Absolutely fantastic TR! Thanks much for sharing.
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Absolutely fantastic TR! Thanks much for sharing.
Unreal. Way to max out the year.
I didn’t have tracks to follow but actually didn’t find the route finding to be particularly difficult. I did take a GPS watch with me though, so if you want to take a look at my tracks shoot me a pm and I’d be happy to send them over.Quote:
Originally Posted by gimpy
The skiing itself wasn’t too gnarly but the exposure is huge. I think I read that the headwall of the first step hits 54 degrees, but things mellow fairly quickly. The line is pretty much no fall zone the whole way down, and when I was there getting over the lip after the first step meant some very steep side hilling and side stepping over blue ice - it was definitely the crux of the route when I was there, and is made mentally harder by being directly over a 1000 or so foot cliff.
Other pics I’ve seen have shown that people have skied right over it in different conditions though, guess it just depends how the wind comes in!
This makes my palms sweat. :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by lazyasian
Whoa, I just stumbled upon this. What a season! Great work Frank, brings back some excellent memories. You're kind of inspiring me to put together a TR of my own from last year...
Thanks, man. You should do it! It was actually pretty fun going through and curating last season's photos. So many good days!Quote:
Originally Posted by whatsupdoc
sweet babeee jebus.
Just read both whatupdoc and AKBruin’s TR’s. I’m dupla-posting the same comment to both. Both were equally awesome, and cuz, well, I’m lazy. Thanks for posting – really great stuff, so many awesome lines and pics. I know that musta took some effort to put together. You guy’s killed it last year. Props. A lot of folks would take a lifetime to do as much as y’all did. Great routes. Brought back some good memories, as well as jealousy and making me look forward to stuff still on my ticklist (Tinemaha, S side of Split, etc… hope the march miracle continues and hits down south so the East side is good this year).
Your TR's are what the Sierra’s are all about. Every year should be last year. Thanks again for sharing.
Awesome year and great TR. You got on so many amazing descents.
Fun to look at this again today! Hoping next weekend is money for the eastside.
I had to laugh at the 10 year old on top of Incline Peak - I've hauled a touring partner's flatland brother up for a single lap and we were pretty sure he's not gonna make it. Good for you for getting out with the kids!
To hell with it. I'm just going to periodically put my Eastern Sierra TRs here so that I can find them without having to search through various threads.
January 2018
Let's start by comparing January 2017 . . .
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. . . with January 2018.
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It felt like November.
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Knowing that conditions weren't great, I got impatient and made an ill-fated attempt to bag Feather as a solo overnighter.
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Still, I got some much needed tent time.
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Sadly, I didn't make it to Feather or even Royce Lakes. Around 10,800, everything was whomping and fracturing no matter which way I went. It was unnerving. There was a facet layer about 12-16" below surprisingly decent powder. So, I cut my losses and turned tail. My campsite is below.
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March 2018
After borderline despair, March delivered a prodigious amount of snow to the Sierra. It went from abjectly terrible to okay and almost average.
whatsupdoc and I made our first trip down and settled on the north side of Basin Mountain. (I don't know why the Buttermilks area is not a national park, although I'm grateful for the easy access.)
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Our almost random choice ended up being a stunning, sustainedly steep 2,000'+ couloir with a cool choke about a 2/3rds of the way down.
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It was firm but edgeable. Not a place to fall though.
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Fantastic.Quote:
Originally Posted by AKbruin
April 2018
The day after Basin, whatsupdoc and I did Mt. Williamson as an overnighter. Wikipedia informs me that Williamson is both the second tallest mountain in California (after Mt. Whitney) and the second biggest mountain (after Mt. Shasta).
The approach, however, was humbling. I thought I had a fairly high tolerance for sufferfests. Williamson, however, left me a little broken.
This was actually the easy part.
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...5&d=1522977789
Photo: whatsupdoc
This is the view from "the notch," which one gains after a 90 minute uphill scramble. There is no trail anywhere. It was followed by a 45-minute traverse toward the creek and then another 4 or 5 hours of scrambling to the snow at about 9,000'.
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So, we did about 6 hours of this the first day and maybe 4 hours the second day. I do not exaggerate when I say that there was literally no level ground. At best, there was maybe a half a mile of walking in the creek itself, which merely involved boulder skipping and the occasional 3rd class move. But the rest of the time one was either walking up, down, or across 30-degree slopes with varying degrees of loose dirt, small boulders, big boulders, schwacky foliage, etc.
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. . . like this.
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...978759&thumb=1
Photo: whatsupdoc
Backcountry skiing is so much fun.
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...9&d=1522981711
Photo: whatsupdoc
Enough bitching about the approach though. The views from the summit (14,370') were stunning.
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Well, maybe a little more bitching.
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Whatsupdoc more than 10,000 feet above the valley floor.
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Langley, Russell, and Whitney.
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#gladididit #butneveragain
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On Friday, Franz Klammer flew into Reno from Connecticut at midnight, arrived in a Topaz Lake motel at 2 a.m., and was picked up by yours truly at 5:30 a.m.
After years of staring at Gibbs from 395, we finally skied its east face. The 2-mile dry hike from the car to snow included a trail for 80% of the way, which felt blissfully luxurious after Williamson.
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Franz makes some friends on the boot up to the summit.
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We got fun transitional powder to corn for 3,500' to 3,800' of the descent.
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This is a great line.
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On Sunday, whatsupdoc and another friend joined us for my second attempt at Feather this year, and third since last year.
Telescoping poles: Bad.
Voile straps: Good.
(This happened about 4 miles into a 18.5 mile day.)
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Unfortunately, the weather turned to flat light and wind just as we started booting the couloir. So enjoy the skinning photos.
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Does flat light look better in black and white?
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Here's a photo of our couloir from Dade last June.
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whatsupdoc.
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Franz Klammer.
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After post-ski beers and chips, franzklammer drove straight to Reno, where he had a midnight flight (middle seat) back to Connecticut. He texted me mid-morning the following Monday to let me know that he had finally taken a shower. He couldn't have smelled good on his redeye:
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A+
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST...this thread is so good. :yourock::yourock::yourock:
Rekindled how bummed I was to have injured myself right before xmas last year :(
so great. will make it back there someday hopefully :)
Yes, A+. Great stuff.
Ski straps are great for poles and all, but I had no idea they weighed so much.
Attachment 236921
Please do and bring freak and CM as well! Otherwise, I've told the missus and Florian of my general desire to go Tirol.Quote:
Originally Posted by klar
Ha. I remember that being a steeper and a harder move than it looks like in that photo, although it certainly captures the mode well.Quote:
Originally Posted by plugboots
This thread gets me going. So many amazing lines!
Out fucking standing!
Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
Immense stoke and harsh reality, all in one place. Always worth a re-read!
this thread is so, so good.Quote:
Originally Posted by AKbruin
wow looks like a great place to live, you're very lucky. keen to get to Tahoe next feb albeit only for a few days
Ol Style tgr.
Glad I came across this thread! Great TR's!