Sherpa Peak 2/3/2007

[ryanl]

Sherpa Peak ski activity

 

Date: 2/3/2007

 

Trip Report:Sherpa Peak

 

 

This is a bit overdue but.......

 

Ever since I attempted to climb Sherpa's north ridge several years ago, I've had reoccurring dreams of a winter return with skis on my feet. It's a beautiful side of a beautiful mountain in a beautiful region. So a few weeks ago, towards the beginning of that wonderful high pressure system we had, I got in touch with my friend Mark and took all of three seconds to persuade him to join me. We made plans to go the last week in January but we each got sick during the week and decided that we wanted to make the trip in full form. So we pushed it back to the following (last) weekend, Feb 3. All of which is to say that I was pretty surprised when talking with Mark on the drive to Leavenworth Friday evening, he told me that his friend Matt had emailed him the day before asking if he wanted to join himself and Shane for a day trip into Sherpa to ski "some chute." So much for the remoteness I was hoping for.

 

With a forecast for afternoon rains we set the alarm at Mark's Leavenworth home for 4 am. Valley fog gave way to crisp starlight halfway up the road to the Stuart Lake Trail. Few images invigorate more than darkened peaks set against blue/black sky. And few experiences are more terrifying than hitting 35 to 40 mph on the back of a snowmobile. Gripped and awake, I took the lead as we set off up the trail at 6.

 

Travel was fast. The cold air had maintained a hard snow pack without allowing a refreeze cycle to slick the trail. We liked the track set by Matt and Shane, so we followed it all the way to Sherpa:

 

 

The weather was wintery, and as we entered the upper basin wind, clouds, and the forecast for afternoon rain gave reason to take a breather and assess our plans. We brewed up some coffee and ate a bit behind a wind break. It was a little before noon and we each felt strong.

 

The conditions looked stable, but suspect. We could see the ice glistening on the slopes leading up to Sherpa, and there were no discernable tracks before us. Having talked with Matt the night before, we knew that Sherpa had seen a lot of sun the day before and had softened her cover by late afternoon. We knew we weren't going to receive such treatment and began to look for enjoyable terrain.

 

I had remembered there being three distinct lines that looked promising. Shane and Matt had skied one of them, the NE Couloir (in blue below). The second wasn't fully formed due to a rock constriction half way up. And the third, we judged, wouldn't be much fun since it had received too much sun the day before and looked to be quite steep. That left us with two choices. We could either ski the NE Couloir, or else head up a couloir looking thing to the climber's left that appeared to dogleg out of sight higher up. I wanted some adventure, so did Mark, so we headed to the left (in red).

 

 

Here's a better picture from the cc gallery taken by Kurt Hicks in similar conditions:

 

 

About 500 ft up, I switched to crampons and ice axes. Mark wanted to test his new Voile ski crampons, so he continued skinning (stubbornly!) to 7000'. I was getting about a half foot's purchase with each step, with occasional break-throughs up to mid shin. Each time I broke through I paused to scoop the snow out of my boots and laughed at myself for having forgotten my ski pants. I seem to always forget something...just never my pants.

 

 

To our excitement, the couloir doglegged to the right around 7200', and appeared to continue unobstructed to the ridge above.

 

 

We kept going, alternating leads, and hit the ridge at about 8000'. To our excitement yet again, there was more climbable/skiable terrain up and to our right that we couldn't see from below. 250' later we topped out at 1:45 pm.

Looking down from our high point:

 

 

 

Weather had begun to move in, enough so to cause concern. Wind picked up, clouds gathered, and humidity elevated. We enjoyed the views and ate. I didn't want to ski our line in a white-out. Visibility was already poor. Mark had brought clear goggles and was having a hard time distinguishing snow textures. Which was unfortunate because the snow had become quite hard in places for the last 500 feet, and the slope had steepened to 50 degrees in places. This wouldn't be a time for shredding.

 

Mark went first, The surface was several inches of chalky alpine intermixed with sections of textureless (I won't say ice) crust. I followed, making cautious turns aimed at connecting patches of softer snow. Once into the couloir proper, the snow gradually became consistent.

 

 

Several hundred feet in, I lept-frog into the lead and had my first taste of unobstructed exposure. Wonderful. I began to link turns and soon, as my thighs began to burn, I stopped to look back and realized I'd descended over 1000'. That's the kind of skiing I love most- continuous.

 

Once we made it down to the basin beneath Sherpa a light rain began that came and went sporadically for the rest of the day. The ski down was uneventful, if not long. Creek crossings were well covered, and the warming temperatures had softened the trail up enough to allow for relatively easy management. The best part came on the road back to the car. Not being in the mood to spoon again on Mark's snowmobile, I opted to ski down. After the bridge crossing I had 2 miles of perfectly groomed wonderfully graded road to work out the lactic acid that had built up since day break. Hitting the curves of the road on edge felt like I was running gates... I made it the car with daylight to spare, I think a little after 5.

 

[wayne]

fun!

[ryanl]

Does anybody know how to fix this post so "Sherpa Peak" appears in the location field rather than a blank with pictures icon?

[AllYouCanEat]

Cool. I've had dreams of skiing those too Glad to see that you're getting out there having fun on some cool terrain.

[pup_on_the_mountain]

Schweet!! Great read as usual Ryan .

 

I need to learn so ski properly some time .

[gapertimmy]

Does anybody know how to fix this post so "Sherpa Peak" appears in the location field rather than a blank with pictures icon?

 

Ryan-

Great TR, I fixed this for you.

[olyclimber]

Nice!

[ryanl]

Thanks- is it worth asking how you did it?

[zoroastr]

Those gullies on Sherpa are a hoot! E. Johnson and I climbed the peak via one of 'em a couple of years ago in late season when they were ice. Your pix make me wish I could ski!

[thelawgoddess]

nice TR, ryan. lovely photos as well! :-) that mark guy - he sounds special. ;-)

 

i'm really glad you guys were successful on this!!!