May 17, 2008, Leavitt Peak and the Y Couloir

I left straight after work on friday with my roommate Adam and my friend Ryan, both snowboarders. We made it down to sonora pass just as the sun was setting for the day and made camp on the side of the road. The plan was just to find some good snow to to ski, but after reaching the crest we saw the Y couloir and our plans changed. The west facing ridge leading to the peak was completly bare of snow, so we jumped on the PCT for the hike over. Skinned through the basin below the peak and as we were the first people up for the day Adam layed a nice bootpack all the way to summit ridge, thanks Adam! Had a scenic lunch and victory shot of whiskey before making our way to the top of the couloir. The entrance was quite steep and then it mellowed out lower down. The snow was a little weird underneath the sun softened top layer and there was a significant amount of rockfall in the middle. The skiing was great, but the hike up and out back to the car really took it's toll. I really dislike scree in ski boots by the way. I was quite sore after this trip, but our campsite at the hot springs that night made me feel a lot better.