december 31, 2009, scout peak, s. lake tahoe

kam, squeak and i met up with friends steve and brent off of highway 50 in south lake tahoe for a new year's eve jaunt.  our original intention was to ski mt. tallac, the highest peak along the perimeter of the lake, but since the avy forecast was considerable, we opted to check out lower angle aspects.  brent suggested scout peak, and our trip began off the west side of echo summit at the johnson pass road sno-park. 

the most technical part of the trip happened within the first 5 minutes of skinning, when we had to de-ski and cross highway 50 (with squeak in hand).  then, we followed the freshly snow covered service road all the way to the top of scout peak, gaining about 2000'. 

we ate our lunch out on a rock outcropping with fabulous views of lake tahoe and surrounding mountains.  though the snow was cold and light on the skin up, the warm temps had settled it into a heavier, thicker sierra cement for the way down. :)  but that didn't turn us away; we yo-yoed the treed sections between the zig zag of the service road 3-4 times before heading back to the cars. kam and squeak missed the turn-off to get back to the car and ended up about 1 mile west on highway 50.  eventually after the urban traverse along dirty snowbanks, father and daugther met up with the johnson pass road, then proceeded for another mile on foot to the car -- moral of the story, pay attention to your friends who know the area!

another great day on the hill!  was an awesome way to ring in 2010, and kam was especially excited to continue product testing on the kontours.  :)  happy new year everyone!

mom and dad: for the 7th time i'm tired of breaking trail!!!


these snow-dingleberries are annoying!


kam ski-testing his new homemade kontour skis