Monday, February 2, 2009
First time for everything
I've been skiing in and around the Lake Tahoe backcountry for the past 8 years including this winter. For the past seven seasons I've looked at Crag Peak and wondered what it would be like to ski it. I shall wonder no more after putting in the huge effort to get out there yesterday. With thin cover and high pressure looming I figured it might be a now or never kind of situation.
The approach was daunting, and it involved summiting Jakes skiing the backside and then hiking to the summit of Crag. We made it up there in good time and had a nice drop in the sunshine. With super thin snow conditions we had only one option for our descent, but the possibilities are pretty endless on a big year. There is some pretty good coverage out in desolation wilderness.
The face of Crag Peak is steep, really steep. Even more exciting than the pitch of the face is the three cliff bands that you need to negotiate on a 50 degree slope. After a good ski with some really impressive exposure we were only about halfway there. We had a nice long skin back to the top of Jakes and nice corny run down the south side. Seven hours of hiking and worth every step.
Get yourself some Marker Dukes and get out and ski somewhere you've never been before. The backcountry is still skiing great, nice spring snow on the south faces and sugary cold pow in the shadows. Have fun out there and pray for snow.
Labels: Desolation Wilderness, Jakes, Jeremy Benson, Marker Dukes, Tahoe backcountry
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