June 6, 2006, Silver Peak

Road still snowbound 100 yards shy of Windy Pass. The road extension upward to top clearcut edge is skinnable save for one 10 foot section, and skinning up the side edge of the clearcut works too if you choose carefully. I did have to take skis off for a few 10 foot sections coming around the corner to the northern glades. The glades were rather cuppy/dirty, and the lower part of the NE basin was a bit runneled and cupped, but the top part (the steep roll) was nice. Quite a few rocks are showing on the last push to the ridgeline but there are still several lines in.

Started out at 5:15PM or so. I saw one other party of three (we started out at just about the same time) and also two nordic-style folks with a collie dog, so I was not the only one with after work tour plans here that day. After a snack on the ridgeline and running into the bowl, the snow was still soft and the light was still nice so I did two more short laps of the upper part and started down for good around 8:30. Snow was good the whole time, no more than top 1.5 inches softened.

As viewed from below the various more direct gullies out of the basin still looked to go without any rockband issues. If I had to do it again I think I'd drop one of those, because the glade stretch wasn't necessarily that good of skiing. But I got tempted into going that way anyways by the prospect of chasing the sunset's last golden light, which was still hitting the ridge edge of the lower road way down Ollalie as I exited.