Variations on the classics, 2024

With terrible coverage and a historically poor early season snowpack, it seemed like sticking to familiar haunts and moderate terrain yielded the best results in winter 2024.  Here are a few variations and extensions on classic tours that I thought were particularly good.

Gash to Glenn - 2/18/24

Inspired by upward trending stability and snowpack, Ned and I stashed a car on the Big creek road and headed up the normal Gash skin track around first light, intent on bouncing our way from Gash to Glenn.  Our first run was down the normal main North face of Gash proper, and with powder top to bottom, it was far and away the best run of the season so far.  We made a kind of annoying trek through thin snow and downfall into upper Sweathouse, then made our way to a point a few hundred feet below the exact summit of Hidden lake peak where the ridge turns to crags.  We took a steep and excellent run down the Northeast shoulder, ending at Hidden lake.  From there, we bopped our way out on conventional terrain:  up to Glenn lake peak, down a most excellent run on the Northeast shoulder, up to the pass that the summer trail goes through, then roughly down the summer trail. The very long road exit was aided tremendously by monster truck tracks, which allowed us to bomb down the low grade road all they way out to our car, parked way out in the valley.   

Starting down Gash proper.

Mentally cruxing on the long climb to Hidden.

After a dismal early season, it was kind of a head snapper to have a truly great ski day linking together interesting runs with excellent snow.  It also filled the soul a bit to spend a long day walking around in the mountains with Ned.  I think we both needed a day just like this one.  This is a great and surprisingly challenging tour.  I think it would be more logical to tighten up and skip Hidden lake peak.  The main downside in my opinion is that the shuttle is long enough that it kind of makes more sense to just ski each zone separately and not monkey with all of the traverse logistics.

Big Joe to Bass Bowl Bounce - 3/20/24

With a proper early start, I made it way up onto the shoulder of Big Saint Joe for a simultaneous shoe/ski boot transition and first light.  I boosted up to the summit, then skied the upper 2/3 of the westernmost big South facing avalanche paths before traversing up canyon where the gully gets scrappy.  To my shock, I popped out on the trail to see a hiker sending it through deep snow between Bass and Kootenai creek.  Although I had some misgivings about the wisdom of trying a hike like that with such deep snow, it was pretty cool to see someone out for a true adventure.  I also encountered a really nice party of two skiers camped at Bass lake and was  most grateful for their skin track to the top of Bass peak.  I followed what I consider the condensed full Bowl bounce route back to the car.  Up Smokey Joe West, down the Southeast bowl (with much care to manage very dangerous warm new snow), then the traversing climb up the West fact of Lappi point, then a most splendid powder run down the classic west bowl.  Walking out Bass is way less fun than skiing out, but that was the hand this year, and it was a nice spring day to do it.  At 11k of vertical, this was a long but very good day.

On the way up Big Saint Joe.

Bass peak.  Good stuff.

Sky Pilot to Mystery Chutes - 4/16/24

I was able to sneak this one in against all odds.  Our friend Sarah envisioned and executed this tour in early spring 2021 by combining two classic but quite long tours into a single day.  When I heard about it, I was impressed but not surprised that she could get something that big done.  The more I though about it, I became convinced that I was capable of repeating her tour, with a really cold day, fast conditions, and my best fitness.  

So when a blustery but cold day rolled around, I went for it.  I sequenced the tour as follows: up Gash (no summit), high traverse above Bear lake, up and down North face of Gash to Bear lake, up to Gash proper summit, short North face run, up to Mystery, down main Mystery, then kick it up the long North face of Gash and cruise out. The day was challenging but went about as smoothly as could be expected.  Conditions were so firm that I only used skins for about half of the climbing, and the rest was spend kicking away at ice.  The skiing was all icy, but ice of the grippy and fast variety, and I was most relieved to find the lower reaches of the Mystery chute surprisingly skiable for spring, as lower elevation shaded chutes tend to get clogged by horrid roller ball debris.  A touch over 10k vetical feet.

All the respect for pioneering this link up, Freebird.

At the transition to climbing to the Mystery chutes after a truncated run on Gash proper.

About to engage the mystery of the Mystery chutes.  How icy will it be? 
Will I encounter horrid roller death balls?  Will there be snow at the bottom? 
The answers were, pretty icy, luckily no, and yes, just enough.

Pyramid to Crescent - 5/3/24

With waning snow on solar aspects, I decided to try climbing solar and skiing shaded on this must do tour.  I was able to get a good solid early start for a week day, so Pyramid was pretty much all firm ice, and the climb up Matt was cold and fast.  I skied the skier's left chute on the North face of Matt, and found 6" of perfect settled powder, which made for one of the stand out runs of the season.  

On the Crescent run, I let my guard down and triggered a 6" slab.  Although I was able to dig into the bed surface and let the slab pass, the debris pile piled up way too deep for my liking, and this was a dumb mistake.  I should have payed more attention to new snow stability, but even more relevantly, it would have been easy to avoid the starting zone slab, and there wasn't any good reason not too - I was just lazy and I wanted to ski a clean, straight aesthetic line.  Do better next time.

I exited early and was back to the car shortly after noon.  It's nice sometimes in the spring to get it done early and enjoy a warm afternoon in the valley.

Looking down the excellent North couloir on Matt.
I triggered a slab on the obvious open face of Crescent dead center facing the camera.
.

McDonald from Glacier Lake - 6/23/24

When the skiing kept being good in early spring, I made a soft goal to get to 10 x 10,000 foot days, and this last ski day of the year got me there.  After a great weekend of morrell harvesting and camping in the Seeley lake valley, I boosted out of camp extra early and drove up to the Glacier lake trailhead.  The morning was spent hiking to Heart lake, bushwacking to the crest, and mostly walking down dry land to the toe of the mighty East face of McDonald.  I summited a bit before noon and took a wildly successful 3,000 foot run down the classic Northwest snowfield.  After jamming back up along my track, I skied a fun run down the East ridge and East face, then got good and tired piecing together a climb to an unnamed peak west of Point Saint Charles, which allowed access to a great run down the north face to snow line.  As is customary for the Missions, a solid bushwack was required to regain the Heart lake trail, and from there it was smooth sailing to the car.  The last turns of the year are always bittersweet, even when it is time to embrace the changing seasons.

Looking out to McDonald.  One of the more scenic approaches around.

East ridge of McDonald.

Flathead Traverse (V2)

Even though my 2020 Flathead traverse outing was a success, I had hankering to return to try it in a single push.  The line itself is inspiring, and I was excited for the novel challenge of pushing through the night deep in the wilderness.  Anticipating an early fire season, July seemed like the best bet for good conditions. I got enough early season run specific training to feel physically prepared(ish), and jumped when life logistics aligned in July.  In accordance with tradition, I biked the 40-mile shuttle the previous evening and tucked in for a short night of sleep.

Classic Flathead range view.

I rolled out of the trailhead at 4 am.  Unfortunately, the first few hours were a little but off.   I was intimidated and felt surprisingly tired and bonky.  I tried to put those thoughts aside and instead stay in the moment, engaging with the route and keeping the effort in check.  Fortunately, things turned around, each peak started feeling easier, and I arrived on Penrose feeling good and on pace.  Having drastically under hydrated during the previous outing, I hauled a gallon from the start, which allowed me to stay hydrated and happy over Nyack.  Great Northern summit came soon enough.  A cool breeze kept the afternoon comfy, as I worked through the most splendid alpine section of the traverse over Grant and Liebeg.  As anticipated, it got dark near Cameawait, and I headlamped my way to the snowpatch below the Felix summit anticipating a nice long water break.  I found ample water, but a stiff breeze made my planned evening break unappealing, so I kept rolling.  I successfully weaved a new to me route all the way down the Northwest ridge of Felix and made a snap decision to follow a game trail all the way to the summer trail east of the divide.  Moderately big mistake.  I ended up loosing the game trail and generally lost a lot of time swimming through alder in search for the trail.  Then botched all possible routefinding in Logan creek.  Oh well.  Fortunately, my body never felt too tired, and first light brought a predictable energy boost as I climbed up to point 8001.  

First summit of fifteen.

Looking back at Great Northern and getting psyched for the night.

The second morning was sublime.  Temps were crisp, the engine was still firing, body was intact, and psyche was high.  The Baptiste/Cirrus/Dry Park section went really smoothly.  The day became uncomfortably hot around Dry Park, and even with a snowpatch detour, I didn't secure enough water to be comfortable.  Dumb mistake.  High noon found me sitting in a shade patch on the last peak - Crossover - nursing a few sips from the meager water reserve and getting ready to descend into a bushwack of unknown magnitude.  Fortunately, I made it out but not without getting cliffed out a few times, wearing all of the skin off my shins from brush, and shriveling down to what felt like an emaciated raisin from lack of water.  Soon enough, I popped out on the Hungry Horse road and shuffled out to the car.  Dodging cars flying down the dusty road at 50 mph in my sleep deprived and overheated state was quite a jarring experience after two days in the mountains alone.    

All smiles on the second morning.

Looking back from Baptiste

Flip flops, unlimited water, and a dip in the reservoir were much appreciated.  July 15 - 16, 2024; 35 hours, 4 minutes from trailhead to car.  This outing was hard and exposed and challenging, but felt within my abilities.  I got what I wanted to out of it.  Hoping for more of this type of thing in future years.

I think my line is pretty good, but the Crossover to valley section needs some refinement.  Ending at Dry Park would allow for an easier route out to the valley and avoid the kind of meh section between Crossover and Dry Park.  Or, descending to the Twin creek trailhead from Crossover (skipping the portions of the trail that no longer exist) would be about as fast as the bushwack and would be a touch more aesthetic, in my opinion.  

Mission Traverses V 9 - 10

Mission traverse South to North - 4/29

Duncan skiing the East face of McDonald peak.

A primary goal for the season was to do the Mission traverse in the unconventional direction from Sheepshead to East Saint Marys with the intention of skiing different runs, and dropping into Lake of the Stars.  When a 1-day weather window finally arrived, Duncan and I got a properly early start, and were shuttled and walking up the Ashley lakes road at 3:15 am.  It was nice to have a partner to take the sting out of the dark hours.  We did manage to break a ski basket early in the day, but we figured that Duncan was the stronger climber, and that we would try to make a dagger work instead of a ski pole.  We turned our headlamps off near treeline on Sheepshead, pleased to find a solid re-freeze, a fickle commodity during this record warm spring.  

West aspects had undergone a big avalanche cycle in the past week, and the going was just OK as we pied-a-platted our way up punchy ice and debris to the summit.  The East ridge was icy, and we kept the run as abbreviated as possible.  Aided by Duncan's sage call to use ski crampons, we efficiently climbed McDonald and took a nice run down the East face to Icefloe lake.  The Lake of the Stars climb was once again hilighted by Duncan making the wise climbing modality move to don crampons while I stubbornly kicked away at firm snow.  In the end we topped out at the same time and took a nice short corn run to Lake of the Stars.  The skin up the Sunrise glacier was uneventful - just try to stay relaxed and keep up.  Poor memory cost us a few minutes finding a good entrance to the Picture lake run from below Shoemaker, but we eventually worked our way into it and had some nice corn skiing on this Mission classic.  

View from Sheepshead summit.

Climbing out of Icefloe.

I had hoped to ski a steep, complex couloir to Lake of the Stars, but we got bogged down by slow climbing, and by the time we were on top of the couloir, it looked way too warm and committing for our comfort level.  So we traversed East and looked down another partially connected line and came to the same conclusion.  Our only reasonable option was to continue slugging along the ridge line which eventually allowed us access to a safe run down to Lake of the Stars.  I felt bad about dragging Duncan along such a poorly planned and executed section, but he was a great partner through it.  In the end we lost at least an hour, and I felt a little sheepish, but we were safe.  Definitely took a few minutes at Lake of the Stars to appreciate the position, down calories, and psyche up for the rest of the day.  

Climbing out of Lake of the Stars.

Since the last two runs don't really have much inspiring skiing, I expected it to turn into a bit of a march, but I was surprised to really enjoy the last bits - beautiful high plateau traverse, safe enough run to Grizzly lake, then pin it up to ESM trying in vein to keep up.  Skiing ESM involved careful ski cuts which sent impressive wet slides roaring 2,000 feet down the South face.  We returned to the car around 6 pm in a magnificent state of fatigue - tired for sure, but really excited having covered a ton of beautiful terrain, skied a ton of good snow, skied a ton of bad snow, and managed several challenges well enough.  So good!  

The way to ESM.

I didn't track vertical, but it was a big day - around 13,500 vertical feet, done in a little bit over 14 hours from the car parked about 300 vertical feet above the canal on the Ashley lake road to the car parked about 1. 5 miles shy of the Saint Mary reservoir. 

Mission Traverse for time - 5/24

I was able to once again capitalize on a one night refreeze to go for the Mission traverse as fast as possible.  With snow line already very high, I made a last minute decision to go South to North to avoid a horribly long walk down at the end of the day.  Another proper early start had me walking from the car in the dark.  I started my watch at the upper Ashley lakes trailhead a touch before first light, walking at a bright but mostly sustainable pace.  I ended up doing a lot more snow free downfall hopping than would be ideal, and transitioned to ski boots and crampons about 1,500 feet below the summit.  I arrived on top in OK time, but to my dismay, the East ridge was also melted out, so I scampered down most of the ridge proper and only using skis to schuss across to McDonald from near the saddle.  

Lots of walking on the Sheepshead climb.

The middle portion of the traverse went very well.  I was able to hold a bright pace, snow was consolidated to alleviate the need for skins, and the skiing was a little sun cupped but quite nice.  There were a few dry patches, including the predictably snow free Southeast face of peak 9,066, but they didn't really slow things down too much.  Lots of water and gummies were consumed.  Soon enough, I skied around Grizzly lake, slapped skins on for the first time, and pushed with everything I had left to the summit of East Saint Mary's.  I totally fried my quads and blistered my feet running down the trail from East Saint Mary's.  Refusing to swap ski boots for approach shoes in the name of time was dumb but pretty fast.  The foot damage healed in a couple of days.  At the reservoir, I took a minute to relax, eat, and revel in the experience before hopping on the bike and lazily spinning back to the car near the canal at Ashley lakes.  

Water stop on the way to Sunrise glacier.

Ridge negotiating near Mountaineer.

Don't slow down, don't slow down, don't slow down.

There are enough variables with the route that I don't think that a fastest known time concept necessarily applies to this outing.  I do think that I could shave an hour with perfect conditions, and a strong uphiller could smash this time.  But I'm satisfied with the effort. 

9 hours, 21 minutes from the Ashley lakes trailhead to the East Saint Mary reservoir.  

Bass Ultimate Ridge Link up (BURL)

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.

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.  

Morning vibe.

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!

Up Lappi.

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.  

Bass peak was fun.

Up Stormy Joe.

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. 

Big Saint Joe summit turns.

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.  

Pyramid Butte (x 2)

1/15: After a bit of a slow early season, Jeffrey and I finally felt like conditions were set for a bigger tour.  After making most of the normal Pinball approach, we skied a gully on the eastern edge of the Big Saint Joe northeast cirque, which I remembered being pretty good.  To our surprise, the snow was really thin and weak, and we struggled to find even descent, rock free skiing.  We also bungled the section above the South Fork of Sweeney creek by attempting to traverse too high.  But we kept plugging and were below Pyramid Butte by late morning.  Climbing conditions in the lower couloir were quite good, so we motored up.  

Up Pyramid Butte.

We dug a second pit on the upper face and found a slightly concerning layer mid-pack.  Test results were non-propogating, however, so we continued to the top.  The gully was really good, with a solid base and skiable-enough snow quality.  The whole line is great, and the lower couloir is quite striking. 

Down Pyramid Butte.

The big climb to Big Saint Joe kind of got me.  Despite fuelling adequately, I ran out of gas.  But the only way out was up, so we kept plugging away.  To our shock and awe, we stumbled into some friends on the summit, and after exchanging pleasantries, descended the normal Southeast ramp.  Technically, conditions were just kind of average, but I was pretty excited to feel like ski season was finally really in good form.  We made it back to the car just before dark.  Excellent day.

Heading down Big Saint Joe. Home bound.

5/10: I went back to Pyramid Butte on May 10th, rolling out of the trailhead on a bike at 5 am.  From the Wilderness boundary, I fought intermittent snow on the trail before climbing up out of snow in running shoes.  I put ski boots on around 7,000 feet, then skinned quickly to the summit.  To my amazement, there was about 3" of nice smooth powder on the summit, and the clouds broke just as I topped out.  The North face run was about as good as it gets - 3,000 feet of great skiing.  What a treat! 

Powder turns on the mighty North face of Big Saint Joe.

I climbed the Southwest gully of Pyramid Butte, and with clouds providing just enough shade, skied it with good snow top to bottom.  Another treat!  

Just soft enough for quick skinning up Pyramid Butte.

Instead of traversing down canyon, I went up over the Big/Stormy Joe saddle to return, climbing a bit up the West shoulder of Big Saint Joe to get to 10k of climbing.  Once again, the ski run was good all the way to the trail.  The trail out was a bit of a grind with lots and lots of intermittent snow, but that was expected.  The bike egress was blistering fast, and I returned to the car by mid afternoon in mild disbelief with how good the day turned out to be.  

On the way to the Big/Stormy Saddle.  I skied the visible gully
which gets a little patchy at the bottom.

Ingress/egress strategy to the Wilderness Boundary.

Thoughts:  With the right conditions, this is a really great tour.  There is no way around the fact that it is a big day, getting in early enough for good corn in the spring is nearly impossible, and that the section between Little Saint Joe and the base of Pyramid Buttes is pretty rough around the edges, but Pyramid Buttes are remote, the ski lines are all very good and big, and there is no flat approaching.  There are a lot of ways to get in and out.  As crazy as it sounds, I kind of think that approaching over Big Saint Joe is almost as easy as the Little Saint Joe approach.  Then Pinball or Big/Stormy Joe saddle to exit.