I was intrigued to try for a big traverse around the entire rim of Bass creek for a couple of reasons. It follows a natural high ski line, it seemed like a logical extension from the Bowl bounce and Super bounce, and I had enough local knowledge to have confidence in avalanche conditions during a fickle avalanche year. Most importantly, I was also inspired by the line, and I wanted a big physical and logistical challenge.
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| On the point above West Lappi, ready for a day. |
When conditions finally, finally, finally came together, I set out from the Bass creek trailhead on April 16th, early enough start that people were still partying at the trailhead from the previous day. I climbed Crown point in the dark, and navigated through cliff bands on the South side of the Bass creek crags by headlamp and GPS track (I had tracked a good line during a reconnissance tour in January which proved helpful). The traverse was very icy, but with care it felt OK. I walked to the high point above West Lappi as first light illuminated the world, and skied the Pokey wokey (West Lappi couloir) with hatefully awful, chunky rollerballs.
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| Morning vibe. |
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| Relieved to be through the icy, spicy South side Bass creek crags traverse at first light. |
I had been sick the previous week, and while I was mostly recovered, it was obvious that my body wasn't quite 100% - energy was a touch off, and my muscles were crampy and burning more than normal. It was unfortunate to not feel great for such a big undertaking, but by mid morning it was clear that barring a bonk or something, my body had enough to give to complete the tour as long as I kept the pace in check. I bopped up an old skin track to main Lappi shortly after sunrise and made a traversing but quite nice run to the basin below Smokey Joe. Up Smokey Joe was pretty straightforward, and the West slope down to the saddle above Bass lake was fine. Up Bass was straightforward, and the skiing on the rolling east face was primo - settled powder transitioning flawlessly to corn!
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| Up Lappi. |
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| Up Smokey Joe. |
One of the primary goals of the early start was to get up and down Storm Joe before it got too warm. I transitioned as efficiently as possible and pushed to the top, enjoying efficient skinning on barely warmed corn. I definitely did not get to Party in a couloir early enough, so I did a ton of ski cutting heavy scary mush, then scooting through the couloir as quickly as possible. In the future, I'd consider skipping this run or doing something different (perhaps ski a run on the South face and scoot across Bass lake). I snagged a patch of shade at the bottom and took a good break before Saint Joseph peak.
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| Bass peak was fun. |
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| Up Stormy Joe. |
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| Party in a couloir looking a lot better than it actually was. |
As expected, Saint Joseph peak was the mental and physical crux of the traverse. It was hot, and mashing up a 3,000 foot climb with well over 10k in the legs was hard. I definitely slowed down, but never had any reason to stop. Which was enough to get to the top. I skied the Northeast face, botching the entrance to the face, but fortunately recovering. From the bottom of Big Saint Joe, the terrain is all fairly benign, so I knew it was just a matter of time until I was done. My little dream of "skiing everything in Bass creek" was coming to fruition! The last few hours were perfectly pleasant - the Little Saint Joe climb was quick enough, I chuckled at my poor fried quads on the sticky ski down the Little Joe summer trail, and marveled at the warm spring day and wildflowers as I clunked down more dry land than preferred in ski boots. It was good to see the car and exchange ski boots for flip flops after roughly 15.5 hours and 15,500 vertical feet.
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Big Saint Joe summit turns.
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| Tired/psyched face on Little Joe. |
This is a great tour. It is long, but aside from considering an alternative on Stormy Joe, I do think it's a really fine route. I also think that there are a lot of opportunities to string bits and pieces of the tour into more manageable big days. Pinball approach to the Bowl bounce? Three Joe link up on skis? Excited for others to keep imagining new ways to link up terrain in Bass.
