Kettle Peak 022506

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.........................................experiences from the Sierra Backcountry

February 25, 2006

A Little Slide, A Little Irie, A Blacksmith and A Kettle

Joe, Toby, Dan, Buddy

Upper Little Slide Canyon with Kettle Peak towering on the right. Our line started at the U notch near the summit and continued directly down the fall line through the chute adjacent to the Regge Pole - 2/25/06.

I don't have the time (and the ability is questionable anyway) for an articulate and witty write up on this grand day. So here's a bunch of pictures to look at from a desolate sunny Saturday in the High Sierras. The short of it: Toby, Buddy and I cruised down in dawn's early hours from the South Shore to meet Dan Mingori from Mammoth at Twin Lakes. We hacked our way up the brush and Vietnamese jungle grass of Robinson Creek to Little Slide Canyon. We fought some more, then skinned up the big wide boulevard lined with granite skyscrapers of all sizes and shapes. Although the Incredible Hulk chute was our initial objective, the rocky apron, rocky middle, double fall line, and strangely textured snow all contributed to our determination to return when there's a bit more coverage in it. We found a very worthy alternative in the Lord of the Rings-esque chute adjacent to the Regge Pole (thus named the Irie Chute). We ended up following the chute to an upper snowfield and ultimately to the notch just below the true summit of Kettle Peak. After basking in the sun and gawking at unfathomable other amazing peaks in the distance, we dropped into our line. The skiing ended up being almost as amazing as the surroundings. We zipped to the other side of Little Slide and then skinned and booted up the West facing mellow slope to the base of the North snow ramp of Mount Walt. We dropped more sweet pow down into Blacksmith Canyon, avoiding a repeat of the long and flat slog along Robinson Creek to Twin Lakes. Blacksmith also offered some wide open big turns on a bit of lower elevation corn refreeze. Getting out of Blacksmith was a bit of a bear, including a painful collision between an arborous resident and Dan's left arm. Near the bottom the snow was thin and the trees were thick. Incredibly we were able to keep our skis on to within 200 yards of the car. We enjoyed beautiful sunny and still weather the entire day, without a sight or sign of another soul in any direction.....until we got to the car. I think the day could be safely classified as "outrageous".

I'll try to add more descriptions to these pics later.