Castle Crag via Nipple Knob

Back in mid-February between race weekends, Jeffrey and I were able to connect for a full day out in the Bitterroot.  With recent warm temps, we didn’t have a great sense of what conditions might be like but as we like to say – “you don’t know until you go.”  We decided on Castle Crag at the head of Sheafman creek.   

east face of castle crag

We started our day by ascending the broad east face of Nipple Knob, and skiing an inch or two of creamy powder on a supportable crust down the N side to sheafman creek.  We then found the summer trail and cruised up canyon to garrard lake.  Climbing out of the drainage to get on castle crag’s SE ridge can be a little tricky but we carefully forged a route up N facing storm slabs til we could hop over the ridge and easily ascend supportable crust and talus on the S side to the summit. 

the S face of W sheafman point

climbing out of sheafman creek

nearing the summit

We had a look at the N couloir but found the entrance heavily winded loaded and the rock slabs at the choke not quite filled in.  We instead started our way down the long S-facing gully into mill creek.  We enjoyed dust on supportable crust most of the way down til the bottom thousand or so feet gave way to heavy slush conditions.  After finding the mill creek trail, we had a nice lunch break in the sun before beginning the long skins-on egress out.  Given the unsupportable isothermic mush, what should have taken 2 hours became a character building 4 hour affair with endless wallowing and a minor onset of blisters and trench foot.  But we persevered and eventually found ourselves back at the car, feasting on chips and glad to be done.

wind loaded entrance to N couloir

cruising down the S gully

the slightly scrappy bottom ~500ft of the run from near the mill creek trail

Stats: about 19 miles and 6800 vert in 11 hours car-car

Rose: skiing castle crag for my first time

Thorn: the long slog out mill creek

Bud: the N couloir looks like a short but engaging run when in condition

Thoughts: both sheafman and mill creek trails are flat enough that a pair of race or kicker skins would be beneficial

February Skimo - whitefish & nelson

The 2017 iteration of the Whitefish Whiteout was special in many regards.  Between all the race categories, a record 130+ folks took part, to honor Ben Parsons and celebrate his love of uphill skiing in the Flathead community.

Additionally, the Toni Matt uphill route was officially re-named the Benny Up route, again in tribute of Ben.  Lastly, local skimo crusher Mike Foote broke the single ascent time record to the summit, in a speedy 24:52.    

This was my first time racing the whiteout and I had a blast, having a close battle with Brian, Jeffrey and Stano.  Read on for a full recap.

race start.  i'm in blue at far left and not actually in the lead.  (photo: bria)

After a painfully hard start off the line, I eased back a touch on the throttle but kept pushing hard, hoping to remain within sight of the chase pack at the summit.  This didn’t materialize but I transitioned slightly behind Jeffrey in sixth place before starting down the first run.  The skiing was pretty terrible but I made it down in one piece before throwing on skins and staying close behind jeffrey on the skin to the NBC booter.  Brian caught me by the top of the booter and cruised past soon after as I paused in confusion at the top of the skins-on descent towards lodi peak.  Jeffrey, Brian, myself and Stano made the short climb up lodi all close together before getting a little separated on the confusing descent.  I passed jeffrey in the trees but then emerged a little too low on a groomer so had to skate up/over to the transition which would allow him to repass me.  Again Brian, Jeffrey and myself in close succession made the climb to the bighorn bootpack where places 2 (travis) through 6 (jeffrey) were all still on the bootpack as I started up.  Jeffrey and I ripped skins together at the top of the climb before he missed some flagging and made a detour down to the final transition point, arriving a few seconds after I did.  With the finish line at the summit, all that remained was the final low angle cat track climb to go. 

We quickly threw on skins as Stano arrived and the stage was set for an exciting sprint finish!  I was initially a few strides ahead of Jeffrey til Stano dropped the hammer and pulled up along side me, forcing me to dig deep to stay ahead.  We could see Brian not far ahead looking over his shoulder but he was out of our reach with the short distance to go.  As I rounded the final corner, I pushed as hard as I could, hopeful it would be enough to hold off Stano.  Fortunately it was, and I collapsed at the finish, 5 seconds ahead of him, 14 seconds ahead of Jeffrey and 21 behind Brian.  Definitely the most sustained battling and exciting finish I’ve thus far experienced in racing.

i narrowly missed out on this top 5 podium.  (photo taken from foote's instagram)

I finished in 1:41:32 in 6^th place.  Worth mentioning that places 2-8 all finished within 3:12 of one another.  Full results here. 

Rose: despite the suffering, the exciting sprint finish with Stano and Jeffrey

Thorn: a few small route-finding hiccups and poor skin choices on most of the climbs

Bud: returning next year for the full course including hellroaring peak that was left out this year due to avy danger

Two weeks later, the allure of Canadian powder and poutine proved strong, prompting bria and I to make the drive up to Nelson for the ROAM race and a weekend of touring.  With the Canadian national team (Nick, Travis, Peter, Stano, etc.) over in Italy for the skimo world championships, Jeffrey and I were able to swoop in and snag the top two spots of the podium on a gorgous morning and a new & improved course.  Read on for a full recap.

whitewater sidecounty and mt. ymir

start of the ROAM race (photo: bria)

A fast start up a cat track put me in the lead til Steve Sellers eased past shortly before the up-track became steep off-piste switchbacks.  The skin track was much too steep, particularly with my skinnier pair of skins so I spent more time than I would have liked slipping and resulting to sidestepping, which allowed Steve to open a gap and Jeffrey to catch up who was also struggling on skinny skins.  Once the course hit the ridge, we were treated to a steep & spicy skins-on descent before making a short climb further up the ridge.  A little confusion as to the transition spot allowed myself and Jeffrey to catch Steve and we all ripped skins together.  

steve, myself and jeffrey on the first climb (photo: phil best photography)

Steve was the first out, but I soon passed and gapped him on the powdery downhill.  Little did I know I would lead the remainder of the race.  Jeffrey arrived at the transition as I was on my second skin (employed wider skins for the remainder of the race) and stayed close behind on the off-piste switchbacks up towards the aesthetic white lightning bootpack.  The upper half of the booter had been filled in by the wind so I broke knee-deep trail to the top, which allowed Jeffrey to close the gap and top out right behind me.  

unknown racers starting up the white lightning boot pack (photo: phil best)

A short undulating skin put us atop the second climb where we traversed into ymir bowl and skied some great powder back down towards the base area.  I took one small cartwheeling fall but fortunately my skis stayed on so I popped back up and kept cruising.  Jeffrey arrived at the transition site as I was starting up the third climb so I kept pushing hard, starting to think I could actually win this thing.  Midway up the climb during some off-piste switchbacks, I noticed Jeffrey not far behind had blown a skin, which told me the race was now mine to loose.  I kept cruising up the ridge to the second long bootpack, followed by a short skin to the final transition spot.  I skied the final downhill a little more conservatively then the prior two, taking care not to crash and get passed.  Fortunately I knew about the weird, out-of-sight U-turn and uphill skate to the finish from last year.  A few minutes later I cheered Jeffrey across the finish and shared stories of our races before cheering on Steve as he arrived in third place.  Full results here.

catching my breath at the finish (photo: ROAM gear shop)

The remainder of the day was spent skiing excellent powder back in 5 mile basin with Bria before indulging in some poutine and standing on the snowdium (snow podium).  Even hours after finishing, I was still in a little awe of having won.  It certainly wouldn’t have happened without a few particular folks racing over in Italy but hey, I’ll take it. 

feeling more excited than I look (photo: bria)

5 mile basin (photo: bria)

On Sunday, Bria and I broke up the drive home by skiing on the south side of Kootenay Pass for a few hours and again enjoying great powder conditions. 

cool skin track shot (photo: bria)

bria enters the white room on kootenay pass

Rose: beautiful weather, great snow, a much improved course and taking the top spot made for a really fun race

Thorn: some serious struggling on the too-steep skintrack on the first climb

Bud: meeting the lake louise skimo race director at the finish and maybe/hopefully making the long drive up there at the end of March for what sounds like an awesome course

Bass Bowl Bounce 2017

Jeffrey and I were able to get out for a full day back in late January for one of our favorite tours in the area – the bass bowl bounce.  After the typical 3 hour approach to bass lake, we continued up north bass peak under unexpectedly beautiful conditions.  The top two hundred or so feet of the E face had been hammered by the wind but we soon hit great boot top powder and continued down to below the bass/kootenai saddle. 

NE face of smoky joe

a beautiful morning at bass lake

From there we climbed north to the saddle and then up the groove tube, to have a look at the striking Spurge couloir.  After skiing the upper hundred or so feet, we didn’t like what we were seeing and feeling (the recent storm snow readily sluffing with some propagation on a more pronounced crust than we had yet seen that day) so climbed back out and continued east on the more moderate terrain of the standard bowl bounce, finding mostly good powder conditions on the next two runs.

spurge couloir from atop N bass peak

stormy joe and big st joe from N bass peak

By the time we crested the last climb atop lappi point, the forecasted storm had arrived with howling winds and low visibility.  We dropped into the lappi west bowl from the top, largely by feel in the flat light conditions.  All was going well on the egress til a snowbridge broke below me over bass creek.  Fortunately I was unscathed but one pole and both of my skis just behind the heel pieces broke in the fall (dynafit denalis, a ski with known breakage issues).  With a branch in one hand and my remaining pole in the other, I was lucky enough to be able to snowplow and ski out the remnants of my skis (with a whole bunch of extra tail rocker) the  ~5miles of remaining trail to the car.

this tour largely consists of thousands of feet of mellow pow skiing

the S face of big st joe holds several quality 3000ft runs

We briefly crossed paths with brian who was egressing from a speedy go at the pinball wizard and was nice enough to wait at the trailhead to make sure I made it out safely on my compromised gear.      

Obviously a bummer to break a pair of skis but flukes like that do happen I suppose.  Thankfully I had put a lot of days on them over the last two and a half seasons so no use being too upset.

Rose: catching this awesome tour in mostly powder conditions for the second year in a row

Thorn: breaking my skis!

Bud: returning for the Spurge

Stats:  about 9500vert in 11.5 hours

Snowbowl Thursday Night Race Series

I'm excited to help spread the word that the Snowbowl Randonee Radness is back for another year!  Again on Thursday nights for 4 weeks starting this week (19th).  Details and registration on the site here - http://randoradness.weebly.com

Hope to see you up there!  Participants of all abilities welcome along with spectators and/or hecklers!

Gash to Sky Pilot

Brian and I were able to join forces on a day of good weather with a loose goal to ski the N face of sky pilot and another run above bear lake if conditions seemed reasonable.  A cold and dark departure from town had us skinning from the car (at the end of the plowing) just before first light.  A beautiful sunrise ensued as we past the lower TH and continued up to gash point proper.  

sky pilot on a gorgeous morning

Once on top with hardly a cloud in the sky, we took in the nice view before skiing and traversing down to bear lake.  We decided to check out sky pilot first and after a few hasty and one thorough pit assessment mid-way up (details here,) we continued up to the summit.  By this point, the bluebird conditions had given way to overcast skies but the views of the endless expanse of the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness were still as rewarding as always.  The N face did not ski well thanks to recent wind hammering but the position made up for it. 

leaving bear lake 

top of sky pilot

below the N face of sky pilot

From a bench just above the lake, we decided to next check out one of the tree-lined S facing runs above the lake, a new run for both of us.  Brian had surprised me by bringing race boots and light skis and thus earned himself trail breaking duty for most of the day.  I faded a bit near the top of this climb but the resulting view of the sweathouse spires from close proximity and a Baby Ruth revived me for the two thousand foot run of powder and wind-board down to the lake.

S facing terrain above bear lake, we skied one of the tree-lined runs lookers R of the rock-lined runs

sweathouse spires

a foreshortened view of our third run

A leisurely transition ensued as we geared up for the big climb back to gash point proper.  Brian again dropped me near the top of the climb but I arrived a few minutes later and we ripped skins, ready to ski 4000 feet down to the car.  The snow on the ensuing run was largely untouched by the wind and thus held great powder skiing, which was a nice contrast to the wind-hammered conditions on our other runs.  I was pleasantly surprised by the coverage and resulting easy egress all the way to the lower TH.  A short remaining flat ski out the road brought us to the car, a few minutes before darkness fell. 

attractive splitter near the top of gash point

Despite the low snow quality on most of our runs, it was great to get out for a full day in the mountains.   

Stats: about 20mi/10,800 vert in 10 hours car-car

Rose: 4000ft of powder on our last run

Thorn: feeling low energy on the second-to-last climb above bear lake

Bud: overall stability and mid-elevation snowpack were both better than I was expecting and bode well for future outings

NW Passage Skimo Race

Winter!  After a slow start for most of November, winter has arrived in full force the past few weeks.  After wrapping up the fall semester, I was fortunate to make it over to McCall Idaho for the inaugural Northwest Passage Skimo Race.  I opted out of the Friday afternoon vertical race, not wanting to compete soon after sitting in the car for ~6 hours. 

race start (photo: bria)

Fast forward to the next morning, and myself and 50+ other racers were gathered in the starting corral (large and deep field due to the race being a qualifier for the US national skimo team).  Due to the cold temps (-16F at the start), the race organizers modified the start to be just out the door from the lodge.  In order to get to the base of the course’s first climb, the modified start included a ~50 yard dash with skis in hand, followed by a slightly downhill ski/skate to reach the skins-on transition point.  This was a unique but in retrospect fun way to start.  The ensuing climb was STRAIGHT UP a freshly groomed blue square that was particularly brutal.  There were a few minutes where I thought I was going to have to pause to throw up my breakfast.  Fortunately those feelings subsidized near the top as the angle eased up and we skied a short powdery run down the resort’s backside (lakeview bowl). 

sunrise from the base area (photo: bria)

The ensuing climb was short, and featured dual skin tracks at a nice reasonable grade (this would hold true for the remainder of the course).  The sunrise and resulting views near the top of this climb were outstanding.  The second run was again short and deep powder before making the climb to Sargent’s mountain.  The third and fourth descents of the course were the same thousand vertical off the summit of Sargents.  Due largely to bitterly cold fingers, I managed to drop a pole on BOTH of these descents and have to stop, sidestep/wallow uphill in deep powder to retrieve it.

second climb (photo: eric hoff)

At the bottom of the fourth run, I was mis-informed as to where to transition for the final climb and I already had a ski off before being told, no, I should in fact proceed slightly further if I had already done two Sargent laps.  Irritated, I clicked back into my ski and continued down to the correct transition point before throwing skins on for the last time (hoping the glue on my 2^nd pair of skins would hold up).  Fortunately they held and I soon found myself below the course’s sole bootpack section, which proved to be steep, deep and fairly brutal.  Once on top, a short remaining skin brought me to the final transition point, where I made a point of catching the guy slightly in front of me.  The top portion of the final descent was steep and technical but once I was through the business, I hammered down to catch the guy in front of me, skating past him on the final cat-track slightly before the finish.  I ended up 17^th of 52 racers on the elite course which is respectable considering the number of fast folks vying for the national team but also a bit short of what I think I am capable of.

stoked at the finish! (photo: bria)

mens results

A big thanks to Brundage Mountain, the USSMA and all the race organizers and volunteers for all their hard work in putting together this great course and event.         

Rose: great snow and a beautiful course predominately outside the resort boundary

Thorn: damaging one of my new race skis in their first ever race

Bud:  looking forward to some backcountry adventures til my next race (bridger at end of january)

Thoughts:  I opted to race without my HR monitor and in retrospect, I think I was a little light on the throttle on some of the climbs, due in part to the amount of attention I had to pay to try to keep some resemblance of warmth in my fingers

Rattlesnake - McLeod to Stuart

The past month or so has been busy for me.  Due to a combination of school, weather, more structured training for skimo season, and life in general, I haven’t gotten in any real full day outings.

view of the rattlesnake range from atop mcleod

However back in early October, Jeffrey and I were able to get out together for a McLeod to Stuart peak traverse in the Rattlesnake.  Bria was able and willing to drop us at the Finley TH (thanks!) and shortly after she drove away, it dawned on us that we were now committed to making it to our vehicle at the main rattlesnake TH. 

lower finley lake

We ran up the trail in intermittent rain and past where the drainage splits and I was planning on leaving the trail to the north.   Immersed in conversation, I didn’t realize my mistake til we arrived at lower Finley lake.  Rather than backtrack, we decided just to gain the ridge NE above the lake.  Once up high, the terrain was loose, scrappy class 3 to the north but soon eased and we continued up and down a few bumps in the ridge before stumbling across a faint trail up the broad S ridge of McLeod.  This was Jeffrey’s first time on McLeod and my first time without skis so we hung out for a few minutes, taking in the views. 

mcleod is the broad "hill" in the distance - not a very striking peak

nearing the end of the scrappy terrain

After bombing down the S ridge’s talus (reminiscent of the Rut’s technical terrain on lone peak), we decided to forgo the scrappy section of ridgeline from earlier and just bowl bounce our way south to sanders peak instead.  Once we were down in the basin, we climbed a would-be aesthetic ski run before dropping S into the next basin.  We then cut SW to a small lake for a water refill before re-gaining the ridge near Sander’s peak and scrambling up the fun 3^rd & 4^th class NW ridge to the summit.

up this N-facing run where the conversation naturally turned to skiing

scrambling up the NW ridge of sanders peak
(these difficulties can easily be bypassed on climber's R for those inclined)

From there the route was familiar to us both from prior iterations of the rattlesnake traverse as we trended S to Mosquito.  On the summit we bumped into two gals on a bike/run outing and chatted for a few minutes before continuing S to Stuart.   On top of Stuart we divided the last of our water before heading down.  The last few miles felt a little long but soon enough we were down at the car, remarking at how lucky we are to have this wilderness area in our backyard. 

our route from the start, to mcleod, to mosquito

About 24mi/7500 vert in 8:20 TH-to-TH

Approx. splits: 3:10 mcleod, 5:20 sanders, 6:50 stuart, 8:20 TH

Thoughts: this route was mainly easy ridge cruising with very little bushwhacking considering we crossed multiple trail-less basins.  The roughest sections of ridge line are near pt 8291 and the short NW ridge of sanders.  A logical extension for next time is to start at snowbowl, up to point six, N to murphy, descend to finley lakes, then out to mcleod before looping to sanders, mosquito, stuart and down.