January 2-3, 2003, Lake Tahoe Backcountry, CA
1/2/03
US elsewhere
2801
0
Storms pounded the Lake Tahoe area with snow and wind on the last days of 2002. After harvesting epic powder at Alpine Meadows at Tahoe to ring in the new year, my friends Matty J and Jeromy W headed into the backcountry for a few days before returning home to Washington.
If you find yourself in the Tahoe area, be sure to stop in The Backcountry (Tahoe City and Truckee). They seemed happy to give us out-of-towners good advice on local ski tours.
Mt. Tallac (~9200ft) - Lake Tahoe - Jan 2nd, 2003 - ~3000ft vert
The folks at The Backcountry, a backcountry ski equipment retailer in North Tahoe (http://www.thebackcountry.net/), were really helpful in pointing us in the right direction for a couple of days of backcountry skiing. The owner, Mike, suggested we look at some easily accessible peaks and then mentioned he was headed to Mt. Tallac the following day.
We looked at the topo map we had just purchased and thought, "why not follow the local's tracks". So we did. The approach was longer than usual because the road was gated several miles before the trailhead. However, we quickly picked up Mike's tracks and followed them up the long northerly ridge to the summit. The north facing bowl from the top had great powder for the top 500ft. Unfortunately, the CA sun had already done its damage on the lower slopes, turning much of the remaining powder into slop or Sierra Cement. The next 1500ft was still fun in the protected north facing drainage, but work at times. The bottom was truly slop, and tenacioulsy balled up on Jeromy's unwaxed ski bases (skins too!).
Castle Peak - near Donner Pass, CA - Jan 3rd, 2003
On our way out of the Tahoe area, we followed another Backcountry recommendation and headed towards Castle Peak, on the other side of the interstate from the Boreal Ski Area. They told us there might be still good snow on the north facing slopes of Castle Peak. Park in the SnowPark area and purchase your permit at the nearby hotel; Boreal didn't like backcountry skiers parking in their lot.
The blistering morning sun slushified all south facing snow as we headed towards the SE ridge of Castle Peak. We thought we'd be skiing still more of the famous Sierra Cement, a close cousin of the Cascade Concrete. Amazingly, as we pulled up to the edge of the ridge, we saw vast north facing slopes of chutes and bowls of untracked powder. We skied the top chutes and tracked out the protected and stable north facing bowls while watching some snowmobilers blast up the lower angle chutes nearby.
-Bill Eff
Disclaimer: I have no relationship with The Backcountry. I mention the store and offer the link merely for reference since their backcountry recommendations proved helpful.
If you find yourself in the Tahoe area, be sure to stop in The Backcountry (Tahoe City and Truckee). They seemed happy to give us out-of-towners good advice on local ski tours.
Mt. Tallac (~9200ft) - Lake Tahoe - Jan 2nd, 2003 - ~3000ft vert
The folks at The Backcountry, a backcountry ski equipment retailer in North Tahoe (http://www.thebackcountry.net/), were really helpful in pointing us in the right direction for a couple of days of backcountry skiing. The owner, Mike, suggested we look at some easily accessible peaks and then mentioned he was headed to Mt. Tallac the following day.
We looked at the topo map we had just purchased and thought, "why not follow the local's tracks". So we did. The approach was longer than usual because the road was gated several miles before the trailhead. However, we quickly picked up Mike's tracks and followed them up the long northerly ridge to the summit. The north facing bowl from the top had great powder for the top 500ft. Unfortunately, the CA sun had already done its damage on the lower slopes, turning much of the remaining powder into slop or Sierra Cement. The next 1500ft was still fun in the protected north facing drainage, but work at times. The bottom was truly slop, and tenacioulsy balled up on Jeromy's unwaxed ski bases (skins too!).
Castle Peak - near Donner Pass, CA - Jan 3rd, 2003
On our way out of the Tahoe area, we followed another Backcountry recommendation and headed towards Castle Peak, on the other side of the interstate from the Boreal Ski Area. They told us there might be still good snow on the north facing slopes of Castle Peak. Park in the SnowPark area and purchase your permit at the nearby hotel; Boreal didn't like backcountry skiers parking in their lot.
The blistering morning sun slushified all south facing snow as we headed towards the SE ridge of Castle Peak. We thought we'd be skiing still more of the famous Sierra Cement, a close cousin of the Cascade Concrete. Amazingly, as we pulled up to the edge of the ridge, we saw vast north facing slopes of chutes and bowls of untracked powder. We skied the top chutes and tracked out the protected and stable north facing bowls while watching some snowmobilers blast up the lower angle chutes nearby.
-Bill Eff
Disclaimer: I have no relationship with The Backcountry. I mention the store and offer the link merely for reference since their backcountry recommendations proved helpful.
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