July 5, 2008
North Peak Closeout
Joe, Toby, Brian
Toby welcomes summer to the Sierras.
Closing out our ski season on the North Peak NE couloirs in July is becoming a choice tradition for Toby and I. Here's North Peak in 2006. This time we were joined by Brian Finley who decided to wait all the way until July to join us on a backcountry outing this year. I think Digger is glad he made the trip.
Even though 2007 / 2008 will be remembered as a cold, dry winter (with the exception of 3 weeks of HEAVY snowfall in late January / early February), the North Peak coolers filled in nicely and were in the best shape we've ever skied them. Check it out!
All summer ski trips to North Peak start out with the Saddlebag Lake boat shuttle:
and a healthy dose of Deet:
Easy walking and scrambling in our shoes up the south side of North Peak, mostly:
Glacial till in Conness Lakes:
Toby with the North Ridge of Conness in the background. I climbed this fabulous ridge in July of 2005.
So delicate in a such a harsh world.....just like us...
Finding fun options on the way up:
So after 2 hours of walking and climbing we arrive at the top notch of the right side couloir. It's the main one. And a tres cool view awaits us through the notch at the top of the couloir. That's Matterhorn, Virginia Peak and Twin Peaks in the distance:
Digger clicks in and rolls first:
Gets a little steeper right about here...
But it's nothing but a chicken wing for the Digger.
So he just finishes the whole line in one shot and waits for us at the bottom.
Me next. Great snow on the left side, a bit bony on the right. Digger is way below:
Toby chilling in one of the coolest places on earth. The notch at the top:
Gotta love this setting:
Gotta love this snow:
Gotta love adrenaline to love this line:
Toby finishing it up:
I think he likes it!
Hang a Ralph at the bottom to go scope the other two couloirs:
The bergschrunds weren't even an issue. Although you can see them starting to form here:
So we skied down a bit and were all giddy when we saw the left side couloir looking smooth and groovy from below. We had no other choice but to ski it too:
Booting it on up:
We could only ski from the chockstone / rock band below the top. But the view from this notch was cool too. That's Shepherds Crest and Excelsior. The vertical wall on the left was dizzying and incredibly clean.
A nice shady place to switch over. Notice the tilted meadow with the Hawaii waterfalls below that we would scamper down on our way out.
I skied this one first and attempted to snap some decent shots of Toby and Brian harvesting this thin stalk of corn.
Toby:
Digger's turn. He was looking for blue and red gates to shin. Instead he settled on rocks and a runnel:
A more dramatic view:
Digger finishes strong. Next was a cold drink of water from the snowmelt creeks:
followed by the walk down the beautiful tilted meadow and towards the little Hawaii waterfalls:
Toby never misses a turn. Huge NE face of North Peak in the background with the Kook Chutes to the left:
Nice tracks in the Kook:
One of my favorite places to spend a Summer day:
Content:
I nearly stepped on this little fellow before he slowly moved away.
TGR folks at the boat dock:
Now it's officially over:
OVER:
Here's a little video I took from the bottom of the left side couloir of these majestic surroundings. Also includes Toby skiing the upper part of the line:
YouTube - North Peak Couloir Skiing
And one of Digger getting it done at the bottom:
YouTube - Digger at the bottom of North Peak Couloir
Return to Backcountry Skiing Page