14 x 10k, 2020

Summary of the 10k days I skied this year.  I am going to try to keep ten 10k ski days a year as a goal because they push me in all the best ways.  I did more big days this year because I skied more solo, and when I ski alone I tend to focus less on sharing an enjoyable experience with partners and more on putting my head down and getting as much skiing in as possible.

Mission ramble: 12/10 On my first ski day, I headed into the Missions.  The first run of the season was an excellent long ramp down the mellow Northeast face of Saint Mary peak.  By mid-afternoon, it seemed feasible to get to 10k, so I recycled my ski track and got it done. 10,100 vertical feet

Happier than the happiest clam to be skiing again.

Snowbowl time trial: 1/7 I did a 10k day at Snowbowl for time, recycling upper and lower Paradise.  4.28?  It felt fast for me. 10,050ish vertical feet.

Glen Lake: 1/19 Jeffrey and I skied the "standard" Glenn lake tour with a few extra runs.  Since we were skiing the next day, one of the goals was to not get too tired, so we called it a day right at 10k.  We still got kinda tired. Good snow, good partner, great day of fun backcountry skiing.  10,300 vertical feet

Skiing above Glen lake.

Big Saint Joe 1/29:  I got out with Todd Glew of the Western Montana Avalanche center for a day of touring and pit digging.  We ended up skiing two long runs in the Southeast bowl, and a surprisingly fun run down the Southeast ridge, all with perfect snow.  Something just north of 10k vertical feet.

Todd  skiing off the summit and displaying his best snowplow-against-a-whipping-wind technique.

Romney ridge: 2/1  See separate post

Big Creek - Heavenly Twins shoulder and peak to creek: 2/29  With my dad in town watching my son, I rallied at 4 am with hopes to get a solid day of skiing in and be back by dinner time.  I did most of the 3-hour trail approach in the dark.  I climbed the South face of Heavenly Twins, but stopped at the shoulder, 400 feet from the summit due to gusty winds and poor visibility.  I skied 3,600 feet from there to the end of the good skiing, made a shorter yo yo lap to get to 10k, then climbed up to the South shoulder of Disappointment peak.  I skied the looker's right of the parallel peak to creek avalanche paths, which was unfortunately choked with almost unskiable roller ball debris.  Even though the skiing quality was abysmal, it was good to finally at least descend this run with skis that I've been eyeing for years.  This was a really good day of good old fashioned Bitterroot canyon slogging and long runs with lots of good skiing and some  bushwacking and very bad skiing.  And I made it back in time for dinner!  ~10,200 vertical feet.

Any time you get five miles from the car before first light is good confirmation that
a) you got up proper early.
b) motivation levels are high.

Dropping into the Disappointment peak to creek above the roller balls.

High 4: 3/7  Big day with Ned and Justin.  11,000 vertical feet. See separate post.

Mission Traverse: 3/16  Dream come true day with Leah.  12,000 vertical feet. See separate post.

Fred Burr - Totem peak: 4/5  Long walk in Fred Burr.  See separate post.

Sheafman - West Sheafman point: 4/13ish  Really good day of straightforward Bitterroot exploring in one of my favorite early spring ski haunts.  See separate post.

Just beyond Sweeney: 4/25  I maintain a working hypothesis that Sweeney is a under utilized spring ski destination, and another fine day of exploration helped strengthen my case.  Overnight freezing temperatures were up around 7,500 feet, but the snowpack was in good shape above there.  My goal was to ski one of the unknown north gullies that drop to One Horse creek below the mellow upper North bowl.  There is a prominent band of rock slabs that had me doubtful that they would be skiable, so I skied off the summit and started down the most likely to go Western one, with the option to hike back out if it didn't work.  To my delight, it ended up being a fun line with excellent snow.  Next, I started climbing the next couloir to the East. It had a small ice step in the bottom that I thought I would be able to climb with crampons.  At the bottom of the couloir, I decided that that the day was warming too rapidly to commit to this fairly exposed ski run.  So I bailed.  Must go back - it looks like an interesting ski objective with a small ice step that appears to necessitate downclimbing or rappelling shenanigans of some kind.

Either unskied, or rarely skied terrain on the Northwest shoulder of Sweeney.

I instead crossed One Horse creek and climbed to lower East ridge of Lolo peak and skied one of the parallel North gullies.  The snow warmed too much and fell apart for the bottom third, but it was still a great ski run.  Getting back over the ridge to the base of Sweeney was gloppy and sticky and generally not much fun, so I just put my head down and got it done.  I wrapped around to the West side of Sweeney and skinned a nice gully to the top.  I had intentions to ski the gully, but it also seemed a little bit too warm to be as safe as I wanted.  So I spun a nice lap on the mellow North face to get to 10k, climbed back to the top, and schussed sticky snow out to the car.

Looking back up the One horse creek run.

Beautiful evening to climb the West face of Sweeney.

Interestingly, it would have been just as easy to do the day as a traverse and exit out to public access through the defunct McClay ski resort.  I'll have to do that next time.

Lolo peak bike and ski: 5/17 On a day with high motivation but marginal snow, I decided to bike to Lolo and ski the peak.  I rolled out of the house at 6 am, and to my surprise, the bike ride only took about 2.5 hours.

Lolo and a rainbow on the morning bike approach.

I followed the well worn trail over Carlton ridge, but then set a new track to the top of North Lolo peak.  My main new objective was to ski the West gully.  There was about a foot of very heavy new snow, and I had to be really careful ski cutting it, but I took my time and made it down safely.

Looking back up at my new West gully off North Lolo peak.

I followed an old track back to the summit of Lolo, then took three runs on the standard North face to make it a 10k day.  The snow was sticky and not very fun, but it was fun to get nice and tired.  The bike back to town was quicker than expected.  In fact, it was downright enjoyable.  What a fun day.  I think I will try to do Lolo from the house more often.  I think it would take about 8 hours for a basic round trip.  Right at 10,000 vertical feet, done in about 11 hours from the house.

Saint Mary bike and ski: 5/30  On a day with no freeze and forecast 94 degree temperatures, I decided to park at the beginning of the dirt road and bike and ski Saint Mary, and bring enough food to make it a 10k day if it didn't get too hot.  The bike up was cool and enjoyable.  Instead of taking the normal summer trail route, I skied what is the normal short exit climb from the Northeast bowls and then set a good bootpack up the Northeast bowls to the summit.  I kept it simple and skied five runs in the main Northeast bowls, efficiently recycling my boot pack.  The snow was consolidated and super fun to ski.

Walk and ski.  So simple yet so fun.

All smiles back in the valley.

Once again, the ski and bike exit was fast and fun.  I had such a fun time, especially for a day that I thought might not be worth skiing.  10,100 feet, done in 7 hours and 40 minutes from the car.

West Trapper Peak: 6/20 I stumbled on a fantastic late June ski day, finding seven new runs west of Trapper.  I approached Trapper peak from Baker lake, but crossed the South ridge just shy of the summit and took a long traversing run West to access West Trapper peak.  I then climbed to near the summit of West Trapper peak and started exploring new North facing couloirs.  I skied two below West Trapper, including a very aesthetic couloir below and east of the summit.  I then hopped over a sub ridge and skied several couloirs just West of main Trapper before climbing to the main summit and just skiing out via the mellow summer route.

First run into the West Trapper cirque.

Looking up the West Trapper Dazzler.

Another view of the West Trapper Dazzler.

Looking down a couloir tucked just west of Trapper peak,
with views to the West face routes on North Trapper.

Great skiing just West of Trapper.

It is a substantial push to get out to these lines, especially the West Trapper Dazzler, but worth considering for people looking to explore beyond Trapper peak.  I did a bunch of bumbling around trying to find ski lines, and the day took 12 hours car to car.  Right at 10,000 vertical feet.