April 9, 2005, Silver Peak Basin

Three of us, Tim and Florian on AT and myself on light tele gear, headed up from the Summit Central parking lot about 8:45.  There was snow down to the bottom, and it was a supporting crust in the morning that allowed me to walk up with the skis in the pack.  Thermometers were reading 32-34 degrees at the start, and there were occasional snow flurries throughout the day.  

From the trail system, we actually found the Nordic Pass trail area a new way that seemed fairly efficient.  I think we left from "loop 15".  The big question in our mind of course was whether or not there would be enough coverage to get through Nordic Pass.  There was one creek crossing that was frankly wet, and several others with miracle snow bridges. The descent from Nordic to Windy pass was the worst snow I have ever seen in there, but its still skiing!  The snow improved up through Ollalie meadows.  Small treep-tops were poking through but easy travel was definitely on order.  Things got actually good in Silver Peak Basin.  Sort of dust on a firm crust that was very skiiable.  We did not go up to the top, opting instead to climb to the west ridge for a steeper run.  It should be good in there for a few weeks yet.

The short climb up to Nordic pass was horrible, either post-holing (forget it) or back and forth on the fishscales.  We also opted to follow the blue trail markers as far as possible on the way back.  These pull off to the west in quite a lateral traverse and involved numerous gully and downed-tree crossings in minimal snow.  It would have been better to just aim "down" (north).  The blue markers end in a bland area of "loop 14a" with a high, hidden sign 100 feet off the road that says Nordic Pass Trail.  Not obvious !  We were all very tired at the end of the day because the low snow conditions through Nordic Pass and are long route back took much more than the usual amount of effort.