Home > Trip Reports > December 4, 2010, Union Peak, NW Face

December 4, 2010, Union Peak, NW Face

12/4/10
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Posted by bramski on 12/6/10 9:54am
Linden, Elsa, Eben and I made a route up Union Peak which was probably a bit more skinning than necessarily was necessary. We skinned in from Smith Brook, and attained the Union peak shoulder just over the road on the east near the gap. We had an €œadventuresome€ and rather aesthetic ridge traverse, including finding a pretty big cliff system near the high point on the ridge dropping into the north side.

Here€™s the topo, blue is skiing, yellow is skinning. Right where we achieved the west shoulder of Union peak there is but one pretty nice chute which dropped us back into the basin just nw of the union gap.

Full TR: http://www.bramski.org/trip-reports/union-peak-nw-face/

Nice tour!  The short video clip of the chute looked pretty steep.  About how long was it car to car?

That was the tour that finally got my partner to say "I want more skiing and less touring".  Before that tour it was all about the uphill and touring...

The NW side of Union is fun terrain, was it filled in yet or was it really avoiding the boulders (as some of your pics suggest)?

Pierce - We went 9:30 -> 4pm, about a 6 hour tour.

Trees4Me - Yeah, we kind of thought the same thing.  Had we gotten up that ridge a little more expediently I think that Jove would have been a great addition with more vertical.

Thanks for the skintrack to Rainy Pass, bramski!  I like the route.  Impatient to get off the road, we have always peeled off Smithbrook road just before the switchbacks at the entrance to the clearcut.  Your route seemed less steep and with less obstructions in the old forest.

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bramski
2010-12-06 17:54:34