Sneffles Beta

[seekanddestroy99]

So I'm planning on Sneffles this weekend, hoping to approach from Blaine Basin, up Lavender Couloir, and rappel into the Snake Couloir and ski down.

Has anyone been in either of these three places this month? If so, what are the trailhead/trail conditions? And does anyone know the condition of the rappel anchor into the Snake? Wondering how much of an anchor I need to bring.

Thanks in advance.

[joe4186]

Do you mean up Yankee Boy?

[lordhelmut]

http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... n&ski=Only

Looks like its a 95' rappel, not sure on the status of the anchor. My friend and his girlfriend skied the BDay chutes last week, he might have some idea of what its like at the summit.

I was up there beginning of this month. Road was closed then, apparently its open over 11k now. My friend's Audi made it to the outhouses. There was a decent amount of snow up there after a 15-20'' weeklong dump.

We'll be doin Potosi saturday, maybe see you up there if you are approaching from Yankee Boy. Goodluck.

[seekanddestroy99]

No, I mean Blaine Basin to Lavender Couloir. I'm hoping to stay on the north side so we don't have to re-ascend into Yankee Boy after skiing the Snake.

lordhelmut- BDay chutes looked OK at first, but with an overnight low of 40 degrees on Friday I'll pass on the south-facing stuff. If your friend saw the anchor I'd appreciate to hear what he had to say. And look out for those meth heads this time!

[lordhelmut]

Makes sense, that re-ascending crap back into Yankee Boy looks like a cruel thing to put yourself though.

I'll ask my buddy about the anchor and get back via PM or somethin and don't worry, I'm placing a rattlesnake in the car while we're out skiing so if anyone tries to F with my car this go around, they won't be around to brag about it to their meth head buddies much longer.

[drt]

I skied the Bday Chutes last Saturday and The Snake from Yankee on Sunday with some friends. There is a nice anchor and webbing up top for the rappel with 2 'biners. We didn't have to add anything to it for the rap. The road on the Yankee Boy side is clear all the way to the last bathroom. We made the slog back around to the East facing snow field that gets back to the top of the Lavender Col and were able to ski all the way back to the truck from there. We talked to some locals after our ski that had just finished skiing Stoney and they said Blaine was open to the campsites. We had pretty good pow on the top but the slough developed a pretty good sized runnel from the turn where it steepens through the choke on the Snake. There is a ton of snow up there right now, the rap is currently under 95'.

[seekanddestroy99]

Perfect info drt! Thanks so much.

helmut- I heard cougars are better to keep in cars, both for you driving and for anyone trying to break in. They make you deal with fear better, or something.