Mill 2 to Mill 3 tour

High on Mill 2

With good coverage, adequate stability, and great snow quality, skiing in the Bitterroot is about as good as it gets right now. Jeffrey and I headed out for a long day with the twin objectives of finding good snow and having a good adventure. We found both in abundance. Some friends had skied the East face of Mill 2 the previous day, so we just followed their track all the way from the trailhead to the summit. Even with the track, the upper traverse and climb on the West face was a good technical excercise, and we surmounted it with technical skinning, ski cramponing, booting, rock scrambling, and a little bit of tree climbing.

Jeffrey getting after it on Mill 2.

On the summit, the sun broke through the clouds as I replaced the prayer flags for Chris.

 

The East face is steep and engaging, but it felt relatively casual since the snow was excellent. We had a fabulous run on this little Bitterroot steep skiing test piece.  From the base, we climbed to the edge of the south gully on Mill 2. We opted out of the long traverse back to the summit, and instead skied straight down to Blodgett Creek.  3,000 feet of excellent skiing later, we were down in the canyon.

Jeffrey in the powder in Mill 2.

More skiing on Mill 2.

Skiing down to Blodgett.

I was less than excited about wind slabs on the west side of Mill 2, so I suggested we tour up canyon about a mile and climb the south side of Mill 3. We had a major false start trying to find the way, but soon enough we were back on track, slowly making our way up the 4,000 vertical foot climb. We used ski crampons again on the climb, and they saved us big time. I'm not afraid to throw a little Spanish in with my German, so Viva la harcheisen!  We were both ready to see the top, and I was excited for a new summit. We skied the low angle northeast face of the multi-named Mill 3/Hauf peak/Printz Ridge HP before nosing our way down into the Mill 2/3 basin and skiing out to Mill creek. Of note, the south facing peak to creek run off Mill 3 that we climbed is moderate, open, not too far back in the canyon, and needs to be skied soon. Our noses were sound, and we found the passage through the cliffs on this otherwise mellow run first try. The exit to the creek had plenty of snow for good skiing all the way down. With beautiful light, we make a triumphant exit out Mill creek. It was a great day, but did't want to leave. 9,300 vertical feet.

Jeffrey on the last climb, with upper Blodgett creek in the background.

Jeffrey on the home stretch.

Back on the trail, about to point it home in Mill creek.

Castle crag via Nipple Knob

Leah and Natalie nearing the summit.

I had another fantastic day in the Bitterroot, skiing the north face of Nipple knob, touring up Sheafman Creek, then skiing the South face of Castle Crag and exiting Mill creek. The weather was great, the company was as good as it gets, and the tour flowed smoothly and had plenty of spice to keep us engaged. There was a healthy dose of canyon slogging time, but it was filled with interesting conversation on a variety of topics, as expected from a party of four with advanced degrees.

We did have to get a little creative to avoid northeast facing wind slabs, but were able piece the tour together without doing anything too slow or dangerous. This was my fifth time on top of the crag, and I was able to re-confirm my opinion that the summit view is one of the best in the range. Both runs were quality, and we were able to score grabby but good conditions from top to bottom on the 3,000 vertical foot south face of Castle Crag. With all the snow, the egress was quick and almost painless. Tacking Nipple knob on to the front part of the day bumped the quality of this tour somewhere just shy of classic status.

Approaching Nipple knob. Photo: Ben Irey

Mill 1 and 2 from Nipple knob. Photo: Ben Irey

Safety meeting (seriously) before engaging the slopes above Knack lake. Photo: Ben Irey

The ladies, skinning all the way to the summit.

Leah cruising on Castle Crag. Photo: Ben Irey

Leah near the bottom of Castle Crag. Photo: Ben Irey

Dressed for spring during the exit.

Back in the Bitterroot - Glen to Sweathouse to Big Creek tour

Jeff and Jeffrey climbing in front of the Mystery chutes.

I took advantage of a rare break in the weather to rally a strong group of Missoula skiers for a day of exploration in the Bitterroot. The firehose of precipitation has finally abated a bit, so we were all excited to get out into some more interesting terrain. As it turns out, avalanche danger was still on the spicy side, but we were still able to ski some new-to-us terrain. We started out by climibing to Glen Lakes at sunrise. This was a new approach for all of us except Jeff, and I relished in discovering a new and surprisingly spectacular little cirque tucked just out of view of the valley.  From the top of the unnamed 8,400 peak west of Glen Lake, we spent about 20 minutes debating the merits of dropping in to Sweathouse peak via the most prominent south facing gully. We decided to go for it, skirting slabs where possible, and were rewarded an icy but stable run all the way down to Sweathouse.

Basking in sunrise on the approach to Glen Lakes.

Jeff at the top of the first run. The entire Gash
complex and the Mystery chutes are visible behind him. 

The zone as seen from Gash. Our first run was the sun/shade gully.
Our second run was the sunlight face off the obvious peak on the left skyline.
It is possible to ski both of these objectives from Gash in a full day.

I had planned on moving on to north facing terrain, but wind slabs seemed too touchy, so I suggested we point up drainage for a look at Hidden Peak. On that subject, it seems like it has been unusually windy, and avalanche danger has been uncharacteristically high this year. Or maybe I am just getting soft, or old and wise? Anyway, everyone was on board, and after a good hard push we were soon ripping skins at our high point. The run was good, if not a touch generic.

At the base of the Hidden peak run.

Aftere a long break at the bottom, we made another push back to 8,400. I must not have eaten enough, because I had a real low energy patch on the last climb. With a squall blowing in, we decided to start the involved exit process. We ended up skiing a long (almost 4,000 vertical feet!) and interesting peak to creek run, which which was difficult to find, and harbored persistent, unsettling wind slabs at the top, even in the trees. We worked our way down slowly, and soon the scary slabby snow changed to safe but challenging powder over chunky avalanche debris in the main gully. The gully was a grand adventure with a few powder turns, a lot of chunky avalanche debris, and a lot of sideslipping around obstacles of all kinds including brush and waterfalls. And there was a healthy sampling of not-too-bad skiing through alder, thin snow navigating in the forest, and a all-hand-on deck search for a safe crossing across Big Creek. It was a great adventure, and I enjoyed every minute of it, aside from the slabby snow at the top.

In the thick of it during the exit to Big Creek.

The ski out Big Creek was fairly long but enjoyable, and we were soon back at the car lounging in lawn chairs (thanks Blake), and consuming massive amounts of beer and potato chips in full Montana style.

Random Snippets:

This is a pretty good zone, but it is limited by the extra long approach compared to similar areas (Gash, nipple knob, Camas, Mill point, etc). Also, a deep low elevation snowpack is required to ski easily down into Big Creek. Still, I will be back o ski the mellower terrain directly above and below the lakes, and to explore more of the north facing terrain toward Big Creek. I really enjoyed the crew today - thanks guys! Of note, everyone has been out skiing a lot this year, and was on light gear, which translated to a strong and fluid day, where about 9,700 vertical feet of touring flew by fairly casually. It was my first day on a new pair of G3 C3 Zen Oxide skis, and aside from grabby tips and tails (to be addressed with ski tuning in the near future), I was pretty impressed. Certainly not the flashiest ski out there, but light enough, nimble enough, floaty enough, and totally solid. I’ll check back in with more details. 

Jack 'n Jill Race report

I was not surprised to hear that the Jack 'n Jill randonee race was postponed by a week due to the blizzard, but I was surprised that no fewer than four other Missoulians were game to make the drive over to the Rocky Mountain front to have a go at the re-scheduled course. I have heard good things about this ski hill, and was excited to check it out. Teton Pass ski resort has a cool vibe and impressive sidecountry touring terrain when conditions are stable. And they did a great job hosting the race.

Post-race mug shot. Thanks for the battle Ben.
Photo: Teton Pass

After a warm up and brief pre-race meeting, the gun went off. A Le mans start gave an appropriate, old-school flare to the race.  Blake made it first off the line, with Ben and me in hot pursuit. Within a few minutes, Ben had taken the lead, and I was sandwiched betwen him and Blake. To my surprise, Ben was unable to open a gap, and I was able to get out ahead of him, but was not able to open a gap to the top of the first climb. Ben got out of the transition first, and we both skied hard to the bottom of the run. Ben had another good transition, and started up about 30 seconds ahead of me. I took in some fluid and calories at the bottom, then just rallied with all my might to the top. I was only able to close the gap by about 10 seconds during the short climb, and Ben held on to his lead at the transition, and through the descent. We finished within 25 seconds of each other. Blake came through a few minutes back, then Leah cruised over the line in first for women, and 4th overall.  The rest of the Missoula crew was not far behind. In terms of excecution, I felt good going into the race, and was able to push hard without any real bobbles. Any day where I can stay within striking distance of Ben is about as good as I can ask for. The rest of the Missoula crew had strong races - Blake and Natalie are going to be deadly if they are able to scrape together full race setups, and Janine completed her first ski race of any kind in good style.

Coming into the finish line. No helmet, no problem. That's how we do it
 in Montana (and Europe, I suppose). Photo: Teton Pass

Team Missoula all back at the finish line. Photo: Teton Pass

We spent the remainder of the day hiking to the top of the mountain and riding lifts. The awards were fun, with plenty of prizes to go around. Good times, and a big thanks to everyone at the resort for putting on a great event. Results are here.

Checking out the big explosive triggered crown from the night before
during our sidecountry excursion to the summit. Photo: Blake Votilla

Still waiting with baited breath for stability to improve in the Bitterroot...