July 23, 2005, Adams - SW Chutes

Despite the boulder dash from the tarn, mentioned in ronj, maddog, and jw's recent outing, my partner Jon still had a burning desire to conquer the chutes.  Didn't take too much convincing and just like that I was heading south down 161 on Friday late afternoon in route to pick Jon up at a gas station somewhere along the way.

The drive down to Cold Springs was pleasant.  The campgrounds were already 2/3 full and filling.  We were lucky and snagged a spot near the trail head that someone had just abandoned.  With an hour or so to spare before dark, camp was set and packs prepared with less weight in mind.  Let's see regular board, windstopper, down, gor shell, 48 ounces of water, gu/pop tarts, gloves, goggles, music, and crampons, which I eventually could have done without.  For emergencies on the hump out, one bandaid and couple iduprofen just in case the pain and swelling become too great.  Oh yeah and plenty of duct dape for that occassional mangled ankle. ;D  The light soon gave way to dark and we crawled into our bags.  Temperatures were cool with a gentle breeze.

5am I woke to the annoying sound of my alarm.  After wiping the sleep from my eyes, breakfast, and gear check we found ourselves hiking half hour after.  The hike was like any other.  Plenty going on with the scenery to keep ones eyes busy, especially above Timberline camp.  After some breaks and chats with climbers Jon and I finally reached the false summit shortly after noon.  For a Saturday I couldn't believe how void the mountian was of climber and ski/board types.  I was expecting a circus.  Top of Pikers was tolerable enough to hang out.  Wind was blowing but not hard enough to keep you up when you leaned into the wind.  The sun felt good as it heated up all the black portions of my clothes.  While we hung out we ran into a free-heeler but I have since forgotten his name.

2pm Jon, forgotten name, and myself dropped into the chutes.  Very top portion had wind crust but it soon gave way to perfect corn.  Jon and forgotten name descended the main chute while I traversed into the middle.  It soon became apparent that traversing was a bad idea.  I soon found myself perched on still frozen steep section. ???  After a couple of controlled toe and heel slides the snow softened enough to carve.  First couple inches on top of a irregular surface.  After what seemed like an eternity of turns on the goods we arrived at the dirty and rough.  I ventured far boarders right and found conditions smoother and cleaner but in sections.  Jon and forgotten name stayed in the main chute until it bottlenecked.  Here the surface resembled moggles covered with dirt.  After that section they traversed back over.  In the meantime I darted back and forth looking for sections worth taking a turn on.  Soon all 3 of us found ourselves carving the mellow before the tarn.  While Jon and I changed forgotten name decided to pull a Kane from Kung Fu and started wandering.  Having never been in the chutes before he had expressed concern dropping into a line he had never done.  Sure who wouldn't.  However finding your way out is where the challenge might be.  He mentioned he had a map and compass but if one has never been shown the route it can still be sketchy looking out at the expanse of land thinking which way now.  Good luck dude!

After changing and reflecting on what we had just done, Jon and I started the boulder dash down to the saddle.  Just after we started I spotted forgotten name who had just reached the saddle.  Hauling ass was this man on a  mission I guess.  Common boulder stomping is so much fun! ;)  So much fun that I was looking forward to the hike out on the RTM.  Eventually we caught up with forgotten name about a quarter mile from where we jumped on the trail.  Glad to see he found his way.

Safely back at the car it was time to relax.  After organizing the gear it was time for a meal fit for a king.  Pork and teriyaki flavored ramen with tuna.  Okay maybe not but it went down like one.  Was the run worth the hike?  Off course.  Was it worth the many times I almost broke my ankle or turned over a big rock or rocks?  Why off course.  My only regret was not taking the opportunity to perfect my trundling skills on the hike out. ;D