the Taylor-Hilgard unit along the crest has been on my mind for several years now.  It is the highest group of mountains in Montana outside of the Beartooth, and the more map research I did, the more it felt like a quality, logical route.  When a good window of opportunity opened up, I left a very hot Missoula after a busy work week and arrived in a blissfuly cool Madison valley, fired up for an adventure.  

Imp sunrise, looking back at the Echo/Hilgard group.

Day 1:  I started the 29-mile bike shuttle by headlamp, with intentions of completing it in the early morning with minimal highway traffic.  Aside from a biting headwind, the plan worked perfectly and I was only passed by 19 cars in two hours.  I paced it nice and easy, and was at my pack at the Earthquake visitor center and ready to start walking at 8 am.  

The first climb is 3,000+ vertical feet off trail, straight up to the crest.  I was grateful to get it done in the cool shade.  Once on the crest, I spent the morning working through the beautiful terrain South of Hilgard.  This Southern section was not terribly alpine, but it was interesting and not too technical.  

Views from the beginning of the traverse.
Hilgard in the far distance.

Mid morning cruising.

Looking back at some of the nice terrain on day 1.

I arrived in the Lake Eglise basin by mid-afternoon, and was on top of Hilgard around 4 pm.  I wasn't quite feeling like taking on the Northeast couloir descent or technical looking North ridge, so I dropped way off the ride West of the peak into the headwaters of Papoose creek.  Fortunately, the west side bypass is gorgeous, and it also allowed for a good water refill.  I boosted back up to Dutchman, then nosed my way near the ridge crest to Echo. My Dutchman to Echo route descended the first few hundred feet of the Northeast couloir, crossed a loose ledge to the crest, where I spotted three mountain goats.  I followed them to Echo.  They sure have the most efficient route dialed!  

Approaching Hilgard.

Looking back to Hilgard from Dutchman.

I had originally planned to camp in Expedition basin, but made a game day decision to burn a few psychological matches and push into the night to Alp lakes.  The evening jaunt through the clean high basins North of Echo was an absolute treat.  I encountered surprisingly slow and slightly distressing, chossy terrain at sunset closing in on peak 10,844, but I just worked through it, and the descent to Alp lakes in the dark was pretty easy. I never really felt great this first day, but it went smoothly and I enjoyed every minute of it.  I went to sleep fairly confident that finishing the following day was realistic as long as my body recovered from the altitude overnight.  I slept very well.  

Day 2:  I woke up excited.  To my delight, my camp at 9,600 feet and five hours of sleep allowed for some recovery from the altitude, and I felt surprisingly not bad going up Imp.  Sunrise was incredible. The morning was spent traversing the ridgeline North of Imp.  It was all quite enjoyable, except getting over the shoulder of Tunnel ridge.  That was loose and generally a mess, and I ended up deciding not to summit any of the Tunnel ridge high points. I worked through it slowly (would recommend future parties descend West into the headwaters of Indian creek just South of Tunnel ridge, bypass Tunnel ridge, then boost back up to the crest at the southern end of the No Man ridge section).  

Grinding slowly up Imp at Sunrise.

Looking North from Imp at the ridge line ahead.

At the beginning of the Tunnel ridge section. 

I had a bit of a low energy patch at the base of Tunnel ridge, so I stopped for water and sat down and ate a bunch before making the long climb to the No Man ridge.  The No Man ridge section is really nice and clean, but my energy flagged terribly. I was fueling and drinking well, so I didn't need to stop much, but my pace was way, way below anything resembling spritely.  I ground it out though, arriving at the last summit tired but happy, and made the long descent to the valley.  

Looking out to No Man ridge.

Looking back at the No Man ridge from the final peak.

It felt great to finish.  My body was pretty shot, and it felt so good to sit down and simply relax.  

Statistics:  20,700 vertical feet, done in 36 hours and 25 minutes.  

Route thoughts:  I made an effort for time, but this could go a lot faster for the right person with the right mind set, and I am very happy to share beta and suggest what I consider to be time saving simplifications to the route if anyone is interested.  The over all route quality is quite high, and I really think that this is one of Montana's finer mountain traverses.  It is high, iconic, and engaging but the terrain is also a joy to move through.  The Hilgard to Echo section is certainly a highlight, but the before and after terrain is also quite nice.  It is also very wild. I only walked a few steps on maintained trail, and the only people I saw for the duration were a party of two from a distance on Hilgard peak.  For style purists, I bypassed several sections of the crest where I felt that the ridge top was excessively technical and slow, so there is opportunity to improve on style. There are also a lot of ways to do shorter and slower versions of this outing that would be very rewarding.

Performance thoughts:  I felt pretty good about my performance.  My time is OK, I got through the outing without any terrible physical or mental low points, and my energy was even enough.  The elevation definitely slowed me down a lot on the second day, but I have had much worse experiences with altitude, so I felt that it went OK given my body's relatively poor reaction to altitude.  I have a fairly established light overnight kit, and all of my gear, food, water strategy, etc. worked pretty well.  I was happy with my mental state, staying focused on the details (safety, navigation, caring for my body, time, etc), while also leaving some headspace to soak the experience up.  

I am excited for someone to lower my time.

10k ski days 2022

Winter 2022 skiing was so good.  As with any other year, there were some weird parts, but once it got going, there were so many good ski days to be had!  Many of my very best days this year were shorter.  Mid week rando radness beat downs, dusk patrols in the Bitterroot, skate skis at the golf course, powder days with Leah, one and done ski days in the Missions, quirky bike to ski adventures, and a ton of just plain excellent backcountry ski days.  And every second shared with my son.  The longer days were good too..

12/24 Snowbowl skinning: This was my first day on skis, so it was a fairly intense reintroduction. Good skiing though. 10,050 about 8 hours.  

Happy to be back at it on skis.

1/1 Lolo Pass: I rallied early enough and spent the day skiing powder in the Crystal Ampitheater.  It took over ten runs to get to 10k, but the skiing was very good, and by the end of the day I knew the terrain a lot better than at the beginning. About 9.5 hours.

1/23 Lost Horse peak to creeks: I used skate skis to approach peak to creek runs in Lost Horse about half way from the North fork and Tenmile creek.  The skate skiing worked remarkably well, and I knocked the approach out in about an hour and a half.  With an early start, I did not encounter any snowmobiles on the approach.  To my surprise, my planned first gully had a big cliff in it, so I ended up having to monkey around a bit before gaining the upper gully.  From the ridge top, I skied about 2,000 feet to where skiing quality deteriorated, then re-climbed the track and skied an adjacent gully all the way to Lost Horse creek.  South facing snow quality was pretty marginal, but it was more than offset by the good, new to me terrain.  I crossed the creek, then spent the afternoon skiing good snow in one shorter North facing run, then another peak to creek run from an unnamed point.  The skate out was quite an enjoyable endeavor.  Classic Bitterroot day, and so good. 

First run.

 

2/5 Lappi:  Ned, Duncan and I had a good old fashioned day of bouncing around at Lappi.  We had hoped to ski some steeper terrain, but there was a lot more new snow and wind than we had anticipated, and we had surprising propagation in our pit, so over the course of the approach, our ambitions dialed way back to just skiing around and staying safe.  We ended up skiing the Southeast bowl, a couple of normal Northeast runs, a North run along the west edge of the cirque, then the normal exit.  Trailbreaking was a lot of work, and I was pretty shellacked by the end of the day.  Skiing was just OK too, and this could very well have been a better day to call it a bit early. I think that it took us almost 12 hours to get to 10k.

What could possibly go wrong?

2/14 Super Bowl bounce:  One of the finest days of the season. See separate post

2/20  Rattlesnake: Jeffrey and I bounced around behind Murphy on a stormy February day.  We found less new snow than expected, and that coupled with two confidence inspiring pits had us comfortable in steeper terrain.  The main highlight of the day was catching up with Jeffrey, but a close second was a pair of North runs toward Finley lakes.  There is a hard-to-describe-the-location-of gully which I consider one of the tucked away gems of the range, and it was really fun!  We also booted up a steep rock lined gully just East of the previous run, which was more technical but great fun too.  We kind of bounced our way back through the classic Rattlesnake terrain on the return.  

In Finley creek, going up...

... and down.

3/13 Mill Creek.  I planned a big day of bouncing around in Mill creek with Jeffrey.  I started the day out with a terrible ski partner mistake, not accounting for daylight saving time and leaving Jeffrey waiting for an hour at the trailhead.  He countered with a generous ski partner grace of "it happens".  Once on the move, we made our way up the trail and into a narrow cirque just West of the prominent toothlike pinnacle just up drainage from Mill 3.  On the climb, we got slapped in the face with multiple red flags indicating stability was less than what we expected.  As a result, I suggested scrapping our modestly ambitious tour plans and staying entirely out of avalanche terrain.  We ended up skiing a run in the first path, then found a safe way into the Hauff lake basin, yo-yo skied to get to 10k, the slogged the exit out.  This was one of the worst days of the season.  The ingress and egress weren't super fun, the skiing was not good, and every step felt like a grind.  But we stayed safe, and I always appreciate Jeffrey's open communication around avalanche risk.

4/2 Mill 3 to 1 bounce: A surprisingly incredibly good day.  See separate post.

4/10 Rattlesnake traverse:  I had a flawless go at the Rattlesnake traverse on Snowbowl closing day.  I took the normal Stuart to Snowbowl route, but I skied a bunch of new to me runs in the first half.  For those familiar with the area, I skied a hidden and good Southeast bowl on Stuart, a shallow gully on the North face of Stuart to lower Twin lake, and an East couloir parallel to Eagle chute.  I also skied the excellent gully on Mosquito's North face gully that takes off just West of the summit (new to me, old hat to many others).  The back half of the tour was all on familiar terrain.  The skiing was so fun.  I got tired. It was an awesome day.   I made it to the Snowbowl bar in time to catch pizza with family and friends, and a car shuttle back to Ravine. The day ended up checking in at 11,400 vertical feet.  I still think that the Rattlesnake traverse is one of the very best longer tours in the area.

Not bad, backyard, not bad.

5/1 Swans - Woodward: I spent a misty spring day exploring Woodward peak (8,450) in the Swans.  I started out by climbing to the lookout and taking an efficient traversing run down to one of the Necklace lakes.  From there, I had originally planned to ski the Southeast face of Woodward, but the snow was surprisingly slushy and dangerous, so I skipped it and skied a fine, engaging run down the East ridge Woodward lake.  I joined my uptrack and cruised back to the summit.  I worked through a short steep pitch, then skied excellent snow for 2,200 feet on the Southwest face, stopping at the end of reliable snow.  I climbed back to the summit, then exited by skiing the West avalanche path.  To my delight, snow extended very close to the Foothills trail, and a long but easy walk had me back at the car.  Around 10,050 feet.

Looking Southwest from Woodward.

5/14 Crescent around the compass:  A fine tour that maybe should get done more often?  See separate post.

5/17 Mission Traverse:  Despite tackling a difficult West gully on Holland just two days prior (a significant local steep skiing achievement, in my opinion) Ned was all in for the Mission traverse.  We rallied from town at 3 am with plans to have a nice, smooth go at what I consider the streamlined skier's route.  The tour was such a treat.  We skied ESM, the Northwest run near Mountaineer, Sunrise glacier, and the sneak to Icefloe lake.  Everything went smoothly.  On the climb up McDonald, Ned suggested extending to Sheepshead, and since we had time and energy, we modified our plans and took a short run on the Northwest face before climbing to Sheepshead.  The exit was just fine.  This is such a great tour!  I throw superlatives around too easily, but this has got to be my all time favorite local tour.  It ended up. being over 12k vertical feet, and we were out for about 12.5 hours.

Grizzly tracks (!!!) on the Mission crest.

Ned looking small on the climb up McDonald.

5/21 Count and Otis (Swans):  Great day.  See separate post.

Southern Swan - Rambles out to the Bob

Early May weather was consistently unsettled, which precluded exploring bigger ski objectives, but it was also consistently awesome in the Southern Swans, and I spent several days in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, expanding my knowledge of the area.  

Morrell Northwest gullies: I rallied into the mist over the Crescent/Marshall divide with loose plans to explore gullies into Morrell creek.  I traversed out to lower Crescent lake, then made a surprisingly easy climb to the ridge.  I dropped into a cliff-lined Northwest facing gully.  To my delight, the upper section was super clean and skied well, and the line connected with good skiing all the way to the creek.  Really good ski run.

Looking back up the first gully.

I climbed back up my descent gully for a bit before splitting off into a parallel avalanche path.  From the crest, skied part way down along my track, then re-climbed my track to point directly West of Crescent lake.  The final run took an angling ramp into the next path down valley.  A cliff band at the bottom was passed skier's left with some devious sideslipping, and I emerged at Morrell creek in disbelief at finding three excellent, new-to-me ski lines and 2,500+ foot peak to creek runs in May.  All just a stone throw away from the popular ski terrain on Crescent.  The exit out Morrell creek to the falls, then out the Morrell falls trail was surprisingly smooth.  Great day.

Second run.

Ready for the last run.

Crescent - Around the compass tour:  An early start resulted in topping out on Crescent for the first time around 8:30 am with a plan to ski the longest possible runs on all aspects.  I started with an enjoyable, steep romp down the East face to the upper lake, then skied the West gully down to snow line.  

Lower in the West gully.

A long grinding climb had me back on the summit for a jaunt down the popular South face all the way down to snow line.  It had been icy all morning, and the snow finally softened to nice corn in the bottom half of the run.  Then back up to the summit.  In deteriorating weather, I nosed my way down the North face, descending a gully system just East of the peak.  The run was engaging, with good skiing for 3,200 vertical feet(!) to the creek.  The jaunt out Morrell was even smoother than the previous week, as trail crews had cleared hundreds of down trees from the Morrell creek trail.  This is a great tour with the caveat that all North runs into Morrell are steep and complex.

Nosing down the North face of Crescent.

Count and Otis: I went on a bit of a vision quest, skating, schussing, and skinning way out to the Otis lake basin for a day of exploration.  With fast, firm conditions, I made it to the summit of Count peak about 4 hours after leaving the car.  The South face of Count was really nice.  Consistently good top to bottom.  

Looking across at the Count peak run.

I had scouted a few gullies on peak 8,401, directly across from Count, and the two longest ones off of the summit caught my eye.  I set a track East of the peak and skied an incredibly great run in the looker's right gully.  Steep, clean, aesthetic, and the snow was pretty good.  The skiing was so good I decided to stay out later, downed some calories, jammed back up my track, and skied the next gully looker's left.  It was even better! Unbelievable!  

I skied the two looker's right of the trio of parallel chutes.

Looking down Otis right.

Otis left.

Aided by nice firm late day conditions, I was able to navigate back to the car in under 3 hours from the base of the Otis runs.  A wildly successful day of exploration deep in the Bob Marshall Wildnerness.

Leota: Inspired by the Count ski day, I returned a week later to Leota.  This time, I climbed Pyramid, then used the Northeast face run as a springboard to get back to Leota.  

Lower North gully on Leota.

From the summit, I found a way down the complex East face down to Crimson lake.  The run was more interesting than anticipated, requiring hacking a keyway into the cornice to access the face, negotiating heavy wet snow, and finding a way through a pinch in the lower gully.  In retrospect, I could have found better ski terrain.  I had hoped to investigate a steep gully on the North face, but I didn't like how heavy the poorly refrozen snow was, so I opted for a safer run on skier's right edge of the face.  The line offered good skiing with a really nice aesthetic exit couloir.  On the climb out, I spotted a big clean Northwest facing gully that might be the best summit ski run on Leota - good motivation to come back.  On the exit, a minor detour over Pyramid allowed for an excellent final run.

Pyramid exit.

Thoughts:  There is a lot more to explore beyond the Pyramid/Crescent group.  It seems to be reasonable to get out and back in a day, especially by local approach standards.  I think the most realistic objectives include terrain above Crescent lakes, Marshall proper, Leota, and exits to Morrell creek (when in condition).  Next on the list include another line or two into Morrell creek above the falls, Marshall NE and other lines along the Marshall ridge line, and the Crimson area.  

Mill 3 to 1 bounce and attempts

Great skiing on Mill Point.

4/2. I set out on a blustery spring day with high hopes that the third try would be the charm.  Approach shoes ended up being the right choice, because I walked all the way in, prevailed in the re-gen battle, and climbed well into the Mill 2/3 basin before transitioning to skis.  The first run was down a nice ramp at the toe of the North Mill 3 buttress, which was an excellent addition to the day.  During the climb to Mill 3, the steep short crux pitch directly below the upper hanging larch ramp ended up being surprisingly stout, but I was able to surmount it.  The upper peak was mellow and delightful, and I was able to pass the crux pitch in the trees about 10 feet skier's left on the descent.  

Ramp below Mill 3.

The surprisingly vexing pitch on Mill 3 which I climbed just right of the ice bulge and skied in the trees climber's right. 

Up and up to the summit of Mill 2.

Despite heavy flurries, I felt confident enough in stability and conditions to head to the East face (Alaska face) of Mill 2.  Dust on crust skinning wasn't really happening, so I booted almost the entire climb up the Northwest gully one grinding step at a time to access the Alaska face.  To my surprise, the East face was a mess from recent wet slides, but while my skiing was not fluid, I was still able to get down it safely.  The climb to Mill 1 was accomplished with a lot of booting up slippery dust on crust.  By this point in the day, snow squalls had deposited up to 5" of fresh snow, and I was treated to smooth powder in the Southeast bowl of Mill 1.  What a treat!  Snow petered out just below the terminus of the bowl, so I terminated the run slightly early and huffed it up and out to the East shoulder of Mill 1.  The exist ski was great, and snow line was not too high for early April.  I really enjoyed the tenor of the day slowly but methodically stitching technical terrain together, with mixed weather and every type of snow imaginable, alone in my thoughts.

Unfriendly conditions on the Alaska face of Mill 2.

Mill point in great condition.

Thoughts It was nice to get this one done.  I think that the thrashy approach and steep step on Mill 3 will keep a Mill 3 to 1 link up from ever being popular, it is still a worthwhile outing, and skiing the lower Northeast face of Mill 2 from about 400 feet below the summit (rather than the Alaska face) would eliminate the one truly difficult ski objective.  A more realistic and perhaps logical tour would be to climb Mill 2 from Mill creek, ski a few runs, the use Mill 1 as an exit run to avoid doing the bushwack twice.  

Other 2022 Mill tours 

3/16.  During the first climb up the narrow basin just West of Mill 3, we observed one unsettling collapse, and were noted multiple signs of instability in the new snow.  As a result, we abandoned our original plan, found a safe way over into the Hauff lake basin, and took a few yo yo laps in safe, undulating terrain to get to 10k.  It was a weird day, and definitely a let down, but I was appreciative of Jeffrey's avalanche communication, and I am glad we didn't forge ahead in the face of uncertainty.

2/26

Alaska face of Mill 2.  About as good as it gets.

Nolan and I had a flawless run on the Alaska face of Mill 2 with about 20 cm of stable settled powder.  What a treat!  The rest of the day was kind of weird.  We skied the Northwest gully from about 200 feet below the top (to avoid the steep upper slab), then turned around at the base of Mill 3 due to stability concerns.  We wrapped the day up by skiing interesting re-frozen junk in the skier's right of a pair of nice little gullies in the Mill 2/3 basin before a smooth (by Mill creek standards) exit.  Great day.

Bass Super Bowl bounce

Good skiing.

On Super Bowl Sunday at the end of a mid-February dry spell. Ned and I rallied proper early for a long day in Bass creek.  The idea was to extend the classic bowl bounce all the way back to the trailhead.  We had a pretty good idea of the route, but had never pieced it together, and it was fun to cast off in the dark without assurance of success.  We summited North Bass peak in the customary five hours, not bad given the early start.  There was an extremely slippery, thin ice crust up high which kept us on our toes both up and down.  Fortunately, the crust was manageable, and the East face skied just fine. We rallied up the WNW face of Smokey Joe, then made our way across new-to-us terrain to the summit.  The Southeast face of Smokey Joe skied really nicely.  

Approaching.

Walking out to Smokey Joe.  Taking stock of the backdrop.

I had been low on calories all morning, and took a good break to catch up before boosting up to Lappi point.  As we turned the corner to solar aspects on the climb, the nasty ice crust melted, and conditions were much improved.  We skied the normal upper Lappi run to the lake.  Another long climb, punctuated with spotty at best routefinding on my part (think hanging on to scrub brush downclimbing thin rotten snow over rock slabs - sorry Ned!) had us on top of the high point just West of the Bass creek crags at a comfortable 2 pm.  We skied the most prominent Southeast facing gully which ended up being a long, classy ski run with surprisingly good snow.  So fun.  

On to Lappi point with our Smokey Joe run behind.

Skiing down to Lappi Lake.

Cruising down the upper bits of the Southeast gully behind Bass creek crags.

We were in new terrain now, ahead of schedule, and psyched.  I led the climb to the easy summit of Crown point.  I definitely ran way out of gas, but had plenty of energy to grind it out.  The ski down the easy East face of Crown point was objectively terrible - the snow was half refrozen, and my legs were surprisingly absolutely shot. Ned picked the route and led the way flawlessly, and I hacked my way down behind, spirits soaring from a fine day in the Bitterroot.  

Ned about to work some routefinding magic on the return ski to the trailhead.

Stats and thoughts:  11,700 vertical feet, about 12 hours.  I'm pretty excited to thread this line together.  It is a logical route with great skiing.  It also really suits my preferences of moderate skiing and interesting routefinding.  Really great day with Ned - definitely fed off of his motivation and experience in the range.  Pulling it off in a day is a challenge between the pure length, some trickery to connect ascent gullies in the second half, and having to catch the South faces of Crown point in a safe condition late in the day.  But still worth consideration for a solid touring party, especially since bailing back to the trailhead is possible for most of the route.  Since most of the route is high and in relatively safe and simple terrain, it should be in condition most normal years.  

I think there must be a better line between Lappi Lake and the top of the West Crown run.  It would be worth ironing that out, because Lappi to Crown would actually be a cool tour sitting unexplored under our collective noses.  

This tour was a good big one, but one could go even bigger in Bass...