| Peak(s): |
Mt. Cameron - 14,248 feet Mt. Bross - 14,178 feet Mt. Columbia - 14,075 feet |
| Date Posted: | 05/28/2015 |
| Modified: | 05/29/2015 |
| Date Climbed: | 05/26/2015 |
| Author: | SnowAlien |
| Peak(s): |
Mt. Cameron - 14,248 feet Mt. Bross - 14,178 feet Mt. Columbia - 14,075 feet |
| Date Posted: | 05/28/2015 |
| Modified: | 05/29/2015 |
| Date Climbed: | 05/26/2015 |
| Author: | SnowAlien |
| Revenge of the Underdogs |
|---|
Weather Window Shopping on CaBroMay 18, 2015 Mt Cameron Route: South Bowl, Main couloir Mt Bross Route: S gully ascent, Unnamed(?) SW gully descent TH: Paris Mill winter closure Elevation gain: ~4,600 ft Mileage: ~11 miles Time: ~8 hours 30 min RT Max speed: 34 mph Partners: Sam S (skimo racer) and Jeremy (splitboarder) These unassuming and popular peaks in summer appear to provide a unique challenge in other seasons - it is almost always windy there. It's that or I just have a really bad luck with the East side approach. I've been blown off the Quartzville side on 2 attempts (both in winter and in spring), and 2 summits of Lincoln were attained in brutally strong winds. I was also more intrigued by the South Bowl routes on Cameron, described in Sperry's guidebook, although the winter TH closure would mean a longer approach than from the East. I met Sam and Jeremy in Alma and we drove a short distance to the TH. I was secretly hoping we could get past the Paris Mill, but alas, the snowbank was still there (the road would open a week later). We geared up and started hiking by 6.30am. The road approach went fairly quick, so in an hour or so we were approaching Cameron. Weather has been an issue all spring, as it seems, and we didn't get much of a view.  Cameron on the approach  Approaching the South chutes We tried to pick a chute that would go to the summit, but with low visibility, we just picked the one that we could see clear the rock bands above. Fairly soon I figured out the chute doesn't go all the way to the summit, but rather top out on the Cameron-Bross saddle. So we started traversing a few chutes, and eventually topped out around 13.8k on the saddle. Visibility in the chutes were reasonable, which we couldn't say for the rest of the basin. Some of the chutes we ascended, albeit short, were suprisingly steep, and a sporty way to climb Cameron.   Traversing  Cameron shows its steep side  Nearing the top of the ridge Once on the ridge and switching back to skinning, we got our first weather window and could briefly see the ridge and the route we ascended.  Peeking into the bowl we ascended Then there was a short skin to Cameron's summit along the ridge, which we could barely find.  Sam on the highest point on Cameron Thankfully, we got our 2nd lucky window break and Sam was able to spot the Main chute that dropped directly off the summit. It looked straightforward and we could just barely see it clears through the cliff bands. All we needed was another weather window! We transitioned to a ski mode and started waiting... and waiting...  Main chute goes!  Meanwhile, the weather was looking like this After about 15 min of waiting, we got a very short and weak weather window, and we descended just a little bit lower in the bowl. Then it closed. We are sitting and waiting on the slope. Suddenly. GOOOOOO!!!!! I drop in first, then Jeremy quickly passes me and next seen at the bottom of the couloir. The top is breakable crust that slows me down. A few hundred feet lower, snow is firm and icy (never seen the sun today), but it's better, and I am making faster turns. Lower in the couloir, even better, with some patches of windblown powder and corn in the apron. Seeing that weather window would allow a few photos, I take a few. It's a bit surreal.  Main couloir in the GOOOO!!!! mode  Almost down  Sam is finishing the ski as the weather window closing Well, that was exciting. What should we do next? Let's traverse to the S gully and see if we get another lucky weather break for Bross. We ski down to the bottom of S gully and switch to the skinning mode, eat and drink. We even see a sun for a bit.  Traverse from Cameron  Starting to skin up. We won't see a sun or anything but whiteness around us for another 45 minutes   S Gully  Nearing the summit of Bross  Bross summit  Yup, Bross summit has some snow We made the transition contemplating the descent route. S Gully looked very nice, but on the approach we saw another gully that would take us closer to the road. We manage to convince Jeremy, although we could tell he really liked the S gully. Sam looks up and immediately alerts us to the onset of another weather window. We are back in the GOOOO!!!! mode. Thankfully, the transition is almost done (fastest ever) and we ski to the beginning of our descent gully.  Unnamed (?) descent gully we chose. And GOOOOO!!!!  Sam skiing  Best corn turns of the day  Hurry up!  Skiing away from flat light  The gully ends up in a half-pipe feature, everyone enjoyed it  Tired, but happy Jeremy. No more skinning up today, I promise  Skiing down the road as the new storm approaching Our descent from Bross back at the cars took just 1.5 hours. We reached our cars as it started snowing and hailing. What about the infamous Bross scree? We saw no scree at all! Descending 2,200 feet of scree in 18 minutesMay 26, 2015 Mt Columbia Route: SW gully ascent/ski descent TH: Cottonwood Creek TH Elevation gain: ~4,200 ft Mileage: ~10 miles Time: ~8 hours 30 min RT Max speed: 22 mph Partner: Michael We had a hunch Columbia might be in good shape this spring. After skiing Lindsey's North couloir in powder a few days before, Michael and I teamed up again for Columbia. With uncertain weather, we were off and hiking the familiar trail by 5am.  Bear tracks!  The trail is on and off for a few miles  Beautiful SW gully Let me just get it out of the way. Did you know that Columbia has over 2,000 feet of continuous skiing in SW gully? (starts at 11.4k and tops out at 13.6k). Before this trip I did not know that either. This makes this peak pretty cool in my book.  Start of the SW gully. We skinned up to the first bench and put crampons on and skis on the packs. Ski crampons would be beneficial in current conditions  Michael demonstrates self-arrest with a whippet Once again, weather was not looking promising, so we started at a leisury pace up the couloir. We found a good freeze in the lower 2/3 of the couloir and a more punchy snow in the upper 1/3.  Where's the sun?    It's cold!  Here comes the sun - finally!  More booting  We switch leads, particularly near the top, where booting becomes a bit more difficult   Couloir seems endless, duh!   Yale Eventually we prevail, and get to stare at the unbelievably snowy summit ridge of Columbia, complete with cornices. Where are we? Skinning does the trick, and the ridge goes pretty fast. Above 13.6k, it's all powder.  Ridge to the summit   Summit "mushroom" of Columbia  At least 10 feet of snow above the rocks  Harvard in the background, looking snowy After a short stay on the summit (we were afraid another bout of weather was approaching), we ski down the ridge in 20 min.  Ridge ski And now, for the real fun part - 2+k ft of corn skiing!  Michael in the upper section  Our booter    More skiing  Fun and fast middle part     Finishing it off. Our descent from the top of the couloir only took 18 minutes (with stops and picture taking). Time to start thinking about the deproach.  A few hundred feet of bonus corn turns down the apron to the tree line.  Playing peek-a-boo with Harvard  Very minimal tomfoolery The dreaded ski-out wasn't bad. We stayed on trail and on track and were back at the car in 1.5 hr, much better than our 5 hr exit from skiing Yale last year. Columbia delivers again! |
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