March 4-6, 2005, Tahoe - Clair Tapaan Lodge

2nd Annual Splitboard Festival

Day 1 Friday March 4th, 2005
Donner Summit (8,019ft)

On Friday I touched down in Reno at 10:30am and made the dash to my rental car.  The scenery on the drive out of Reno is unreal.  There were gullies, bowls, and chutes, all within a short hike/skin from the road.  Weather thus far was overcast with occasional sun breaks.  The hemi in Durango made quick work of the pass up 80.  After a brief stop for some munchies and oranges I was cruising again.  The drive to the Clair Tapaan lodge went fast as I had the terrain to take my mind off the short drive.  I exited off 80 towards Norden on Donner Pass Rd.  Drove roughly 2.5 miles down and pulled into the lot just after noon.  The Clair Tapaan lodge is tucked away on a south facing hillside at 7,000ft.

After a few trips of hauling gear up and down a 50ft, 25 degree hill, I was finally settled in.  The first splitter I met was Arash, a voli patrol from Sugar Bowl, which was right down the street.  Soon after I met Aaron (CO), Phin (UT), Jeff (CA), and Eric (CA), all who had just returned from a run off the south side of Boreal Ridge, which was conveniently located directly behind the lodge.  We all gathered around the water spout for a few pulls of nice cold Sierra Nevada.  From what I gathered snow conditions so far varied from person to person and depended on what state their from.  Off course the CO and UT boys thought it was crap.  From what I observed it looked like day old refrozen.  Then it hit me.  I didnt fly down all this way to ride what I could have back home.

By 2:30pm Aaron, Eric, Phin, and myself decided to scope out some lines near by.   With some directions from Arash our group found ourselves skinning a ridge towards Mt Judah (8,243ft) to access Donner Summit (8,019ft).  We parked our cars just across the street from Donner Ski Academy at 7,000ft.   The terrain here is sick.  Wish I could have been here a few days ago when this was fresh.  There were cliff hucks, booters, gaps, and transitions all over the place.  Tracks had been imprinted on most leaving only the gnarliest lines.  Skinning up a ridge towards Judah the snow was preserved on northern aspects in the trees and anywhere the sun hadnt baked.  At the summit we chatted and watched as the sun started setting.  Since none of us were familiar with the area we stuck to what we had scoped.  The bowl had a west face around 30 degrees with some steeper 40 degree sections for a couple hundred feet.  After this it soon petered out around the 20s and the terrain started to roll towards the drainage to the north.  Once in the drainage there was one more steep section before the road.  Originally we wanted to take a route close to the one that Arash and group did just before us.  Its a steep line off the north face that has a train tunnel cutting thru the middle of the slope.  As if Mother Nature or the shoveling efforts of many booter building boarders and skiers is not enough.  Now there were train shelters to huck.  On the way down to the road we all found some untracked areas of corn on this west face.  Snow did get crusty in the drainage out to the north.  This was a quick tour with 1000ft of vertical.  We had to hitch hike back to the cars and made it back in time to clean up and eat dinner at 6pm.

Just before and after dinner the introductions began.  It was nice to finally put a face to some of those unique call names.  There must have been at least 40 or so people there who were all for the splitboard festival.  Adding to the crowd were the other 60 or more guests.  So around a 100 bodies in a place only meant to hold about 130.  Space was snug in this bunk style setting but there were showers, hot tub, and beer.  Our entertainment for the night was a crash avi course on the Sierra Nevada snow pack by Ann Mellick.  Was a good reminder before everyone goes out.  The rest of the night was spent meeting new people.  Since this was a sponsored event there were reps from Voile, Prior, Elevation, Mammut, and Bomber.  And how can I forget, Couloir Magazines Zach Daviss coordination efforts along with others.  Anyways few of us soldiers stayed up late in the night to make sure a fellow soldier didn’t get left in the night alone. ;D


Day 2 Saturday March 5th, 2005
Tamarack Peak (9,897ft) & Pt. 9,202

I woke up at 6am to the sounds of metal pipes heating.  Lounged around and chatted for a while to see where people were planning on touring today.  Hooked up with what turns out to be a Cali crew.  Dan and Mike were buds from the Oakland/Berkley area.  Reed and Scott were from near Mammoth.  Mark was from the Sacramento area.  By the time breakfast rolled around it was already 8pm and we needed to make our minds up.  It was bluebird out and powder was on all our minds.  Our gang decided on the Mt Rose area in Nevada since it has the highest elevation around and within a quick driving distance.  Our crew pulled out a few miles past the Mt Rose Summit turnout at 8,200ft.  Got our gear ready, set a tentative plan, and were off by 9:30am.  Skinned thru a meadow and up the shoulder of Pt. 9,202 where we could see the many chutes that make up the south side of Mt Rose.  That’s to our right.  To our left, the north facing chutes off of Pt. 9,202 with a dozen or so lines and plenty room for more.  After following the 8,800ft elevation line, with some traverses and up and downs for 2 miles or so we turned south and got our first views of the north side of Tamarack Peak.  There were a lot of lines carved into it already but the wind help refill in the top portion of the bowl.  So far the only people encountered in our vicinity was a guy solo skiing with his dog, another guy and gal skiing, and a group of 5 tele/skiers.  That with our group of 6 was it.  After a quick break we had to ascend a gentle rising meadow, gain a steep treed section, and traverse onto a ridge to get to the summit.  At the summit I was rewarded with views of the surrounding terrain as well as the 4 guinesses that made the trip with me.  I know 4 guinesses and 6 people.  We made it work. ;D  Anyway the terrain in this particular area reminded me a lot of the Tatoosh.

From here it was clear that we were going to get some untouched.  We dropped off the windward, north face one by one, spotting each other.  Wind was moderate and the top part of the bowl was 6 inches to boot deep wind-blown powder, improving in consistency the lower in the bowl we descended.  The bowl was a couple hundred feet, between 30 and 35 degrees, and funneled into a 100ft bottle neck.  Once below this section we entered the trees and the powder stayed boot deep.  The lower descended this section the more the warm temps of the day had beaten the snow into that creamed Sierra Nevada corn.  Once back at the meadows around 8,800ft we decided to skin up Pt. 9,202 via a north side traverse.  Snow was still 6 inches to boot deep and well preserved.  Would have been killer to ride but we had to descend an east aspect to get back to our cars.  From the top we could see the sun starting to set and the road below.  Snow on this slope had started to refreeze in the shade so we were left with firm unbreakable crust that made for fast gs turns down.  This slope was a bit steeper with a consistent 35 degree pitch until the very bottom.  Eventually those gs turns soon gave way to straight lines as we desperately sought for speed to carry us thru the flats in the meadows.

We arrived back to our cars by 4:30pm.  We enjoyed some Fat Tires while we basked in the sun and reflected on the day gone by.  In the end we climbed around 3,500 vertical feet and descended just under 3,000ft.  Cant wait to get back to the lodge and hear what other people have found.  Pulled back to the lodge about 20 till 6pm, just in time to clean up and enjoy some grub.  The event that couldnt be missed was about to begin after dinner.  Nope not the Beer Olympics or keg stands but the raffle.  Items such as sleeping bags, backpacks, tees, hoodys, hats, binding kits, Barryvox transceivers, and a splitboard were some of the stuff given away.  And did I forget to mention that everyone won something.  Even a few people that mysteriously showed up walked out with prizes.  How did that work? ???  So with the second night coming to a close there was talk of where to tour for Sunday.


Day 3 Sunday March 6th, 2005
Castle Peak (9,103ft) and Basin Peak (9,017ft)

On Sunday myself, Chris (CA/bcrider), Aaron (CO), Tom (CA/mtnrider), and Matt (CA/mcpheet) took off for Castle Peak, which was a few miles northwest from our lodge.  After dropping off our gear I accompanied Chris to drop off his truck at the Boreal Ski Area, while Aaron watched our stuff.  Chris and Matt were here on Saturday with about 30 people and had spied some sick lines that they didnt have time for.  So by 9:30am our group of 5 was assembled and skinning under the blue skies and sun.  The first 2 miles went quick thanks to the super highway in place and trees for shade.  Once we gained the ridge around Castle Saddle things got real windy.  Gusts between 30 and 40 mph from the northeast made skinning at an angle easier.  After a mile or so on the ridge our group followed it east along side the tree line.  It was nice to have the final steep pitch wind free.  We topped out on the highest shoulder of snow before it turned to rock.  Im guessing probably 100ft or so from the craggy peaks that make up the Castle Summit.

As we were getting ready to drop in the sound of slednecks echoed thru the valleys and canyons.  Sure as shit here comes one into the bowl were planning on dropping.  From the shoulder there is a cirque of chutes and most of them were topped with cornices ranging from a few feet to 50ft thick.  All I have to say is thanks for being as sharp as a marble.  If it wasnt for your high lines we wouldnt have known which slopes were stable or not.  And if there were an avi we would have had first class seats for the show and the peanut gallery would have been in full effect. ;)

So we dropped in this 30 to 35 degree northeast aspect one by one, keeping an eye out for sledders.  Bowl was short, maybe 100ft or so and 30 to 35 degrees at the top.  It mellowed out before getting steeper and going thru some cliffs.  We all managed to carve some untouched in boot deep.  Just had to stay near the steep cliff faces and trees but at some point had to cross the sledders ruts.  The elevation now was around 8,300ft and we needed to get back on the ridge at about 8,700ft.  A quick traverse northwest put us back on the ridge heading towards Basin Peak.  We all had to watch out for snowmobilers dropping in from above and basically everywhere.  2 of them came really close to taking out Chris and Tom on the traverse to gain the ridge.  About a mile up the ridge we stopped at the southern shoulder about 75ft from the summit.  We traversed thru some flats and eventually ended up carving some corn in the glades.  This would lead us to some steep 30 to 40 degree north facing chutes that drain into Devils Oven Lake.  Appropriately named cause it was hotter than hell down there.  Powder was deep and well preserved on this shady aspect.  We skinned out on soft sun warmed snow via an east facing chute.  Thanks Matt (Oh, did I forget to mention he was the lone skier) for breaking trail up that steep chute.  From the top of the chute it was mild rollers and gentle slopes to the northern shoulder of Basin Peak.  From here we carved 1000ft of Sierra Nevada corn thru mellow glades down the south side all the way to the flats.  Since everyone carried their speed thru the flats it was a short skin to gain the final ridge and the last climb of the day.  From here I headed down the ridge towards Castle Pass.  Now it was time for the 2 mile slalom course out.  The rest skinned towards the Castle shoulder for a run down its south side.  Exposed snow looked good but it soon dropped into the shade of the trees.  Snow turned into death crust as everything was frozen.  As least it was a fast ride out.  One by one we trickled back to the trailhead.  After consulting with my altimeter I was amazed to see that our group had accumulated roughly 5,600ft today.

Safely back in the confines of the Boreal Ski Area parking lot, we marinated on the weekend that had just passed us by.  It will be long before I forget all the stories, laughs, and memories collected on this trip.  Also I cant forget to mention the opportunity of riding with rippers from all over.  Till splitfest next year.

Peace