Sugarloaf (4 Nov 2012)

Sparknotes:
2 routes at Sugarloaf: Bollee Gold and Scheister. Guidebook: South Lake Tahoe Climbing, Supertopo

The big goal of the trip was Bollee Gold.  Since visiting last winter, both Bennett and I had been thinking about it. Stoke and opportunity aligned, so we packed the vehicle late on Saturday night and headed east.

After camping by the side of a forest service road, and caffeinating appropriately, we packed up and headed up the hill. The start of the climb was relatively easy to find, and clear from the Supertopo description. I figured the best way to deal with the nervousness was to seize the first lead, so that's exactly what I did. Probably one of the finer climbing moments I've had yet. I hung after the first bolt (not an auspcious start) and then once again higher up.  I thought I'd fall once more just before the anchor, even declaring so to Bennett, but somehow danced through.

The route is the ridgeline, I think the climber is at the first belay. Wow, right? (photo credit: Supertopo thread)

Bennett took the second pitch and styled it, falling only once. I followed clean, but that was the easy part. With the hard climbing done, we scampered the rest of the way past some heads-up, but not dangerous runouts. We both agreed the first pitch had been the crux, and were happy to find out that we weren't the only ones to think so.

B^2 at the top.

With the major goal accomplished for the day, we rapped the route and headed right to Scheister. Since I had taken the first lead, Bennett took the chimney to start.  I can't say I was disappointed, and I felt like I got the best pitch of the route (fingers/hands on pitch 2).  We topped out in the dusk and descended in the dark, intermittently losing the trail.

For some reason, Bennett brings out the best in my climbing, helping me be psyched and willing to take risks, and that day was no exception.

Ticklist:
Bollee Gold (5.10c, 4 pitches) - hard stuff is bolted, but bring a couple pieces of gear for the top. More beta on Mountain Project.
Scheister (5.7, 3 pitches) - really great fun, and a good chimney\

Bradley Hut Ski Tour (5-6 Jan 2013)

Sparknotes:
Saturday - ski to Bradley hut, 2 laps on nearby knoll
Sunday - started late (~10:30), ski up Silver Peak and back down to the cars.

I was itching to get back into the mountains after a long winter break.  Of course, spending time with friends and family was great, but with only one day of resort skiing, it was hardly how I usually try to take advantage of time away from work.

Knowing that Rusty's usually good for an adventure, I talked my way onto a large group trip to the Bradley Hut.  The idea was to ski in and do some shorter laps on Saturday, then hit Silver Peak and ski out on Sunday.  I think if we had been a smaller group, we would have suffered less from large-group inertia and gotten in more skiing.  It's tough to complain though...the hut was cozy, I enjoyed hanging out with new and old friends, I got my fix of the mountains (at least until it got me thinking of all the other places I want to ski in Tahoe this season), and I skiied past dark both days, so I think I got the most of it.

ROYGB(I)V in front of the hut. (photo by Rusty)

Silver Peak seems like a great place to head back to next time I'm in the area, and has me thinking of more hut to hut touring. There are plenty of skiiable aspects and varied terrain (bowl, ridge, glades, etc), and very much doable in a day with time for a few laps of the best stuff, not to mention easy access parking.  There are several trip reports showing good tours (here's one and another). I didn't log the track we took, but helpfully Anthony did.

Red on the way in, green laps, and blue on Sunday. (track by Anthony)

Next up...Freel Peak, Tallac, Pyramid Peak, or something else that I haven't even thought of yet...

Luther Spires, 90 Foot Wall (7-8 July 2012)

I kept my streak of climbing weekends alive by heading up to South Lake last weekend.  Saturday was spent at Luther Spires.  I led every route I climbed, including a .10a mixed route which led to my only fall of the day, and my first fall on gear ever.  The gear held, which was a relief.  I'll head back and try to lead it clean another time, but the way B and I climbed it definitely felt strenuous.  I thought this crack was the crux, not the bolted section at the top.

Rattly fingers in the shadow.

For what it's worth, the SuperTopo seems to have some confusion in the Mixed Emotions area.  The .8 OW is easy to find, as is Mixed Emotions.  The bolts for Ringlock are nowhere to be found, though it's possible they're actually right of the OW. I wonder if a ring lock is the key to Mixed Emotions...

Day 2 was a day of top roping at the 90 Foot Wall.  Slippery rock, but some of the harder climbing I've done in a while (.10c I think). Worth a visit, especially for the nice lake views, but avoid the sun. I'm looking forward to getting a little stronger and trying Mayhem Cove in the same area.

Ticklist:
Dog and Gri Gri, Two Bucks (5.9)
Beer and a Hot Dog, Two Bucks (5.8)
Unknown, 2 bolts (5.9?)
Just Jerry (5.9)
Jacko (5.10b)
Jane Spy (5.7)
Mixed Emotions (5.10a)
Many topropes 5.8-10c

Slackcountry Daytrip (14 April 2012)

Spark Notes:

Saturday: Kirkwood and slackcountry to Emigrant Lake

Song of the Trip: Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) (Spotify)

Usually I pick a "Song of the Trip" because it was something that I particularly liked while on the road, or have been really enjoying that week.  This week, however, I'm dispensing some advice: spring skiing means harsher sun and longer hours, and I have a goggle tan burn to prove it.  I really ought to remember that lesson year to year.  So, yeah, wear sunscreen.

Despite the burn, I'd say the day was still worth it.  I got to Adam's at 1:00 on Friday night/Saturday morning and crashed on the couch.  We were up at 7 and out the door early to try to catch first tracks.  Why bother in April?  Believe it or not, fresh snow in April!  Kirkwood had been blessed with over 2 feet of snow in the previous 3 days and no terrible thawing temperatures.

Rusty shredding inbounds.

We rode lifts and hiked inbounds all morning to get as many fresh turns as we could.  By the time the afternoon rolled around, most of the resort was tracked out, so we skinned along the ridge to the south of the top of Sunrise (Chair 10, I think).  Completely untracked slopes led down to Emigrant Lake just below Melissa Coray Peak.  I ended up skiing with two new folks (friends of a friend) and had an awesome time.  Definitely a highly recommended slackcountry destination on days with good snow stability, especially since the tour back to the lifts is pretty mellow, too.

We'll see if there's more skiing this year, hopefully the freeze/thaw cycles will line up for some good corn snow.  I may just get too excited for climbing though...

168 Hours Later: Trimmer Peak (24 March 2012)

Spark Notes:

Saturday: Trimmer Peak, somewhere between 7 and 8 miles and about 4k feet

Sunday: Heavenly, trees, rocks, and parks

Song of the Weekend: You Never Know Who You're Gonna Meet - Jacob Bain & Publish the Quest (Spotify)

A week after the only real dumping of the '11-12 season in Tahoe, and you could barely tell that it had snowed.  Eric was feeling a bit under the weather, so we got a bit of a late start on Saturday morning.  Nonetheless, we were at the trailhead by 9:30 or so and walking our way in.  Yup, skis on our backs.  In March.  (After about a half a mile, we were able to start skiing.)

Route Map

Eric and I weren't really on the same page all day.  That'll happen when energy, stoke, and health levels aren't lining up.  I had my eyes on Freel Peak, and for sure that's on the tick list for next season (take a look off the back of Heavenly and you'll see the inviting upper snowfield and couloirs).  After Eric called a lunchtime nap, we changed tack and climbed Trimmer Peak instead.  We took a few turns down junk snow on the east side of trimmer, then skinned back up and headed down the north face.  According to the book, the parallel avalanche slides down the face are known as "The Elevens."  We figured it would make more sense to call them "the ones" or "the eleven" but maybe we read the book wrong.  Not important anyway.

Elevens (Trimmer Peak, North Face)

The skiing was mediocre, and it was a bit of a slog, but the day was more about getting out than shredding turns, and that was just fine.  I'm looking forward to getting back to Freel next year.  Other highlights of the weekend including running into a high school friend on a lift at Heavenly, getting into the terrain park for a bit, and seeing possibly the coolest rainbow I've ever seen.

Tahoe from Trimmer

Booting up

No leprechauns in sight.

Powder Weekend (17-18 March 2012)

Spark Notes:

100" of powder at Kirkwood throughout the storm

Saturday - skied Heavenly

Sunday - backountry, 3 laps and 5k vert at Waterhouse Peak

Song Of The Weekend: The Boondock Saints (YouTube) It was St Patrick's Day, after all.

It's been a dry winter for Tahoe, and while that meant climbing last weekend was excellent, it's been rough for skiing this season.  Fortunately, it snowed in the Sierra all of last week, and the biggest dump was saved for Friday night through Saturday night: perfect for everyone from the Bay Area who might have skis, a snowboard, or a sled to make the drive up to Tahoe.
I left work late on Friday and arrived very late of Friday night, technically Saturday morning. This led to a late-ish (9:30am) start, so Eric and I opted to ski Heavenly. One false start later (Eric forgot his boots) and we were on the slopes by 10.  Despite last season's spectacular ski conditions, I think this was my first for-real powder day.   What a way to celebrate St. Patricks day.  I, fortunately, plan my year around the holiday and proudly wore my green soft shell, boots, and skis. (Yeah, right.)

Heavenly...good skiing and great lake views.

A few runs in and I was finally getting the technique and loving the feel of bottomless snow.  Mott Canyon proved packed, but the Palisades gave us lap after lap of untracked runs, so we didn't see any need to really explore for the rest of the day.

Eric, shredding the Heavenly Palisades.

On another note...skiing The Face (double diamond) last year, felt like a real accomplishment after a couple days at Heavenly.  It was my first run this time around, with no hesitation.  I was pretty happy with that.

I got a bit of work in on Saturday night, but mostly relaxed and watched G.N.A.R.  Sunday, we checked out the avalanche forecast (moderate on all aspects above and below treeline on slopes 35 degrees and greater) and opted to head to Kirkwood.  On the way, though, both Eric and I were feeling the call of the backcountry. After driving past, I had to pull a U-turn to park at Luther Pass.  We recalled that Waterhouse Peak was pretty low angle, and would be anchored very well by trees, plus neither of us had skied it before, so the choice was pretty much made.

Waterhouse topo. Credit: www.aboutlaketahoe.com

Great decision on our part...the skin track was laid reasonably well, and we had spectacular, untracked conditions from top to bottom.  We were even safer than at the resort, where there was an in-bounds avalanche.

Eric skinning up among heavily loaded trees.

I've never had quite that feeling of weightlessness and pure joy while skiing before.  I finally understand all the hype about "blower pow" that all the ski movies talk about.  The trees were just spaced out enough, with plenty of snow to let us go off of rocks and trees for a little added fun.  The storm kept on all day, filling in our skin tracks a little between each lap.  That was fine with us though, I don't think anything could have crushed the mood.  Three laps later dark was falling, so we headed back to pick up the girls and begin the slog back home.

Sometimes low angle, but always awesome.

Tahoe Two-Sport Weekend (10-11 March 2012)

Spark Notes:

Saturday - Sugar Loaf, West Buttress (Guide: South Lake Tahoe Climbing by SuperTopo)

Sunday - skied at Kirkwood

Song of the trip: RJD2 – Ghostwriter (Spotify)

Waking up at a civilized 7am, I headed north to pick Bennett up in the city.  After loading more skis and cams than necessary, I pointed the Subaru north and east to Tahoe.  Bennett worked the iPod like a pro and the miles flew by.  On the drive we mixed bad singing with discussion about our goals for the day: with the consensus being moderate leading, and definitely some practice placing gear.  We debated the merits of the Leap and Cosumnes River Gorge, but eventually settled on Sugar Loaf.

We followed the SuperTopo directions to park along the side of 50.  We were met by gorgeous, sunny, t-shirt climbing weather (yay for March in California).  At the West Buttress area, we found both sticky granite and a class from the Lake Tahoe Community College.  Fortunately, the guides/students were friendly, and by situating ourselves to the far left, we climbed without interference all day.

Sacroiliac Joint (5.7)

Bennett started climbing first and led the way all day (he brought the psyche for sure) and I followed-up with my best impression.  We climbed the four routes at the far left of the crag, two friction sport climbs (5.8 and 5.9) to get a sense of things, followed by a couple top ropes to practice placing gear (10b with small gear + 2 bolts and an awkward, left leaning trad 5.7).  We supplemented the training by climbing up and then down-climbing, placing and removing gear on the 5.7.  Sufficiently psyched, we ended the climbing by leading the .7 and then the .10b in succession.  I was particularly happy with the last lead as I had greased off the 10b crux on TR before finding an easier path with some crucial nubs on the otherwise blank face.  We took the last half hour before sunset to walk around the base of the Sugar Loaf to get our bearings (and fill our heads with inspiration for another trip).  We retreated to the car in darkness: a good day indeed.

Sunset from Sugar Loaf

We arrived at the cabin expecting a relatively quite night, but found 7 new friends enjoying a feast, with food to spare.  You never know what you'll find when at Adam's place!  Glad for the company, we ditched our pizza in the fridge and joined the meal, adding some roasted veggies o the table.

Empty slopes going up The Wall at Kirkwood.

An extended hot tub session left our hands stinging but our legs refreshed for a day at Kirkwood.  We got a leisurely start after Bennett gave me a lesson in how to hot wax my skis.  Very therapeutic.  Because of the late start, we ate leftover pizza on the lift between runs: more time for skiing!  Wind, swirling snow, temperature, and low-hanging cloud cover kept the mountain relatively deserted meaning that Bennett and I were able to find plenty of drifts of soft snow among the icy patches.  A few premature binding releases on the Wall reminded me that I needed to adjust my bindings after having lent the skis to Doug last weekend.  Once snugged down, everything felt better, and we bounced back and forth from the Wall to Solitude threading between steep moguls and powder filled trees with a few little kickers in the gullies and small terrain parks.  All told, we could have barely asked for a better day, and were treated to gorgeous scenery on the drive home thanks to the additional hour of daylight.

Snow's in the forecast for this weekend so I guess I may be headed back...

Tick List:

Long Toe (5.8) - sport - lead

Middle Toe (5.9) - sport - lead

Sacroiliac Joint (5.7) - trad - mock lead, then lead

Short Toe (5.10b) - mixed - mock lead (hung), then lead