Torrey to Tweedy - East Pioneers

Climbing out from Torrey.

5/31/2024 I have become smitten by the East Pioneers in the last few years, and a few late spring ski outings have revealed some surprisingly good skiing for a dry continental range.  When Southwest Montana got walloped by an uncharacteristically wet late season storm, I was inspired to try to link the two iconic high points of the range with skis.  After a late night drive and shuttle-set. I rolled out of a car bivy and strolled out of the Dinner Station campground trailhead at a proper 4 am and climbed Torrey by the standard Southeast ridge.  It was a long, 4-hour climb with lots of slightly annoying log hopping, but all in all it went smoothly.  

Torrey North face: I wanted to also ski the intimidating (at least to me), North face, and spent some of the morning mentally deciding if I was up for it.  I had scouted the face a week prior and knew that the line had coverage, but needed to at least get a glance at conditions before committing.  From the summit, I walked a few hundred feet down the West ridge to a drop in point for the North face.  Conditions looked reasonable, and I decided to commit.  The North face run was quite intense.  Steep, with just a skiff of new soft snow on top of very firm ice.  I was able to link turns down about 2/3 of the exposed upper face, resorting to sideslipping where ice was exposed.  Soon enough, I dropped into the beautiful exit couloir and gratefully sunk edges into sun softened snow.  The rest of the run was relaxed and delightful.  I don't play the steep skiing game much anymore, but it was nice to be reminded of the euphoria that comes from doing something hard and dangerous that demands judgement and precision.

My North face line is the one which drops diagonally down and left from near the summit
and cleaves the cliffs at the bottom. 

Focused.

Glad to be done.

The traverse: After donning crampons at Torrey lake, I climbed back up to the summit of Torrey via the North ridge.  It was now time to get the traverse done.  A most splendid run down the Northeast face set the tone for the rest of the day - aesthetic, good snow, and fun.  The next run was in an excellent, straightforward couloir which drops off the ridge between the peaks.  With some cagey traversing, the walk to Tweedy was done in good time.  The NNW face of Tweedy was shockingly still in excellent condition in the afternoon.  The egress and bike shuttle were a tad long but all in all it was a fine way to spend a spring afternoon.  I was even treated to a black bear sighting near the Gorge lake trailhead.  

On to Tweedy.  The middle run was the gully that drops
from the low point in the background.

Somehow still corn o'clock on Tweedy. 
The run is continuously skiable from the summit using a ramp that hooks up and left out of view in the photo.

This was my favorite day of the season.  No hyperbole.  One of those days where I can't believe how rich this sport is, allowing us to test ourselves while painting ephemeral lines through the mountains.  And the joy of descending by skiing is not to be overlooked.  

By my estimation, a "basic" Torrey -> Tweedy traverse felt like a classic line only marred by what I suspect is a narrow window of reliable conditions where stability is OK, and spring snow sticks to normally windswept aspects.  

Buck Mountain (Swan Range) - Northeast ridge and face

Buck Mountain. 
The line starts on the left skyline ridge and extends beyond the edge of the photo.

4/21/24  The original concept for the day was to link up Pyramid and Holland peaks, but Plan A met an early demise in the throes of a morning freezing mist squall about 800 feet below the summit of Pyramid peak.  Not feeling any compelling reason to continue pushing upward with no visibility, I retreated out of the storm.  It was kind of tempting to bail early, but since the weather was clearing as forecast, I slapped skins back on and headed back up without a plan.  

Fortunately, the weather continued to clear, so I simultaneously skinned to the crest of the range and pondered afternoon ski objectives.  By the time I hit the crest, the weather was perfectly clear and cold, and I had settled on an attempt on the Northeast ridge and face on Buck mountain.  I have been wanting to ski this elegant line for a long time, and it appeared today might work to take it 3,300 vertical feet all the way to Dart Creek with good conditions top to bottom.  I skirted below the steep Northeast face before climbing Buck by the South face, which allowed a cursory conditions check before dropping in from the top. 

Nearing the summit and ready to roll.

The ski run itself was great - an aesthetic jaunt down the East ridge, followed by on-ya steep edging into ice capped by thin powder on the short Northeast face, followed by fun, relaxed turns all the way to the end of the avalanche path.  

Looking back up at the steep part of the face. 
I took the run for another 1,000 or so vertical feet to Dart creek.

The return to the Swan crest got a bit long.  Nothing that copious gummy bears and potato chips couldn't fuel.  It was cool to follow bear tracks much of the way.  The egress was a very small price to pay for the experience.  I'm happy about getting this done with good conditions and in good style.