AlpineK Posted February 9, 2004 Posted February 9, 2004 Climb: Arrowhead-Regular route with descents into White Pine Creek Date of Climb: 2/8/2004 Trip Report: Fear Stalks Hwy 2 Cman and I headed up to ski Arrowhead on Sunday. The drive went quickly and we were soon at the parking area. A few other folks started showing up as we were getting ready to ski. All of a sudden I saw this Toyota van I knew drive into the lot. Things happened kind of quickly at this point. I remember thinking, "hey it's MK and Rat," then I thought, "they're going kinda fast." MK drove his van at us and then swerved right at the end hitting the snow bank and knocking my skis around. I was a little stunned by the whole thing. My skis were fine and so were me and Cman, but I still yelled at M a bit for being too aggro. M and Rat ask us a few things, but both me and Cman were a little to unsettled to talk. Eventually M says, "well I guess I killed the conversation," and the 2 of them took off for Smith Brook. Anyway the ski up Arrowhead went well. A lot of folks have been skiing up there. The top of the mountain looks a bit like a mogul field; however there's still a lot of freshiez left up there. We skied down into the White Pine drainage twice. On the first run I cut a small slab near the top of the peak. We were the first down that side of the mountain, so we had to break trail back to the ridge. After our third time on top of Arrowhead we decided we'd hiked enough and we skied the front side. We found a nice line through the trees near the big rock on the mountain. The skiing was good through the upper half of the lower clearcut. After that we hit the track on the road and slid out to the car. Fortunatly my buddies were nowhere in sight. Approach Notes: One note I'd like to make. If you are snowshoeing or especially if you are boot packing stay off the skin track. I know breaking trail is work, but you kind of screw up the track. Quote
Jim Posted February 9, 2004 Posted February 9, 2004 Ouch. Minus points for style! Hey, where is Arrowhead anyway? Not on my usual list of bc tours? Quote
klenke Posted February 9, 2004 Posted February 9, 2004 What a let down of a story. I thought you were going to say there was a fight where car seats were flying (but then I read it was MK and Rat, not Beck). Last Monday, at the base of the big rock glade, Sergio and I decided to yo-yo back up to the base of the rock. Sergio got out ahead of me. I started out fine but then my skins kept slipping off because they were icy. This meant I had to boot it up the track (the track to climbers left of the glade) for about three switchbacks to where I could meet Sergio so he could give me his camera. It was all for the sake of filming him, else there's no way I would have booted it up that few hundred yards. It was hard work even in the ski tracks. So, if that's where you saw boot pack in the tracks, that was me. But that's the only place I booted it. Quote
JGowans Posted February 9, 2004 Posted February 9, 2004 I think everyone and their granny was up Arrowhead yesterday. It was a decent day though. Still plenty of freshies. Btw, I had my snowshoes on and rode down on my snowboard. I agree with the track comment but breaking trail all the way gets old especially when my buddies are on their skis and cruising ahead of me. I admit to using the trail once in a while to catch up. Btw, one tip...some folks left their skis near the top of the ridge and then hiked up to the summit. Not sure why cos the snow was decent all the way to the top. If you head up there...keep your skis on to the summit. The good day was finished off with some Steven's Pass Amber and plentiful Nachos at one of the Steven's Pass bars. Quote
E-rock Posted February 9, 2004 Posted February 9, 2004 Split boards are worth the money. If you want to get serious about hiking I'd really recommend one. Quote
JoshK Posted February 9, 2004 Posted February 9, 2004 Am I just dense, or has it been forever since you've posted gowans? I think I remember you said you were going somewhere, so maybe that explains it. Or maybe i am just real confused. Quote
JGowans Posted February 9, 2004 Posted February 9, 2004 Splitboard...totally agree, but I'm a cheap Scotsman. As for not posting Josh...yeah, I started a new job last August. Not much time for spraying anymore. Too bad really cos I actually liked it quite a bit. Now, If I could only get paid to spray?! Btw, me and the missus did go to Europe last summer. We were supposed to attempt Elbrus but long story short, the French screwed everything up and we ended up climbing in the Tatras on the Slovakian border instead. Makes sense right? Quote
rat Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 enter our beershed again without permission and you won't see what hits you. Quote
Dave_Schuldt Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 So no one had tried the south side? That's the best skiing on the mountain. Quote
cman Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 after trauma of seeing k's ski almost meet their maker there were plenty of great turns to be had Quote
ken4ord Posted February 11, 2004 Posted February 11, 2004 I don't know about that Dave. The south side is definitely rocking, but that run we had right under the Arrowhead rock was shweet. Just didn't stay really steep long enough, but definitely steeper than the south side. Quote
cman Posted February 11, 2004 Posted February 11, 2004 Dave, read the subject line. K and i took two runs on the south side, towards white pine creek. there were a couple other groups skiing down there two, unfortunately i had to be the one to break the trail coming back out. Quote
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