TR: The other side of the pass 3.15.05

**iskibc** · 03-15-2005, 10:25 PM

TR: The other side of the Pass 3.15.05
SheRa, iskibc, Marshalolson, non-maggot

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:

to this:

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:

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:

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:

Heading towards the drainage:

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:

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:

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.

**Benny Profane** · 03-15-2005, 10:48 PM

Always look foward to your pix. sob, I miss Colorado.

**powstash** · 03-15-2005, 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by iskibc

iski:

Me want some! Nice TR - was wondering when your next TR would appear and keep me thinking pow while all my co-workers are thinking summer.

**wookalar** · 03-15-2005, 10:57 PM

brah, you'd get laughed right out of deer valley puttin weight on the uphill ski like that...

great pics, 4 rats!

edit- I guess my imported icons didn't work...blast!

**Trackhead** · 03-15-2005, 11:02 PM

The transition in the TR is very cool.

I'm guilty of the 'climbing bug' too, but the pow pics keep that at bay.

**Lone Star** · 03-15-2005, 11:10 PM

amazing TR. some of the best pics you've put up this season....

have you skied the west face of parry?

**Blurred** · 03-15-2005, 11:13 PM

Glad the crew had a good time. I absolutely love the Hawaii pics too, good to hear from you bro.

**ak_powder_monkey** · 03-15-2005, 11:19 PM

sweet, so when the snowpack gets creepy what do you do? Just pick your route on ridges as well as you can and go one at a time?

**SIIHP** · 03-15-2005, 11:22 PM

Makes me wanna learn about and start going BC. Course thats not new, something I have wanted to do for a few years.

The skiing looks great, and I would love to do it. But for me, just about as much as the skiing, is the photo ops. I can see myself taking about a billion pics if I ever do something like that. lol. Now if I just had some decent photog skillz...

**marshalolson** · 03-15-2005, 11:36 PM

glad we backed off the chute... here is a truly cappy pic of it.

nice write up, and awesome to ski with you, finally, iskibc.

oh, and jeff, the non-maggot will be posting in no time, after meeting iskibc and shera, and running into killclimbz and spthomson in the parking lot.

**gramps** · 03-15-2005, 11:40 PM

Awesome pictures! Especially since there's nothing like that left around here.

**iskibc** · 03-15-2005, 11:42 PM

Originally Posted by ak_powder_monkey

sweet, so when the snowpack gets creepy what do you do? Just pick your route on ridges as well as you can and go one at a time?

You should always go one at a time no matter what the avy danger may be. You're better off being too safe than not safe enough

. You can never take too many precautions. When the pack changes during a tour I feel it's most important to keep your cool and not panick. I've seen too many people out there freak out and lose their focus and mindset. Keeping yourself calm and re-evaluating the situation are the first steps. Like I said before, you can always turn back and ski your skin track. Ridges, shoulders, low angled and well anchored slopes are your best bets for safer ski zones. Again, it's really important to keep your focus and not freak out if you all of a sudden find instability after committing to a line. You can read all the books out there and listen to a million lectures, but nothing will prepare you better than actually getting hands on experience and learning in the field. Patience is key.

SIIHP, make sure you can wave your dick before you venture out into the bc

Oh, and don't forget to write up a report 5 minutes after you get home so you can amuse the elitist collective.

**SIIHP** · 03-15-2005, 11:47 PM

Originally Posted by iskibc

SIIHP, make sure you can wave your dick before you venture out into the bc

Oh, and don't forget to write up a report 5 minutes after you get home so you can amuse the elitist collective.

Will do. Shall I get pics of said dick waving?

**marshalolson** · 03-15-2005, 11:49 PM

Originally Posted by SIIHP

Will do. Shall I get pics of said dick waving?

that very well could amuse the elitist collective...

**bcrider** · 03-16-2005, 12:33 AM

oh man we needed this thread.

great stoke, pics, and words !skibc. I just skied CO in my mind.

thanks for taking the time to share!

**Dirk Diggler** · 03-16-2005, 08:34 AM

You guys don't get it. TR does not = dick waving. This tr is not written in the standard dick waving format. Nice job on the photos Iski.

**hev** · 03-16-2005, 08:36 AM

Nicely done!

**Foggy_Goggles** · 03-16-2005, 08:39 AM

Nice zone heh! Those chutes are money come spring time. How did you like the creek ski back to Empire? I've done that before and I strongly prefer to skin back up the shoulder to the south or back up the bowl to the north, I'm a pussy I guess. You should try the ski back to East Portal. That's your style.

**Pinner** · 03-16-2005, 08:42 AM

v nice!

**Twoplanker** · 03-16-2005, 08:48 AM

Freaky. Back in 1997, I took this EXACT same picture. Literally. I was standing on the same spot, framed the picture with that elbow-shaped tree on the left, everything.

**hoarhey** · 03-16-2005, 08:48 AM

Great stuff. I had been wondering what you were up to and relieved to see the TR.

Nice yin-yang pics with Kauai and Colorado, thank you!

Great pictures by the way.

**iskibc** · 03-16-2005, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by Foggy_Goggles

Nice zone heh! Those chutes are money come spring time. How did you like the creek ski back to Empire? I've done that before and I strongly prefer to skin back up the shoulder to the south or back up the bowl to the north, I'm a pussy I guess. You should try the ski back to East Portal. That's your style.

Loved it back there. Those chutes are appealing indeed. Hopefully they hold up for late spring. There is a lot more terrain than I had imagined back there. As we descended the valley more and more chutes and lines popped into view. Very cool area. You're right, the creek back into Empire is a bitch. Lot's of deadfall and a thin cover made for some interesting times to say the least. Skinning up the last shoulder in the valley and traversing over into floral park would have been ideal. The East Portal ski would be sweet. I've eyed that route before on topo and from the top of the pass. Looks pretty straightforward with maybe the exception of getting over Parry Peak.

Originally Posted by Twoplanker

Freaky. Back in 1997, I took this EXACT same picture. Literally. I was standing on the same spot, framed the picture with that elbow-shaped tree on the left, everything.

That hike into Hanakapa'ai is one of my favorites of all time. Absolutely amazing.

**Foggy_Goggles** · 03-16-2005, 09:18 AM

I've eyed that route before on topo and from the top of the pass. Looks pretty straightforward with maybe the exception of getting over Parry Peak

You don't have to go close to that far. From the saddle just to the north of Mines, walk the couple hundred yards out to the subpeak to the east. From there, you can see the actual portal where the train comes out. You can decend from either Floral, Eva or Brekenridge is I remember correctly.