May 11, 2008, Rock Mountain
5/11/08
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Rock Mountain - "Mother would be proud"
5/11/08
My first TAY trip report...it's about time, and thanks to this community for the great reports and better beta on all the wonderful tours out here!
I did an overnight camping trip last summer at Rock Mountain and kept thinking to myself "I have to ski this!". Watching the snow levels fall for sunday, I managed to convince one like minded friend to join me.
The objective was to summit Rock Mountain (6,850') and ski all the way to the car (2,600'). At least that is what I thought. Unfortunately, the approach gets lots of sun, and the snow didn't start until around 4,500'. This meant we had to hike up about 2000' to get to winter. Luckily, I had some sneakers...more on that later.
Note that Jonathon is leading...that is because he didn't want to bring his shoes, which put him in the obvious role of kick step leader
It was snowing on and off all day, and the weather on top was constantly changing from nasty to bearable. We made it to about 5,400' before we decided to stop and ski...the summit would wait for another trip.
The skiing itself was incredible, especially for mid-May! There was about 2" of new snow over a very consolidated base...super stable and smooth turning. We did 2 laps around 5,400', then skied the snow on the southern face that we climbed up.
Wrobel making his first turns of the day
my turn
Skiing from the summit would have been amazing, as the snow conditions were perfect and the lines from the top looked very tasty. I guess it will have to wait for another time...
After the skiing excitement, we had to hike down the remainder of the trail. This is when I noticed that one of my shoes was missing. I actually thought we would be in snow from the trail head, so didn't really plan on hauling my sneakers. I had to improvise a plastic bag attachment to my pack, which of course failed. When we got ready to start the hike down, I noticed one of my shoes was missing. Hiking in alpine ski boots SUCKS! at least no shoulder damage this time.
more pics here
dan
5/11/08
My first TAY trip report...it's about time, and thanks to this community for the great reports and better beta on all the wonderful tours out here!
I did an overnight camping trip last summer at Rock Mountain and kept thinking to myself "I have to ski this!". Watching the snow levels fall for sunday, I managed to convince one like minded friend to join me.
The objective was to summit Rock Mountain (6,850') and ski all the way to the car (2,600'). At least that is what I thought. Unfortunately, the approach gets lots of sun, and the snow didn't start until around 4,500'. This meant we had to hike up about 2000' to get to winter. Luckily, I had some sneakers...more on that later.
Note that Jonathon is leading...that is because he didn't want to bring his shoes, which put him in the obvious role of kick step leader
It was snowing on and off all day, and the weather on top was constantly changing from nasty to bearable. We made it to about 5,400' before we decided to stop and ski...the summit would wait for another trip.
The skiing itself was incredible, especially for mid-May! There was about 2" of new snow over a very consolidated base...super stable and smooth turning. We did 2 laps around 5,400', then skied the snow on the southern face that we climbed up.
Wrobel making his first turns of the day
my turn
Skiing from the summit would have been amazing, as the snow conditions were perfect and the lines from the top looked very tasty. I guess it will have to wait for another time...
After the skiing excitement, we had to hike down the remainder of the trail. This is when I noticed that one of my shoes was missing. I actually thought we would be in snow from the trail head, so didn't really plan on hauling my sneakers. I had to improvise a plastic bag attachment to my pack, which of course failed. When we got ready to start the hike down, I noticed one of my shoes was missing. Hiking in alpine ski boots SUCKS! at least no shoulder damage this time.
more pics here
dan
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