TR: Bloody 6/4

**tarkman1** · 06-06-2005, 11:55 AM

The drive up Laurel Lakes road from Sherwin Creek road is pretty steep and rocky, but mainly dry and clear of snow. I charged through snow in one shady section, approximately 15 yards. Clearance recommended at the time of publishing. I parked the Jimmy at a section where snow still blocked the road. Charging through that wouldn't have been a bright idea as the snow was rather slanting downhill. From there, the booting began. Then again, I knew it was coming and decided to bring some day hikers for the mile that lay before me rather than slog in the touring boots.

I wound up parking about 7:00 am. The snow that blocked my vehicle progress was firm and indicative of a cool night. I left up the road for Bloody at 7:20. I took about an hour before I got to where I started going upwards. On the way before the first switchback, I only passed one other secton of the road that was snow covered. I did note some three foot high rockfall along the road that would put a damper on driving and present some difficulties in turning around to head out.

This should give you an idea of the route up. Note, this picture is from last year (and not by me). There is a little more snow right now, but not too much different from the picture.

Approach

I skinned a bit on the initial part of the ascent (all of ten minutes or so) before deciding that snow was firm and the skins would slide pretty easily. Spying a bootback, I decided to boot. I made it up bench toward the snow field. I tried skinning again, but the snow was still a bit too tricky for my tastes. A slide could potentially take you for ride on a thirty degree something slope. Here, a whippet would have been a good thing to have, but I didn't have one. The skis went on the pack (again) and out came the crampons. I did see a boot pack that went back and forth up the snow field, but decided to pass on that. I took a direct path towards the ridge because I didn't feel like covering more distance that I needed. This snow field faces west and wasn't getting the early morning sun so the crampons worked fine in the still firm snow. At the top of the ridge, the sun softened the snow a bit. I made the ridge only to see a nice mass of rock blocking my way. I decided to go around to the right instead of climbing directly over the things. Either way wasn't easy. My path was slow across the scree. By this time it was slightly past 11:00am. Snow at the top field along the ridge was mush. Going left would have been unwise (sun-baked and below a rock monument). Oh, be wary that you don't punch through the snow towards the top of the ridge: it happened to me twice.

After a short break, I walked the ridge. It's mellow up there with a good path. From there, I got a chance to scope the descents better. The main couloir (by the rock wall) looked like it had plenty of rock fall. I knew from the approach that the snow looked far from pristine. Skiers right of the 'fin' through the couloir looked better, but beware on the entry. I think a small ledge will mark the entrance into the couoir there. If you go too far right from that, you'll find yourself at the upper portion of the hanging snow field.
Stay high and go in early.

Next, I next got a good look at Y-chute which faces northwest. By now it was about noon, I didn't want to be making a descent past about 1pm or so. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get to the main couloir. With the snow okay at the top of Y, I decided to go with that option. The snow was fine getting in. It wasn't thin, sketchy or anything else. Though I'm not sure how long that will last. Once again, the picture isn't from 6/4 but shows the options pretty well.

Descent

Once I descended a bit lower of the ridge. The snow was still okay and soft, but it wasn't hero snow. You couldn't really lay hard into turns without consequence. The couloir was fun and very 'what you see is what you get'. Y had a descent amout of rock fall in it as well. That meant rocks conducting heat, melting snow around them, and making mini-craters, something that you wouldn't want to hit with speed. Sun cups weren't pronounced, but still there. Once Y ended, I was trying to work the snow for something soft and smooth so I could open the throttle. Nope. Still some texture from sun cups and debris from above.

In the end, it took me five hours from car to descend. I could have left the skins behind. I had an ice axe, didn't need it, but wouldn't have left it behind. I liked the route that I took. Booting up the couloir has the associated rock fall danger. With the amount of rock in the snow, I'd want to spend as little time to that exposure as possible. I had a good enough look at the couloir and enough beta that I was comfortable seeing the shot close up for the first time on my descent.