May 6, 2006, Pointless Peak, Sierra
5/6/06
US elsewhere
2301
0
We spent the evening camped along a moraine of Mount McGee a few miles south of Mammoth. It was a great location to watch the sun set over the Minarets and look down at all the trout fishermen on Lake Crowley. We also had TV, internet and cell coverage the American Dream. Got up early but the French toast breakfast took a bit longer than planned. Traveled south about 10 miles to Toms Place and drove along Rock Creek road to 10,000 feet. Yeah, the paved road is plowed all the way to the Pack Station at 10,000 feet, thats like driving to Camp Muir. All the high elevation roads have been plowed for the annual trout opener which is usually the last weekend in April. Todays adventure was to ski the Y Gullies of Pointless Peak at 12,252 feet. Jill needed a rest day and gathered beta in the parking area from all the other skiers.
We parked at the base of Pointless at 9900. I climbed up the 4 foot snow bank and immediately put on the skins. Youll notice a very positive pattern developing here. Drive to the snowline, park, put on the skins and climb no walking on dirt. The Y Gullies are visible from the road and require only a short approach from the parking area. The gullies are a series of avalanche chutes that provide steep descent lines of 35 to 40 plus degrees; an ideal spring descent under the right conditions. Once at the base, I put on ski crampons and used them until the pitch was so steep and narrow that it was time to saddle the skis and kick steps up the gully. I chose the middle inverted Ygully because there was a smoother surface and more protection available if anything started moving above me. Kicking steps in warming and softening snow at 12,000 feet gets tiring, especially for an old guy. Finally reached a safe spot just below the headwall and dug a platform to put on the skis. There were great views of Mt. Starr, Mt. Morgan South(see photo) and Bear Creek Spire. The descent was 2 of corn on a variable base. The steeper pitches provided the best conditions and it was over way too quickly. Once back at the camper, I noticed that the other two gullies at lookers left had developed small releases which had funneled part way down I had selected the right gully. Now its time for a solar shower and a honey brown lager at our campsite along Rock Creek. Life is good.
Zap & Jill
We parked at the base of Pointless at 9900. I climbed up the 4 foot snow bank and immediately put on the skins. Youll notice a very positive pattern developing here. Drive to the snowline, park, put on the skins and climb no walking on dirt. The Y Gullies are visible from the road and require only a short approach from the parking area. The gullies are a series of avalanche chutes that provide steep descent lines of 35 to 40 plus degrees; an ideal spring descent under the right conditions. Once at the base, I put on ski crampons and used them until the pitch was so steep and narrow that it was time to saddle the skis and kick steps up the gully. I chose the middle inverted Ygully because there was a smoother surface and more protection available if anything started moving above me. Kicking steps in warming and softening snow at 12,000 feet gets tiring, especially for an old guy. Finally reached a safe spot just below the headwall and dug a platform to put on the skis. There were great views of Mt. Starr, Mt. Morgan South(see photo) and Bear Creek Spire. The descent was 2 of corn on a variable base. The steeper pitches provided the best conditions and it was over way too quickly. Once back at the camper, I noticed that the other two gullies at lookers left had developed small releases which had funneled part way down I had selected the right gully. Now its time for a solar shower and a honey brown lager at our campsite along Rock Creek. Life is good.
Zap & Jill
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