April 9-10, 2005
Horse Creek Peak and Dana Plateau
Joe, Toby, Chris, Rich, Dan & Buddy
Part 2 - April 10, 2005 - Jumping off the End of the World on the Dana Plateau
Trailing Dan and Dave Mingori up the dead end road that leads to the Vertical World of the Dana Plateau
The view of the shear vertical wall of the Dana Plateau from the lower sections of Tioga Pass road is one of the most captivating scenes I have ever encountered. The plateau is a dramatic continuous series of enormous cliffs that resemble the jagged teeth of the lower jaw of some viscous and mythical man eating monster. The lines are serious and committing. Huge, long, exposed and at a much greater scale than the local lines of Tahoe. In my opinion, the plateau offers the greatest concentration of very steep and exposed skiing from any single starting point in the Sierras. The above picture reveals the primary, longest and most serious side, the east face. However, the vertical lines of Ellery Bowl, the Powerhouse Chutes and even the south facing lines towards Mount Gibbs are all top notch descents for the daring. Amazingly the Dana Plateau is huge and flat on top, with room for at least 10 football games to be played simultaneously. As you approach the top of these steep lines at the edge of the plateau.....it feels as if you are walking up to the abrupt end of the earth.
So after a deep slumber at Dan's pad in Mammoth we were up and rolling north on 395 towards Tioga Pass (Hwy 120) and the Dana Plateau. We ate hard boiled eggs, burritos, bagels and tang as we drove under crystal clear blue skies and the stare of the giant lines to our left, luring us to leave the highway and stay forever. However, we remained loyal to our original plan and parked the car near the beginning of the Powerhouse Road and started the 4,500' skin upwards to the grand plateau around 8:30 AM.
Dan showing me the lines of the Mammoth Crest. I was thrilled to hook up with Dan for this big trip. Dan has ridden (and documented) some of the most amazing lines and peaks in the Eastern Sierra this year. I am always psyched to read his humble accounts of huge, creative, dangerous, often solo and remote climbs and descents. I was especially amazed by his descent of the East Face of Red Slate and the Parachute and the South Summit of Mount Morrison and The Zebra Couloir and the Checkered Demon and Mt Dade and many others.
The plateau is regularly skied by the masses as part of the backcountry Spring ritual when Tioga Pass opens up. The 10,000' drivable pass allows folks to ski 5,000' off of the plateau while only climbing 2,000' under human power - the combustion engine is good for the other 3,000'. Because the pass was a long ways from opening, we would not have this advantage; but we would not have the crowds either. In fact we did not see another soul on the plateau the entire day.
The initial ascent was a long and continuous open slope to the top of the first bench. From the bench it was moderate and rolling terrain to the base of our steep climb up the Coke Chute.
The Splitters Represent: Dan skins up with Mono Lake in the background:
Chris breaking trail - 3rd Pillar looms above:
Once we started skinning up the Coke Chute the huge scale of the plateau became very real. It almost felt Shasta-like, with the distant towering cliff walls far above. The objective was always in plain view, but had an impossibly distant feel at times.
400' from the top of the plateau, the Coke Chute became way too steep to skin. We all strapped our skis and boards to our packs, pulled out ice axes and proceeded in the firm snow on our tippy toes. Unfortunately all of us had our crampons locked up safely in the cars back at the road. At least the other 3 had their ice axes....I only had my whippet! Exhilarating mixed snow/ice/rock climbing would be on order all the way to the top.
Chris with his soft shell snowboard boots was rightfully nervous about front pointing:
Toby on the last steep snowy slope to the top: Myself using the vibram:
The Coke Chute is one of the easier descents off of the plateau, but it is by no means a cake walk.
Once on the top of the Plateau, it was time for a snack, some views and a much needed breather! Very different world up here. Can you feel that edge of the earth vibe in these two pictures?
It wasn't long before our nerves shook us off the warm rocks and sent us scrambling towards the top of some of these amazing lines we had labored all this way to explore.
The first deep, gouging line we peered into was The Ripper:
Every time I had gazed up at the plateau from those distant vista points far below, I was always mesmerized by the Ripper chute. It actually appears as if it does not go through due to a giant rock fin in the lower section that blocks the view of the lower leg of the chute. But topo maps and other accounts confirmed it went. For many months a winter cloaked picture of the Ripper graced my computer background for my dreaming pleasures. I even planned on skiing the line on a few previous trips to Tioga pass, but conditions were never conducive. And although I would have loved to ski the super steep and funnel like 3rd Pillar, I had to bring to fruition this long term obligation between myself and the Ripper. Dan had been down 3rd Pillar a couple of times and was eager to try the Ripper since he had never ridden it either. Chris, Toby and Buddy opted to travel north to the epic line of 3rd Pillar.
Dan charging hard into the top of the Ripper:
I was next:
Dan:
My tracks exiting one of the highest quality lines I've ever skied:
I think Dan was pretty stoked about the chute as well:
Dan and I cruised down the mellow open bowls towards the bottom of 3rd Pillar. Along the way we gazed up at the enormous rock walls and a few other potentially skiable lines:
Meanwhile, Toby, Buddy and Chris were having their own epic experience on 3rd Pillar:
3rd Pillar and Shadow by Chris
Chris was busy shooting video of Toby and Buddy, so there's no good close up stills of either of them on the very steep and ever narrowing upper section of 3rd Pillar. However, I was able to grab a few good shots of them on the lower exit dog leg section of the chute.
Toby and Buddy grabbed firsts in this legendary Sierra chute and rock climb:
(see the tiny dots in the shadow above)
Chris took this line non stop, all the way from the top down to Dan and I (look for the tiny dot in these shots)!
After regrouping, trading mandatory back slaps, we were privileged enough to be treated to sweet April corn down the lower open slopes and into the valley trees.
Chris grabbed a shot of me enjoying the goods (left)
Our tracks below with the plateau high above:
Once back at the car it was time for a few well earned beers and a little recollection of our Epic Eastside weekend.
The only missing piece was a chocolate dipped Mono Cone.....but we managed to take care of that too.
Click here for part #1 of our Roadie - 4/9/05 - Horse Creek Peak
Click this link to check out another one of Chris's amazing videos with plenty of footage from this sweet day:
Backcountry Files