Home > Trip Reports > February 8, Sweeney Creek, Bitterroot Mts., MT

February 8, Sweeney Creek, Bitterroot Mts., MT

2/15/10
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Posted by savegondor on 2/15/10 2:51pm
The first of four trip reports from an epic week in snow-challenged Montana.

Arrived in Missoula at about 6pm and started driving south toward Hamilton looking for a road that would get us up into the mountains a little ways.  We found just such a road using google maps called Sweeney Creek Rd.  Car got stuck at about 5000 feet where snowpack was about 12 inches...but the drifts did Ruby Suby in.  Pitched tent, started skinning Monday morning topping out at about 8,000 feet about 1k short of the crest.  Snow pack at 7500 feet was about 4 feet (where we dug a pit) and as expected with a typical rocky mountain snowpack there was very little consolidation in shaded areas as well as multiple weak layers.  Snowpit and block tests were encouraging as only the top 8 inches was sluffing and only in a surgery fashion with no slab features.  However, this was in a shaded, non-wind-affected aspect.  Many if not most other aspects featured wind-loaded slab over sugar snow...so many big faces were a no-go.  We opted for mitigated risk with sugar sluff.  Video to follow:

http://b.static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/z4HBM/hash/3krgnmig.swf?v=472645810245&ev=0
http://www.facebook.com/v/472645810245
Thanks for the reports from MT, snow looks good, if not plentiful. I regret not getting out more from my time in Missoula, is that first pic of Lolo?

it might be Lolo...if not it's right next door!

Actually, it's St. Joseph Peak, immediately to the south. An epic ski-tour, for sure! See more pics of it here:
St. Joseph Peak

Sweeney Peak, St. Joseph, Little St. Joe, St. Mary, Ward, Como Peaks, Trapper, Bass Creek, hell most of the Bitterroot drainages provide good backcountry skiing.

ungated roads go high on Sweeney, St. Mary, Trapper. If the snow is down in the valley, you can ski from the summit of Ward back to the car. Good stuff all around and good to see MT reports on TAY!


author=caverpilot link=topic=15618.msg65528#msg65528 date=1266695649">
Actually, it's St. Joseph Peak, immediately to the south. An epic ski-tour, for sure! See more pics of it here:
St. Joseph Peak

Sweeney Peak, St. Joseph, Little St. Joe, St. Mary, Ward, Como Peaks, Trapper, Bass Creek, hell most of the Bitterroot drainages provide good backcountry skiing.

ungated roads go high on Sweeney, St. Mary, Trapper. If the snow is down in the valley, you can ski from the summit of Ward back to the car. Good stuff all around and good to see MT reports on TAY!




Thanks man!  It was my I and my brother's first time in the Bitterroots....although last week it was not skiable down to the valley where we were at.  thanks for the beta on other drainiages...we didn't have too much time to research...just looked at google maps on my google phone for roads. 

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february-8-sweeney-creek-bitterroot-mts-mt
savegondor
2010-02-15 22:51:09