We had one nice day forecast this week, the last for quite a while, so I hooked up with Ben for another tour up Tioga Pass way.
We started at Tioga Lake then jumped up onto the Dana Plateau.
The north face of Mt Dana with the Dana Couloir left in the shade and Solstice couloir to the right.
We made fast time to the top of Kidney Chute, dropping in around 10:30.
What a beauty! Timing was good as the snow was soft, but not too soft.
First time for me.
We then donned skins and headed up out of the Kidney Lake drainage.
The sweet view looking east from the head of the canyon. Mono Lake distant and Kidney Lake center.
From there it was easy skinning to the top of the Dana Couloir, notch up right.
We hung out at the top of the couloir for a good long while, maybe not long enough though as the snow in there was still quite firm. We dropped in a bit before 1pm.
We side slipped the steep throat before summoning the courage to crank turns. Not the most fun skiing, but certainly exciting and quite an amazing locale.
The skiing out Glacier Canyon was a little tedious with several, short hiking sections and a bit of skating. The final slopes down to Tioga Lake were fun though.
Awesome day in the mountains! Looking forward to a few more before I hang 'em up.
1 comment:
Looks like a great adventure. I am planning to descend the Kidney Lake drainage off of Mt Dana next week. Do you think this route will be solid? I with have snow shoes and possibly an ice axe and crampons.
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