TR: The other side of the pass 3.15.05
TR: The other side of the Pass 3.15.05
SheRa, iskibc, Marshalolson, non-maggot
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0568.jpg
Sometimes the best spots are those right around the bend or just over yonder, where most travelers don’t care to look when they are seeking out the goods. The beaten path is just that, beaten. I was always the kid who wanted to do something different from the rest of the class. Not much has changed over the course of the years. Each and every time I make it up to the pass there seems to be more tracks, more signs, more cars in the parking lot, and more of my secret stashes being discovered. It’s great to see the number of people up there enjoying themselves and discovering that small slice of heaven. It’s also just as satisfying to see the untracked abyss from eye to eye when gazing across a range. This doesn’t happen a whole lot up on the pass. Any given storm day the usual suspects are tracked up by early afternoon. The next day the big lines are usually marked up. A few days later the “that guy must have been on crack ski lines” are taken down. The window is getting smaller and smaller for getting the goods for this area. Hey, that’s fine with me; there are years and years worth of lines out there that go untracked for entire seasons. It just takes a little more patience and some extra work.
36 hours off the Napali and I was already itching to get up to the hill. Got the call from SheRa and it didn’t take much conversation to convince me to head up to the pass for a day of touring. Several thousand miles, 36 hours from this:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0565.jpg
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0566.jpg
to this:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0569.jpg
and I was indeed living the paradise of both worlds. My newly acquired sea level lungs were burning after the first 25 minutes of skinning at 10,000+ feet. We met up with Marshal and his co-worker for a dawn patrol on the pass with amazing weather. The morning was nice and crisp, but the sky was cobalt blue and the sun was just beginning to creep over the eastern horizon as we made our first skin tracks up the east side of the pass.
Marshal had to be at work by 10 AM, so we were pressed for time. We skinned up and over to Mines 2 and split ways as they had to split for work.
Mines goodness:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0545.jpg
We parted ways as SheRa and I continued to skin up Mt. Flora (13, 137’). The views were stunning as we climbed higher and higher in the morning hours. Several mountain ranges in view and nothing but bright sunshine and a windless blue sky. After several false summits we made it to the true summit and hung out for a while and ate breakfast.
SheRa making her way up:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0548.jpg
We decided the snow looked better over on the west facing slope of Vortex, so we made the traverse and found some amazing snow all the way into the drainage.
SheRa towards the top:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0549.jpg
Heading towards the drainage:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0551.jpg
3,000 vert later and a ride back up to the pass we found Marshal and his buddy sitting in the parking lot. Turns out their boss called and told them not to come in to work today. We grouped back up and skinned up the east side again with a new plan in mind. Earlier we had found a stable snow pack on all the aspects we crossed and were in the mood for an adventure. From Flora, I had scoped out a few lines off the backside of the East side of the pass. We decided to skin up to the weather station and get a closer look at things. Large corniced chutes and close-out lines over huge cliffs made up most of the face, but we found a couple of safer options skier’s right. After cutting some cornices and poking around the top of a chute, we decided it wasn’t safe enough and headed for the safer lines over to the right. One of the most difficult parts of the backcountry is turning away from a line that you really want to ski. In the end I’m glad we chose not to ski the chute as there were signs of recent avalanche activity on similar aspects when we got down into the valley.
We hit the line skier’s right to the face and found amazing snow. A good foot of fresh on top of a fast and solid layer made for some nice turns down into Blue Creek.
Marshal:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0563.jpg
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0561.jpg
At different points we came across signs of some deep instability in the snow pack and became very concerned. Some whoomphing and cracking in the pack made for some uneasiness, but we managed to play our cards as safe as possible throughout our descent.
iski:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0557.jpg
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0558.jpg
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0564.jpg
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...cs/Cnv0559.jpg
3,200’ vertical and a couple of hours later we found ourselves on HWY 40 near the town of Empire. We were several miles away from the pass and were very pleased with our run. A couple of minutes of waiting and then a van picked us up and took us back to the top of the pass just in time for a quick happy hour and a beautiful Colorado sunset.
