Hammil & TJ Bowls

 Mammoth Mountain Ski Area reported 9" of new snow as of Tuesday morning so I decided to tour up in the lakes basin in hopes of finding powder skiing.

Low clouds hung around all morning with light precip off and on. Nice to see a wintery scene again.

Visibility was an issue in the higher open bowls, so I took a couple of fun runs here in the trees.

Next morning (yesterday) I hooked up with my buddy Ben and we toured back up in the Hammil zone. 

No clouds today. There was a new melt/freeze crust on much of the lower to mid elevation snow, especially any aspect besides due north. Higher up was still consistently soft.

Ben nears our first transition below Hammil Cirque.

Then enjoys real nice snow for our first run.

Our tracks on the right.

We skinned back up for another run here. Hit the old crust occasionally but still a fine run.

The zone. Again, our tracks on right and left.

 We then skinned over to TJ Bowl. The throat was tracked. Looked like a ski area, but we found plenty of fresh in the open bowl below. Starting getting heavy/sun affected about half way down, but still skied alright. Photo from a buddy taken the previous afternoon.

Great day. Hope we see some more winter before spring is over!

Nevahbe Ridge

 After a week plus of recovery and yard work I felt ready to go, so day before yesterday I decided to poke around the Nevahbe Ridge area.

 Raised ski and snowmobile tracks on the big cone on the right from months ago were not an especially encouraging sight.

The first few couloirs to come into view looked like they "went" but held a lot of dirty snow and were not real inviting.

These two a bit higher looked better. Ended up in the left one.

Cool rock formations on the climb.

With about 3,000' under my belt and the sun rapidly warming the snow I turned around here.

I started the descent about 11:15 and was more than happy to find quite good skiing.

Today I went back again. Early light on Long Valley and Lake Crowley.

There has to be fifteen or twenty nice lines off Nevahbe Ridge. I was tempted by this one, but kept on going.

Glad I did. The next set looked really attractive. Ended up booting the left hand chute.

Views back to Long Valley and Crowley.

Gorgeous! The smooth, sun softened wind board skied really well.

Got up to the dark band of rock below this pinnacle and started to find the snow more punchy and transitional, so I turned around there.

Splendid skiing all the way!

 Again I descended around 11:15. Timing seemed about right. Lots of reports of funky snow here in the Eastern Sierra, but I lucked out and found the fun snow.

Wyoming Road Trip 2

 After the fantastic day in the Red Creek area the snow started falling again. After mulling our choices and perusing maps we elected to tour up Wolf Creek.

 The terrain there is steep and we didn't see too many skiable lines except this one broad drainage. Sadly after around 500' of climbing we found the valley completely choked with old avalanche debris.

Rick makes it look good. It wasn't. Six inches of light fluff over an uneven, but supportable base. OK but not exactly thrilling.

Next day we rested and recovered at the Astoria Hot Springs. So nice.

With reports of up to 20" of new snow in the Jackson Hole area we drove up there to tour. Super cold with temps subzero. Steam rising from the Snake River on our drive.

 Twas a glorious morning in Teton National Park.

25 Short (a small peak 25' short of 10,000') was our objective. It's relatively close to the trailhead, holds lots of different runs and likely had a skin track.

Rick skins in near the bottom.

We got too wedded to an online "track" and found ourselves breaking trail in rather deep snow while the actual skin track was up and over a ridge. Alas we joined it near the top.

Clouds rolled in mid morning as we reached the top, but the views were still astounding. With a steady wind we had to throw on all our clothes to stay comfortable.

First run fun. Even though there was up to 20" of new snow we still felt the crust beneath on the steeper pitches up high. Once the slope angle eased though it was all float.

Rick heads up for another.

 Me on the second run. Lots of folks, lots of tracks, but still lots of great turns.

I managed to develop some funky blisters on 25 Short. I wasn't sure I could manage another full day, so I went solo while Rick and another buddy, Brad went back to TNP. I took a short drive south from the cabin and skied up towards Prater Mountain in the Salt River Range.

Blisters hurt a bit at the beginning and then the pain vanished. I was stoked to find a good skin track put in by two previous skiers and acres of open, moderate powder fields.

After a bit I realized a summit visit was within my grasp. Total elation at the top! Star Valley below.

Nothing short of amazing skiing all the way down.

 

Last day of the trip we headed up towards Ferry Peak. Brad and Rick head up the approach drainage. We booted up to the ridge on the right and continued along the ridge. Ferry Peak up left. 

Rick got this photo of me near the top of the boot pack.

The view back down our ascent gully and the Snake River Valley below. Star Valley right.

I wasn't feeling up for the summit bid, so I kicked back on the ridge and watched the boys climb to the top.

Avalanche hazard was significant here with recent wind loading and a rapid rise in temps, so we elected to ski this ridge down into the Cottonwood Creek drainage. Brad enjoys the powder.

Yours truly skiing down the ridge. Note the crown from a small avalanche we remotely triggered just to the left of me.

Below we had to navigate a short section of steep, complex terrain to reach the upper section of Cottonwood Creek, but it was a relatively easy cruise out after that.

Pretty cool day despite a bit of stress here and there. Sure is an amazing zone.

Big thanks to Rick & his family for providing the cabin and companionship. Fantastic trip!

Wyoming Road Trip

 I got an offer from a buddy I could not refuse. His family has a cabin about an hour south of Jackson that was available to him. Did I want to meet him there and do some skiing? Heck yeah!

The "go to" spot in the Tetons is Teton Pass, so that's where we went. We arrived at 9am to an empty parking lot. Not a good sign.

Undaunted we toured out the ridge south of the pass. We were impressed and a bit encouraged by the number of ski tracks and skin tracks.

Moody day with very light snow showers and a low cloud deck.

Skinning on old tracks went well. Off track we punched through a breakable crust that made for slow going and was not a good omen for getting decent turns.

The crust was widespread, but slightly weaker in the trees. We found a little glade where we hoped the skiing would be tolerable. It was not.

My guide friend who works up here described skiing in the entire area as "heinous." Great.

Next day we decided to go for a short tour closer to the cabin. Having spied some nice glades near the road near Fall Creek we had a go there. 

At the trailhead there was a huge Elk herd. Quite a sight.

We poked around, getting a feel for the lay of the land and the snow quality on different aspects. Eventually arriving at a small knob above open glades with nice views of the Snake River valley.

We were more than a little pleased to find a supportable crust with several inches of new snow in the glades which provided fun skiing. Good enough to warrant two runs.

A vast improvement over "heinous" the previous day. Encouraging too to know the skiing in this area might just be the ticket.

My guide buddy Jed sent me helpful map with routes for the area around Ferry, Deadhorse, and Red Peak near our cabin, so we elected to check it out the following day.

Red Creek provided great access and fine scenery. Deadhorse Peak back left.

A bit further up the valley closed into several small, steep drainages.

After a little fussing around in debris filled gullies we emerged into more open terrain. Still a little lingering avy debris here. Snowflakes floated in the air day long.

The new snow depth increased as we rose. Rick ascends near the top.

Looking south to stunning Ferry Peak.

Rick happy and ready to drop.

Cold and windy. We did not linger.

Fine skiing was had.

Big GS turns then figure 8s. Solid fun.

Snow quality varied depending on aspect lower down but good turns could still be found.

Memorable!