Little Tin Cup Peak

With difficult access and no trail, the little tin cup drainage in the bitterroot is infrequently visited.  So when Steve proposed we go explore up there and aim to ski the mellow but prominent E face of little tin cup peak at the head of the drainage, I couldn’t resist.  

ascending the little tin cup drainage

We took advantage of Steve’s sled to cut down the approach, driving/towing 2 miles from the parking area to the chaffin trailhead and another few miles up the road.  From the parked sled, we toured up through some mellow bushwhacking, trending NW to gain the ridge at 7800ft.  Here we hoped to find the entrance to a sparsely treed N facing chute, that grants access down into the drainage (which is otherwise largely protected by cliffs and dense trees).  We were a little above it but after some poking around and stability assessment, found an entrance and cautiously proceeded down (lower third of chute is approx 38 degrees).

access chute

We then pointed our skis up the drainage and plodded along, until we found ourselves on top of the peak, enjoying occasional views through the clouds of the como sisters to the north and sugarloaf to the south.  After ogling at the S gully down into chaffin creek, we skied the mellow but enjoyable E face down to a bench before reclimbing to the summit.   

nearing the summit, the tin cup chutes drop N off this ridge line 

S gully to chaffin creek (bottom 500ft may be scrappy)

mellow E face

We then skied all the way down the drainage, favoring high/skier’s L.  A slow slog up the unconsolidated N facing chute commenced before we ripped skins and egressed to the sled and truck, the last hour in the dark.

Approx. 6200vert in 8.5 hrs sled-sled

Rose: skiing a prominent face of a peak that rarely gets climbed or skied  

Thorn: slog back up the N facing access chute

Bud: returning for the S gully to chaffin creek

Thoughts:  this was a long tour just to ski the 25degree E face of little tin cup peak.  With an early start, this tour could be logically combined with the tin cup chutes to the north and/or skiing south to chaffin creek and exiting via the chaffin trail.