Bass to Sweeney (x3)

Three different ways to traverse from Bass creek to the Sweeney trailhead.  Although I content Bass to Lolo is more definitive ski tour, Bass to Sweeney is a great outing with many variations, and much easier to shuttle.

Ben making good time near Duffy Lake

3/2:  It felt a bit spicy to cast off just a few days out from the largest avalanche cycle of the year, but both Ben and I surmised avalanche danger would work out, and it did.  We had a couple of morning hiccups, and weren't walking out of the trailhead until after 7 am.  Not surprisingly, by employing my route knowledge and Ben's fitness, we made up a good bit of time and summited Big Saint Joe in good spirits.  And after skiing an icy North face, Ben's assessment was that falling posed a significantly higher risk than avalanche.  A few hours of enlightening conversation got us to the Pyramid Butte col for the most avalanche exposed run of the day, which went smoothly.  We rolled down to Duffy Lake and made a high flat traverse before climbing to the West ridge of Sweeney.  Not caring to engage the craggy West ridge, we instead opted for a corn run in the safest corner of the bowl South of the peak (most of the bowl had avalanched, D3 a few days prior), then climbed to the East / skier's summit.  We did not go the the true Sweeney Summit.  The exit was quick and we returned to the car at dusk.  It was a treat to share this day with Ben.  And the tour was most excellent.  Recommended.

Climbing out of Sweeney Creek with our Big Joe run in the background.

Ben on our final high point.

Buddies.

3/22:  I returned a few weeks later with Leah to repeat the tour, but with lower avalanche danger, we intended to summit East Pyramid Butte and ski the complex Northeast face.  Our first hiccup of the day came when the creek crossing was too icy to cross safely, and we made the dumb decision to take the summer trail.  An hour and a half and hundreds of down trees later, we were back on track on the normal climb up Big Saint Joe.  The North face was icy and tested our edges and exposure tolerance.  It was nice to get to the bottom of the run, eat lunch, and cast up Pyramid Butte in the pleasant sun.  

Pyramid Butte Northeast was fun - not great snow, but safe.  The back end of the day was long.  Leah's high gravity day caught up with her, and getting back to the Sweeney ridge was a slow Snickers-fueled grind.  Responding, we cut off the climb to the summit of Sweeney and climbed just high enough to eke 10k out of the day before cruising out.

Leah starting down Pyramid Buttes.

7/19:  I used the day as a recon trip for a planned Lolo to Sky Pilot traverse.  I decided to minimize car driving, and bike shuttled from the Bass creek trailhead to a safe distance above houses on the Sweeney road before stashing the bike and cutting switchbacks on the road on foot.  It worked quite well, and coupled with a downfall free trail (thanks Selway-Bitterroot Foundation and Forest Service trail crews), I made excellent time to Holloway lake and the summit of West Pyramid Butte.  My primary goal was to dial the ridge to Stormy Joe in, so I took my time and was elated to find a very smooth line all the way.  The egress from Stormy Joe was enjoyable, with a quick stop at Bass lake and romp out out on the Bass creek trail.  This is a good enough summer outing that I'll probably do it again.  

Stormy Joe to West Pyramid Butte route tidbits:  With care, the ridge can be navigated at 3rd class.  It is easiest to go North to South and climb the most difficult terrain.  The South ridge of Pyramid Butte can be negotiated with detours just off the crest on both sides.  There is an intermediate peak where a bypass on the West through a bolder field is much easier than staying on the crest.  The North Ridge of Stormy Joe is craggy, but can be bypassed by detouring off the ridge around 8,700 feet where it gets steep on the West side to a small col on the West face.  From the col, a ledge can be traversed into the primary gully system, and it's easy scrambling to the summit.  Maybe a bit scrappy in spots, but all very safe and technically easy.  

Stormy Joe North ridge bypass.

Trapper Grand Slam

Looking to Trapper from my skiing high point on North Trapper.

2/7/2026:  I returned to Trapper for the Grand Slam, linking Oh My God chute, North Trapper Southeast face and gully, Trapper North gully, and the Gem Lake couloir.  With a proper early start, I was on top of Oh My God at 9 am.  The entrance cornice afforded easy-enough entrance on the skier's right margin, and the chute skied well.  The climb to North Trapper and ascent was smooth, and I summited at 11:40, excited to get off the mountain before it warmed up more.  Skiing was a bit overcooked but good, and I linked turns from my skis on point to the base with the exception of the choke.  I think I was tired from Rando Radness, and the rest of the day was good but slow.  

Looking back up the Oh My God chute.

Trapper was fun, the climb up the Gem Lake exit was slow but uneventful, and the climb up the Gem Lake couloir was OK.  I didn't like spending so much time under the huge hanging cornices in the couloir, but was sufficiently motivated by completing the grand slam to just do it.  Soon enough, I was stepping in just under the corniced entrance.  The couloir skied well, and the exit to the road was good until I hit mushy and eventually isothermal snow around the trailhead.  Soft snow made the egress slow, and it wasn't until dark that I returned to the car, very tired but totally fired up by making the most of a very lackluster January dry spell.

Following my old bootpack from two weeks prior up the Gem return couloir.

In the Gem Lake Couloir.

I think the Grand Slam is a cool and challenging link up, but the objective hazard associated with glide avalanches on North Trapper and cornices in the Gem Lake couloir, challenge in getting North Trapper done with safe conditions, and sheer length will likely keep it from being a classic, or a tour that people do often.  Exact stats are lost to poor memory, but 10k and done in about 12 hours car to car.

Preamble:  1/19/26:  I did a similar tour without the Gem Lake couloir and with a run in the Gem Lake return couloir, which lit the spark for the Grand Slam.  The highlight of the tour was discovering that North Trapper was in fine condition in January, and skiing it with perfect corn conditions from 150 vertical feet below the summit (I climbed to the summit without skis).  

Ready to drop in on Trapper, with the North Trapper run in the backgound.

Warren Peak, Southeast Face

The Southeast gully is the central gully that leaves the looker's left skyline
about 300 vertical feet below the summit.

5/20/2025 After years of Warren Wallowing in the same manner, I've taken to trying a few new things.  For the 18th annual Warren Wallow, conditions lined up for a good mid-week excursion, so I rallied early with the intent of skiing the Southeast face down to the West Fork of Fishtrap Creek.  It is hard to get eyes on this face from anywhere, so I just rolled the dice and hoped it would be in condition.  The approach to Edith lake and ascent of the Southwest face all went smoothly.  I was grateful to have reasonable visibility to snag a good view of the line from the South ridge, which allowed me to confirm there was snow and scout an entrance around the cornice.  From the summit, I navigated a sharky line down the wind swept upper Southwest face, then traversed hard skier's left to the upper Southeast face.  The rest of the run transitioned from ice to something resembling softening corn. Great run and mostly good old fashioned fun skiing. 

Looking down the Warren Southeast face run.

I noted that Southwest face of peak 10,259 (the beautiful craggy one above Warren lake) was also well filled in, and had enough time to go have a look.  The climb was easy, and I ended up skiing the face from the summit, which was also most excellent.  From the bottom, I climbed back to the obvious broad saddle north of McGlaughlin Peak and exited by Edith lake.  A clean transition to running shoes below the lake made for a reasonably quick exit.  It was really fun to do something new on Warren, and I spotted yet another new line that piqued my interest.  Fodder to keep using the Warren Wallow as a way to further explore this mountain.   

10,259. I skied the obvious central gully.

Minor note: I exited along the South shore of Edith lake.  Getting around lakeside cliffs was just tricky enough that I think the summer trail on the North side of the lake is preferable, even with annoying intermittent snow.  

Holland to Holland traverse on skis (V2)

This was my best ski day of 2025.  The idea was to repeat my 2016 traverse in the other direction with better ski lines.  As such, when the persistent January facet layer finally settled down, I rolled out of town extra early, dropped a bike at the end of drivable snow on the Rumble Creek road, and was trudging from the Holland trailhead by 5 am. From Holland lookout shortly after first light, I made a traversing run North, then scrapped my way up the South Face of Woodward.  

Looking back at toward the Holland lookout from the Woodward climb.

To my slight surprise, shallow slabs caused some concern, and the North face of the peak did not look as well filled in as I had anticipated.  However, it seemed reasonable to proceed down the North gully, albeit with some additional scouting and careful choice of entrance.  The fall line goes way way down to Woodward lake, and I cut a full run very short by traversing at a logical point to keep 'er moving North.  Soon I was walking across Rubble lake on my way up to point 8,485.  I skied the Northwest gully, which was quite scoured but safe and a nice run.  The next few hours were spent crossing the crest, making a short East facing run, and climbing Buck.  

Woodward was nice.

Looking back at the 8,485 line.

Up Buck.

My tour plan was to ski the North ridge of Buck, but recent crowns on similar aspects raised concern. Nevertheless I decided to start down and get a feel for conditions.  Just 50 feet into the run, I came to a point where I would have to commit to the exposure of the line, and I simply had a gut feeling that the North face line didn't feel right.  So I sidestepped up and out and enjoyed a nice rip down the South face.  No idea if my decision making was "right" or "wrong", but I have no regrets.  Maybe it was the wind or accumulated elevation or simply accumulated stress from a crappy few months in politics, but I kind of cracked on the climb up Holland and barely drug myself to the top.  

The rest of the day was great.  Holland skiing was completely wind hammered but still good fun, and the climb over the crest and ensuing run was nice.  I did try skiing as far as possible down the South Fork of Rumble creek instead of following the customary summer trail egress, but the downfall choked traverse back to the summer trail was interesting, and I would have been better off sticking with the normal route.  

Heading home.

Soon enough, I was capping the day off, biking back along the highway with skis on the pack.  With a big enough grin that drivers probably thought I was certified crazy rather than in a state of bliss from a hard, magical day in the mountains.

I think this is one of the best long tours around.  Iconic mountains, good skiing, and committing and challenging enough to feel like an achievement.  It would be cleaner and more modern with the North face of Buck.

Ward 3 (8,799) North and other diversion

The conceptual framework for the day was to ski Bitterroot peak to creek runs before low elevation snow melted, and I was excited to share it with partners.  When the response to a 4 am meet up was greeted with enthusiasm, I knew we were probably in for a good day.

A few hours later, it was go time, and I found myself chasing two headlamps as they faded up into the darkness.  Clearly, I had my work cut out trying to keep up.  We summited Ward at 8 am sharp, and pieced icy snow strips together down the South face, exiting skier's right a bit early in order to traverse as far up drainage as possible.  Another good push put us on top of the BRIBE as the South face just started to soften into tepid corn.  The ensuing run was delightful.  

Climbing to West Camas with our first run in the background.

Even with the proper early start, the climb out of the North Fork of Lost Horse creek was hot, and we arrived back on West Camas a bit cooked.  On the return, we took two fun short runs (North face of West Camas and the upper Northeast face of the Fin) before casting off down the 3,600 vertical foot skier's right gully on Ward 3 (8,799).  To my immense pleasure, the run ended being really fun with decent snow top to bottom, a variety of interesting terrain, and a bit of wrangling in the brush down low to give it the Bitterroot seal of approval.  

Last up with the Fin in the background.

Mid way down the Ward 3 run, as things started to get interesting.

We took a good break in the warm sun at Roaring Lion creek.  The exit ended up being quite horrid.  It appears that the trail has not been cleared in several years, and constant, heavy downfall made for a slow skins-on exit with lots of acrobatics to negotiate down trees.  All in all a great way to wrap up what ended up being a short but quality period of excellent skiing with lots of low elevation snow.  

Mollman peak 8,632, South Face right

1/30/25: I took a rare mid-week day off to take advantage of the end of a high pressure period and ski something different.  With fairly robust low elevation snow, the drive to the trailhead of sorts at Mollman was scary with deep snow and I probably would have picked a different objective had I known.

Near the summit, looking down the upper icy bits.

The climb was a bit different than expected.  With extra snow, the ingress included less approach shoe walking and more wallowing through deep snow interspersed with brush.  It was also remarkable to see the extent of surface hoar on shaded aspects, a weak layer that would plague the Northern ranges for a long time deeper into the season.  Once in the basin below the peak, I was surprised to see a massive debris pile.  After a pause to puzzle through what was going on, I realized that it was from glide avalanches on solar bear grass slopes, an avalanche problem that was reportedly plaguing the Flathead avalanche zone.  As a result, I re-routed my climbing route onto the summer trail and upper Southwest face, which was inefficient, but avoided ascending below bear grass slopes.  I made a calculation that the risk associated with skiing down the face was acceptable given the cold day and limited exposure time.  

The ski run was so fun.  There was some ice near the summit that I had to get my head in the game for, but with care it was fine, and the rest of the run flowed well through interesting terrain with powder transitioning to corn transitioning to surfy surface hoar down in the shaded canyon.  I skied the full run to the lake.  

Thin powder...

... brief taste of corn ...

... ending with surface hoar.

Lots of whippy willows and interesting survival trail skiing on the way out was a fun way to close out the day. 

Thoughts: I skied the looker's right gully on Mollman peak 8632, the gully on the Southwest face that takes off just South of the summit.  This zone is pretty obscure, but I'd totally go back.  I think the best timing is in early spring right when the road melts out, but before conditions open up enough to make the more alpine haunts of the Missions more compelling.

Classic round up - Glen Lake Loop, Sky Pilot North face variation

I made a repeat go at a couple of classic tours in an effort to iron some wrinkles out and explore new terrain.  Perhaps my observations might pique some interest.  

Hidden Glen Loop 3/29/25

I think this loop deserves a bit more attention than the zero attention it gets because it strings together excellent skiing on striking features, and avoids canyon slogging.  

Up Hidden lake peak.

Basic Tour: Approach Glen lake , then Glen Lake peak (8,600).  Ski the South gully to Sweathouse creek (safer variation is to ski South on less exposed terrain west of the summit), then climb Hidden lake peak via the South face, wrapping around the west side and stopping on the North ridge a hundred feet or so from the summit where it gets craggy.  Ski something on the Northeast face to Hidden Lake.  The Northeast face is complicated, so plan a route ahead of time.  The most conservative line skis the North ridge, then traverses way skier's left until all the lower slope cliffs are bypassed skier's left.  Climb back to Glen Lake peak.  Exit via your favorite Glen lake egress.  My favorite is to ski the long East ridge of Glen lake peak to the terminus around 6,400 feet, then climb back to the approach track and follow it out.  The historic avalanche path North to Big creek and out on the Big Creek trail is another option, but I am coming around to the opinion that the historic path is so rarely in condition due to needing a ton of low elevation snow, and the massive avalanche potential, that it is more of a variation/extension and should only be considered in rare circumstances.

Trip report: The day itself was fun.  The South run on Sweathouse was great, although it involved some creative debris management to avoid the aftermath of the huge "first warm up of the year" avalanche cycle the range had received the previous week.  I spun a nice corn lap on the south side of Hidden lake peak to get to 10k, then re-climbed my track to Hidden lake peak.  

Lower in the South Sweathouse run.

I skied a fun new-to me run directly down the upper Northeast face to a gully on the skier's right edge of the face, which was a secondary highlight.  I rolled the dice (snow coverage dice, not avalanche dice) and exited by the historic path.  The skiing was really good until the snow ran out about a thousand feet above the trail.  From there out it was really quite bad.  Downhill bushwack, scary deep water creek crossing, miles and miles of intermittent snow.  Good character building.  Great day, even if I felt a bit foolish miscalculating the skiability of the historic path so severely.

Powder skiing down to Hidden Lake.

The first 40 feet of a 4,000' adventure run into Big Creek.

Sky Pilot, North face 4/21/25

I skied Sky Pilot on a somber spring day.  I used the normal approach.  The North face skied great.  It was cool to see a few old tracks.  I stopped at the tarn below the North face and climbed the Southeast facing chutes that one passes under on the way to Sky Pilot, and skied one of the chutes all the way to Bear lake.  

Near the top of the Sweathouse chutes, looking down to Bear lake.

Then on the return, I threw in a quality hairy curve ball by climbing to the saddle between Sweathouse Peak 8,839 and Gash proper and skiing an excellent North facing run into the headwaters of Sweathouse before climbing the Northwest face of Gash proper and exiting via the normal route.  

At the bottom of the excellent Sweathouse North run.

Up the Northwest face back to Gash.

Thoughts: Aside from having to nail the exact line (most of the Sweathouse/Gash ridgline is guarded by cliffs or massive cornices that would be death defying to scout from the top), the extra run is a great addition to the tour.  I think that one of the major downsides of Sky Pilot is that a lot of the day is wasted with a throw away traverse run off of Gash, and an annoying, long return slog.  This variation makes it so that the return climbs are more direct, and the additional run is excellent.  

More Blodgett Dayz

I was able to get out and ski some new terrain in Blodgett with excellent conditions during the brief window where we had excellent low elevation snow coverage and good snow quality this winter.  I still think good skiing in Blodgett is a bit of an anomaly, but with enough snow, sometimes it's fun to go all in on the Bitterroot experience.

Sears couloir to Sears Point 

Enjoying the sun with Caesar's Palace in the background.

Cold hardy Ned was not deterred by the cold snap, and suggested a big ski day with an early start.  Reluctantly, I obliged, and we were walking in sub zero temperatures before first light.  Soon enough, we were up into the sun, and despite poor route selection on my part, we topped out on the Sears lake couloir slightly surprised by how much new snow was present, but excited to ski.  We hemmed and hawed about dropping into the couloir, but couldn't find any indicators of instability other than the higher volume of new snow, so we went for it.  

Savoring the powder near the terminus of the Sears Lake couloir.

The Sears lake couloir was most excellent.  It's rare I feel confident skiing couloirs with deeper powder snow.  We took it all the way to the lake.  Another good long climb put is at the top of skiable snow just shy of Sears point 8587, and we had another excellent 3,000 foot run.  Some roller ball debris and a bit of a schwack back to the trail kept it real.  Best day of the year to date. 

The upper pitch of Sears Point south to Blodgett.

Blue Ice bowl East and West

I was back a week later for more.  This time, I climbed the Blue Ice bowl, with intentions on skiing Southwest off the top and heading farther up drainage.  On the way up, the bowl itself looked great, so I decided to ski it.  The ensuing run was fantastic, aside from getting a little bit stuck on thin snow over rock slabs pinched against thin snow over ice at the top of the bowl.  

Blue Ice bowl.

From the bottom, I re-climbed my track and skied Southwest.  Once again, I got stuck on thin slabs on a short little step at the top of the gully and bailed up and out, tenuously, on thin snow over slabs and ice.  Once above the slab section, I found an alternate entrance (a hidden gully skier's left of the primary entrance).  The rest of the run was great.  I stopped in the forest a couple hundred vertical feet above the trail where ski quality had deteriorated to something more resembling bushwacking.  I rounded out the day by skiing the skier's right fork of the gully, which was also excellent.  Another long exit was a small price to pay for the privilege of skiing three new to me long runs with great snow.

3,000 feet top to bottom.  Peak to creek dreams alive and well.

Learning note:  This was a really good day, but I did a poor job assessing risk around rock slabs.  After a few months of reflection, my primary lesson learned is just re-learning the same lesson again:  lots of terrain in the Bitterroot has steep smooth rock slabs.  They can often be skied safely, but between glide avalanches and often weird snowpack, there are usually safer and better options.  

Below the innocuous looking slab at the top of the Blue Ice South West run.

Anaconda Pintler traverse

8/2-3/2024 I had a lingering desire to return to the Pintlers for a complete traverse of the alpine portion of the range after doing most of it in 2014.  I was able to capitalize on a brief respite from another smokey summer for an attempt.  

I rolled out of the Falls/Middle Fork Rock creek trailhead mid-afternoon and biked the 46 miles to my stashed pack at the edge of Anaconda.  It was in the mid 90s when I started walking.  Starting the whole thing overheated was intimidating, but it would set the tone for most of the outing - stay way on top of fluids and keep moving.  Fortunately the road tucked out of direct sun after a few miles, the evening walk up to Hearst lake was pleasant.  I found a mosquito free spot to sleep near the lake, watched the last of the sunset, settled in for short but good night of sleep. 

I was walking before 4 am, and on Haggin shortly after sunrise.  I followed a large heard of goats West toward peak 10,282 and dropped off the ridge before the peak to top off water.  10,378, Evans, Howe, and Little Rainbow all went pretty smoothly, and I found water on the edge of Goat flat. I bumbled through the technical section near Kurt on the East (wrong) side of the ridge, but worked through it without too much lost time and continued through the afternoon to Kurt and Queener.  

Rolling on the first morning.

I was several hours behind schedule, but I felt good and didn't worry too much about the time.  The entire section around Fish was looser and slower than I remembered.  I arrived at Cutaway pass around sunset and walked for a bit on the trail before embarking on the ridgeline toward Beaverhead peak at last light.  I had hoped to make it further along this somewhat technical ridge in the daylight but opted for a conservative decision to drop off the ridge at Beaverhead Mountain and descend to a camp in La Marsche Creek, effectively bypassing several unnamed peaks.  The going in the dark was very slow, but it was safe, and I was tucked into my sleeping bag by 11 pm.

Classic Little Rainbow view from Goat Flat.

Queener from Fish.

Short trail bit around Cutaway Pass. 
I dropped off the crest shortly beyond the peak in the background at last light.

I was walking by 4:30 am and spent a few hours bumping along off trail below treeline the base of 10,259.  My body was intact, and I felt good.  Sunrise along with climbing into the alpine again helped top stoke levels off again, and I summited 10,259 with crisp morning views out to the end of the traverse.  Warren was quick.   The scrappy-at-times section of unnamed peaks South of Warren was quick because I had reconned a route a few weeks prior.  I also encountered two CDT hikers near Rainbow pass, and it was cool to see them on their journey.  As planned, I dropped off the ridge at point 9,805 and descended to the Pintler Pass trail for water.  While I couldn't quite smell the barn, I could now bail to the car easily if needed and was psyched to be in the home stretch.  I ran the tank a little dry on the surprisingly vexing ridge to West Pintler and loose scree slog to East Pintler.  Overcast afternoon skies took the sting out of what could have been an unbearably hot exit.  When I hit the trail, I took a few tepid running steps, and my body really didn't want to run.  Everything was a little too shot.  So I walked it in.  

On East Pintler, looking back at terrain covered in the second day. 

At the trailhead lots of water was consumed and shoes were gratefully exchanged for flip flops. Sitting down and relaxing felt splendid.

Thoughts

47.75 hours from the Haggin trailhead in Anaconda to the Falls/Middle Rock creek trailhead trailhead.  Very very approximately 20,000 vertical feet and not as many miles as the time would indicate.  

I got what I wanted to out of this outing.  It was good and hard but not too dangerous or physically smashing, and recovery was quick enough.    I definitely went a bit slower than anticipated, I think that the extreme heat played a big role, and I probably over compensated by carrying a lot of water and stopping at every available snow patch to refill. A mountain athlete with the right mind set and the skill set to move quickly through talus could absolutely smash this time.   I don't think that it's out of the question to do it in a push, especially with support, and the commitment level is lowered by the fact that it's possible to bail to the car from the back quarter of the route.  On the other end of the speed spectrum, a similar traverse would also be quite a rewarding outing over the course four days to a week.

Torrey to Tweedy - East Pioneers

Climbing out from Torrey.

5/31/2024 I have become smitten by the East Pioneers in the last few years, and a few late spring ski outings have revealed some surprisingly good skiing for a dry continental range.  When Southwest Montana got walloped by an uncharacteristically wet late season storm, I was inspired to try to link the two iconic high points of the range with skis.  After a late night drive and shuttle-set. I rolled out of a car bivy and strolled out of the Dinner Station campground trailhead at a proper 4 am and climbed Torrey by the standard Southeast ridge.  It was a long, 4-hour climb with lots of slightly annoying log hopping, but all in all it went smoothly.  

Torrey North face: I wanted to also ski the intimidating (at least to me), North face, and spent some of the morning mentally deciding if I was up for it.  I had scouted the face a week prior and knew that the line had coverage, but needed to at least get a glance at conditions before committing.  From the summit, I walked a few hundred feet down the West ridge to a drop in point for the North face.  Conditions looked reasonable, and I decided to commit.  The North face run was quite intense.  Steep, with just a skiff of new soft snow on top of very firm ice.  I was able to link turns down about 2/3 of the exposed upper face, resorting to sideslipping where ice was exposed.  Soon enough, I dropped into the beautiful exit couloir and gratefully sunk edges into sun softened snow.  The rest of the run was relaxed and delightful.  I don't play the steep skiing game much anymore, but it was nice to be reminded of the euphoria that comes from doing something hard and dangerous that demands judgement and precision.

My North face line is the one which drops diagonally down and left from near the summit
and cleaves the cliffs at the bottom. 

Focused.

Glad to be done.

The traverse: After donning crampons at Torrey lake, I climbed back up to the summit of Torrey via the North ridge.  It was now time to get the traverse done.  A most splendid run down the Northeast face set the tone for the rest of the day - aesthetic, good snow, and fun.  The next run was in an excellent, straightforward couloir which drops off the ridge between the peaks.  With some cagey traversing, the walk to Tweedy was done in good time.  The NNW face of Tweedy was shockingly still in excellent condition in the afternoon.  The egress and bike shuttle were a tad long but all in all it was a fine way to spend a spring afternoon.  I was even treated to a black bear sighting near the Gorge lake trailhead.  

On to Tweedy.  The middle run was the gully that drops
from the low point in the background.

Somehow still corn o'clock on Tweedy. 
The run is continuously skiable from the summit using a ramp that hooks up and left out of view in the photo.

This was my favorite day of the season.  No hyperbole.  One of those days where I can't believe how rich this sport is, allowing us to test ourselves while painting ephemeral lines through the mountains.  And the joy of descending by skiing is not to be overlooked.  

By my estimation, a "basic" Torrey -> Tweedy traverse felt like a classic line only marred by what I suspect is a narrow window of reliable conditions where stability is OK, and spring snow sticks to normally windswept aspects.