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.