march 7, thunder and nimbus(alpine lakes)
3/15/11
7341
12
Been neglecting one of my best partners lately, so I took Kololo out today. We started around dawn from the rail yard and thankfully had a well worn snowshoe trail almost all the way to suprise lake. Poor guys did all that work and stopped maybe 100' vert shy of the lake.
From there we broke trail around Nimbus and up the north side of Thunder. One short gully had to be booted to gain the final ridge. I wasn't comfortable with Kololo on the exposed final couple hundred feet so we rode down from there. Snow was awesomely light and stable
nice steep top section. kololo straight lined it.
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http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee379/LoKoKoLoLo/nimbusthunder061.jpg" />
after a nice break of sharing smoked salmon at the bottum, we figured it was still early, so might as well use the skin track. Nimbus looked awfully nice on the way up...
Just as it had done all day, it was snowing andthe sun was shining. after not too long we where not taking in the views from the summit of nimbus. is ok, we seen them on the way up.
she's getting decent anxiety..
had an awesome run from the summit with great snow quality all the way down.... then my favorite activity of skin skiing for a bit.
then, some old growth and pillows for a grand. so fun...
dogs like pillows too.. she's killin it.
then more skin ski back to the car. Snow was great through out the trip.
From there we broke trail around Nimbus and up the north side of Thunder. One short gully had to be booted to gain the final ridge. I wasn't comfortable with Kololo on the exposed final couple hundred feet so we rode down from there. Snow was awesomely light and stable
nice steep top section. kololo straight lined it.
after a nice break of sharing smoked salmon at the bottum, we figured it was still early, so might as well use the skin track. Nimbus looked awfully nice on the way up...
Just as it had done all day, it was snowing andthe sun was shining. after not too long we where not taking in the views from the summit of nimbus. is ok, we seen them on the way up.
she's getting decent anxiety..
had an awesome run from the summit with great snow quality all the way down.... then my favorite activity of skin skiing for a bit.
then, some old growth and pillows for a grand. so fun...
dogs like pillows too.. she's killin it.
then more skin ski back to the car. Snow was great through out the trip.
Nice TR! Way to add some variety to the TR. How many hours round trip?
Dude! Smoked salmon is for humans. It's priceless! Take some doggie biscuits for Kololo next time. Cool little tour!
NICE
Kokolo, it was very nice of you to take your ol' faithful alecapone for a jaunt.
Nice work as always!
Awesome idea and exploration! We always let the low start talk us out of this one but there looks to be some incredible terrain back there. The crystal ball says it is going to be the next popular destination! Even still, seems like plenty of goods to go around. Good to know there is a break in the ridge somewhere between Slippery Slab and Nimbus.
Thanks for the TR,
John
Thanks for the TR,
John
Thanks guys!
Stats for the day where.
2500' start at 6:30
high point of 6,300' on thunder at 11
decent to 4,800' and lunch 12
highpoint on nimbus is 6,700'+? and down to lunch spot by 2.
back to the car at 4:30.
12 miles-6,400'.
I agree John. The low start is a turn off, but the half hour drive is great. I've been waiting for some better condtions. The approach isn't THAT bad, but just enough to keep people away. Not exactly sure where slippery slab is, but I gained the ridge in two seperate spots. One closer to thunder, and one closer to nimbus.
There is a great pano photo of the ridge line at the end of a TR by Iron on nwhikers here...Thanks dude!
http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7989001&highlight=spark+plug
Stats for the day where.
2500' start at 6:30
high point of 6,300' on thunder at 11
decent to 4,800' and lunch 12
highpoint on nimbus is 6,700'+? and down to lunch spot by 2.
back to the car at 4:30.
12 miles-6,400'.
I agree John. The low start is a turn off, but the half hour drive is great. I've been waiting for some better condtions. The approach isn't THAT bad, but just enough to keep people away. Not exactly sure where slippery slab is, but I gained the ridge in two seperate spots. One closer to thunder, and one closer to nimbus.
There is a great pano photo of the ridge line at the end of a TR by Iron on nwhikers here...Thanks dude!
http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7989001&highlight=spark+plug
Slippery Slab is a rock fin not far down the ridge N of Nimbus. It has steep short multipitch rock faces on W and E. IIRC it is dead east of center of Surprise Lake. It's a little hard to pick out in that pano but is obvious either from the lake, or from the usual summer approach to Thunder from Trap Pass along the E of ridge.
I love your backyard!
I guess it's mine too, only the approach is a little longer...
I guess it's mine too, only the approach is a little longer...
Thanks for posting. I stare at this area on the topo all the time and, as everyone else has mentioned, avoid it because of the low elevation slog in. Nice to see that it looks like the approach effort is worth it.
scott! what a day and what a dog! heidi (my berner) and I want to go dog skiing with you. heidi will have to work up to a day THAT big. :)
Nice TR Ale! Looks like a fun tour!
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