Rocky Mountain Front, Old Baldy to Teton Pass ski resort

Climbing the summit ridge of Old Baldy with the rest of our day visible in the background.

The highlight of our family vacation to the Rock Mountain Front was a ridge link up from Old Baldy to Teton Pass ski resort.  This was also one of my most enjoyable days in the.mountains this summer because it combined a new and thoroughly enjoyable outing with a rare full day with Leah.  We left the Rescue creek trailhead at 6 am and crossed the creek at the toe of Old Baldy after just a few miles on the Middle Fork Teton trail.  The climb to Old Baldy took quite a bit of time, but it was without a doubt a worthwhile addition to the outing.  It also took a long time to get down Old Baldy and across Route Creek pass.  The rest of the ridge was clean, easy, and just plain fun.  We climbed all of the peaks along the ridge including Teton peak, Mount Lockhart, and several unnamed high points.  We kept waiting for the forecast heat to strike, but between the wind and an abundance of snowmelt water, we were never stricken by heat.  Before long, we had crested Lockhart. Just over an hour later, we were on top of the ski resort.  Getting down the resort took longer than expected, but we still made it back to the bikes ahead of schedule.  The 7-mile downhill shuttle was one of the easiest shuttles I have ever done.  We were both tired, and it was a nice end to the day.  

Leah coming up to the summit ridge on Old Baldy.

Mid way through the day.

Up the last climb to the top of Teton Pass ski resort.

I would love to do this one again.  Super high quality.  It would be cool to go bigger and start at Rocky Mountain.  I think it's doable, but everything including the shuttle would be much longer. Also now on the list: ski traverse from Old Baldy or somewhere similar to Teton Pass resort.  With spring stability.  It looks to be a super logical link up.

The rest of our time in the Front was a treat, full of time with friends, laughs and adventures with kids, remembering that I don't remember how to climb, and shorter scrambles and bike rides.  

Mount Frazier (day one outing) as viewed from Mount Werner (day two and three outings).

Highlands traverse

Amazing and supportive friends allowed Leah and me to squeeze in a little early summer mountain adventure together during a 4th of July camping trip near Butte.  With a properly early start, we covered several miles of dirt road on foot to complete the de facto shuttle, then climbed Red Mountain by the normal Northeast ridge route.  It took a while to get to the first peak, but from there, we were treated to a technically simple but delightful traverse along the crest over Table Mountain and East peak.

Over Red Mountain and heading to Table.

We did a lot of walking like this.

Wandering toward Table mountain.

We descended Pigeon creek ridge back to the car, which included a little bit of adversity in the last half mile, but was generally remarkably straightforward.  Having driven by this little range for years, it was rewarding to get a peak at most of it.  I was pretty impressed at how wild the mountains are once past Red Mountain.  I enjoyed the outing and would recommend it as a high quality medium length day in the mountains.

Albino basin summer skiing in the Swans

Driven by a hankering to ski in mid July, I took skis out of summer storage to explore Albino basin in the Swans.  There is of course a lot more to ski than can be done in a day, but I tried to check off as much as possible by getting a respectable start.  Instead of taking the Cooney pass trail, I approached off trail from the car most of the way up the ridge to Cooney peak.  About a thousand feet below the summit, I detoured off the ridge and took a nice short run into the basin on the back side of Albino.  Along the way, I saw a grizzly and her cub running through the basin at a safe distance.  

Looking back up at the fun approach run.

It was a weird logistical day, and in that spirit, I took ski boots off after the first run and used approach shoes to scramble up 3rd class ledges to the crest of the range.  Back in ski boots, I took a fantastic run down the Southern most of the three prominent basins.  To my utter surprise, the ski run descended two thousand feet below the crest, and I had to cut it short in order to have enough time for the rest of the tour.  I next climbed back to the crest and took an absolutely fabulous run down along the edge of the glacier and below the moraine to the end of the snow, 2000 feet below the summit.  I couldn't believe how good the skiing was! 

Starting the first run off the crest.

Starting the long run.

More of the long run.

More of the long run.  What a treat!

I made another long climb to the next basin North, and took another great run before walking over a low pass to access Little Salmon creek.  The last run of the year was a short bop down to the basin below Smith Creek pass.  From the bottom of the run, I put approach shoes back on, and made a long awkward traverse back up to the pass before jogging the 5-mile trail out to the car.  

More great skiing on the last run off the crest.

Last run of the year.  Heading home.

Even with the long and convoluted approach, I was pretty surprised by the quality of the day.  I need to return soon and ski some of the more accessible terrain near Smith creek pass.  Touring from the Rumble lake to Smith Creek pass trailheads, skiing Pyramid peak, Albino basin, and Cooney peak along the way is mighty intriguing.

Swans, Dog Peak

I took a day off of work and rallied proper early to have a look at Dog peak, which is a prominent peak on the Swan crest just North of Smith Creek pass.  I don't know of a formal name for the peak, and it doesn't have an elevation on the FS topo map, but it does sit at the head of Dog creek, so I refer to it as Dog peak.  Getting to the peak early enough to catch safe spring conditions is a non-trivial challenge, so I did my best by rallying from Missoula at 3 am.  I scouted what looked like a fun approach run just North of the pass from old photos an Google earth, and made reasonably quick work of the approach.  Unfortunately when I summited, I realized that I had climbed the wrong mountain!  

Early morning view of the ski run on Dog peak.

After getting my head straight, I pieced together a reasonable way off the mountain and was soon at the base of my primary objective.  The fragile overnight refreeze had fallen apart, and the snow was pretty slushy, but I made my way up safely with lots of attention to detail.  After a quick summit transition, I skied the hanging upper face, which was safe enough with a few strategic ski cuts, then enjoyed skiing bed surface snow in the main Southeast couloir.  I was pretty happy get off the mountain and cruise the run to the terminus of the avalanche path, 1,700 vertical feet below the summit.  ,

Looking down the exit couloir.

It had warmed up so much that the rest of the day was pretty much shot for good skiing, so I battled up through mush to re-gain the crest, then checked out a nice alternate exit, climbing out to high point 7,973, which allowed for a wicked fast exit to the trail.  It was a pretty quick walk out to the car from there.

This might be a first descent, but I would love to hear otherwise.  In any case, the ski line is a great ski mountaineering objective - complicated and exposed to demand attention, but totally safe and fun with good conditions.  Lots more to ski around here, particularly on Cooney, so I will definitely be back.

Sheafman and Fred Burr Ramblin

Note:  All three of these outings were during the shelter in place phase of the Coronavirus epidemic, when we were all sorting out if we should still be skiing.  They were literally one of the only times I would venture farther an hour on bike from the house all week.  On a lighter note, Fred Burr was really in condition this year, and is a playground worth returning to with a deep snowpack.  The approach is long, but the exit is unusually fast because the first few miles are on an old road.

Fred Burr - Totem peak:  With an early start, I rallied all they way back to Totem Peak and climbed the South face.  Although South facing snow was baked down enough to be very stable, I was unpleasantly surprised to find the entire Northeast face had avalanched massively in the past week.  It was pretty sobering.  However, I felt pretty comfortable skiing the bed surface and made a quick lap on the Northeast face.

Looking up the Northeast face of Totem peak.  It is not visible from the photo,
but the entire sky line was lined with a 3 foot deep crown.  Yikes.

I jaunted back up and skied the excellent if a bit warm South gully back to the creek.  I had planned to ski another South facing peak to creek, but the snow was already falling apart, so I found a safe shaded ski run across the creek and spun some laps as snow came crashing down on the South aspects.  I was tired, the climbs were gloppy, and the skiing was not very good, but it was fun to grind away and get tired.  Soon enough I was back on the trail, with water refilled, enjoying the mellow 2-hour kick out to the car. 10,100 vertical feet.  This was my first day back after a fairly severe knee flare up, and it was very encouraging to have the knee hold up.

My South face ski line on Totem peak takes the summit ridge, then the most obvious open gully.
It is a great ski run, but probably too far back to be a classic.

Burr point to Castle Crag Shoulder:  I rallied earlish (7 am car, 5 am would have been better), and made a beeline for Burr point.  The snow had melted out enough that gaining the Southeast bowl involved a fair bit of skis on/off shenanigans, but I was soon in the upper basin and moving quickly.  Still gun shy from terrible stability the previous week, I dug another pit on a NE aspect and found that the persistent weak layer 2.5 feet deep was still reactive.  Uggh.  I continued to the summit, and took a fun lap on the South gully of Burr point on only slightly over ripened corn.  Nice one.  

An up Burr Southeast, short Southeast run, Burr South gully exit would make for a fine, logical tour.  

Looking down the Burr point run and across at the Castle crag shoulder.
I climbed and descended the gully on the right margin of the photo.

Next, I headed up to try the most striking of the gullies off the North shoulder of Castle Crag.  In the spirit of being gun shy, I dug a pit at 7,000 feet and did not find the buried weak layer.  From there, I was able to climb to the shoulder on wind scoured (if not gloppy) snow.  I dug another pit at 8,000 feet and had poor results, so I bailed on skiing the line and re-traced my up track.  Which was a good run, just not as inspiring as the gullies.  At that point it was late enough in the day that I opted for returning to the family by early evening rather than forcing another run and skipped out the long exit.  My hip/groin injury flared up, and the walk out got pretty painful at the end.  Must go back and ski a gully or two off the Castle shoulder some day with a fat snowpack.  

A discouraged me looking across at the morning Burr point run.

Sheafman - West Sheafman point:  I rallied early again and was walking from the Sheafman trailhead at 6 am.  Using the normal Sheafman approach, I arrived at the base of my first ski run off East Sheafman point in just under three hours and started up.  The climb was easy enough and the skiing was... great!  The early start was worth it!  I have been wanting to ski this guy for years, and it was nice to finally just do it.  I would even go so far as to say it is a hidden Bitterroot classic - 1,800 feet of straightforward, aesthetic peak to creek gully skiing.  Next, I headed up canyon and skied a hidden West facing gully into the Castle crag North basin that I have also been eying for years.  The entrance is thin and scrappy, but it went just fine, and I was soon in the firm and wind buffed gully system with a big smile on my face.  

Looking down the instant classic South gully of middle Sheafman point. 
  

Really nice terrain in the hidden West gully.

Next, I climbed up to West Sheafman peak because, why not, and did a mini lap on the protected hanging larch face before climbing back to the summit.  It was late enough in the day I decided to forgo the beautiful South gully in favor of more protected tree skiing up canyon.  I exited over Nipple knob which turned out to be a great way to close out the day.  The climb got pretty gloppy, but the view from on top is great, and the ski and walk out takes a blissfully brief 45 minutes.  Really good day of straightforward Bitterroot exploring in one of my favorite early spring ski haunts.  Somewhere between 10,000 and 10,300 vertical feet, done in just over 11 hours.

Heading up to Nipple knob for the last run.