November 28, 2008
Burning off the Turkey in the Y Couloir of Bloody Mountain
Joe, Toby, Dan
A lotta chute, a lotta powder and a little light left in the Y Couloir.
So this little storm that was kind enough to drop 2" of new on the high elevations of Tahoe, dumped at least 6" further south in the big mountains. So Toby and I decided to head down to ski Bloody Mountain with Dan on the day after Thanksgiving.
The Pro's:
- It was better than getting trampled at Wal Mart
- Carb loading was well taken care of
- Skiing the eastside is always worth it, especially with fresh snow
The Con's:
- The 6" of new snow meant skinning the 4 mile approach in lieu of driving it
- Thanksgiving gluttony would have us hauling a few extra pounds up the mountain.
Pro's outnumbered the Con's. Off we went.
View from just North of Mammoth. Bloody was looking good.
A grainy picture from my weak little camera. Bloody Couloir is the shot just left of the most prominent cliff band, starting just below the summit. The Y-Couloir is sheltered from this view. It starts on the ridge in the center of this picture. I could bore you with the details, but instead I'll just say our whole damn route is shown in this picture:
Within the valley, skinning the road. A crew ahead of us chained up their FJ and motored on up. Instead we skinned the 4 miles and 2,000' of lightly snow covered road. And we got to ski/skin/walk back down it at the end of the day too!
We left the road and took to the ridge. Really good powder lurked in the sheltered areas.
But on the exposed slopes it was a hellish 2" of fluff on sharp scree. Here's looking at the Y Not in the foreground and the Bloody Couloir in the background. All 3 of us had skied the Bloody before so we opted to try the Y. It sealed the deal when we saw the other group lining up at the top of the Bloody to drop in. We didn't come this far to ski over someone else's tracks! Turns out the Y is a better line than the Bloody anyway (IMO).
Just getting started on the most hellish booting experience any of us has ever endured.
Toby glad to be post holing instead of scree stumbling. Most (but not all) of our route lies below. See the snow covered road that goes all the way out to the moraine?
But upon reaching the ridge we were rejuvenated by the sight of the Great Red Slate
More views. East:
South:
And then we found ourselves on top of the monster. Yes, this is the entry. Easy to miss isn't it.
I dropped first. Semi firm snow on top, a rocky choke and then 2,000' of quality powder in the cliffy confines of one of the better Sierra couloirs I've ever skied. Hopefully I will add some of Dan's quality shots to this page when I see them. But for now, here are my point and shoot shots. Looking back at the upper entry and choke.
And looking down at what's left:
The view from within the belly of the rocky mountain was spectacular. Mono Lake in the distance:
Toby and Dan had to do some Buddy coaxing. But he eventually came around, and bolted down to join me.
Toby. Kind of tricky when you haven't skied anything steep and exposed in almost 6 months and you're first turns are right here....
But it ain't no thing. Just spread your wings and FLYYYYYY!
Dan's next. Almost as easy as Thanksgiving at a friend's house.
Oh, the powder.
And now, here are the money shots.
Leap frogging down the Y we went:
And the good riding just kept going and going and going.
Another amazing apron.
Buddy got his too:
Dan with the Y behind him:
Looking back at the Y (left of center) and the Bloody (right of center):
In the afternoon light we will ski out this road.
Afternoon became evening. The Whites light it up. Boundary on the Left, and White on the Right.
A whole lotta this:
Well we definitely burned out the Thanksgiving day calories out there. Fortunately we were able to replenish many of them at Giovanni's Pizza in Mammoth. Hit that place up next time you need a big 'ol cheesy pie after an epic on the east side.