Although many explorers, adventurers and professional athletes would like to tout their adventures as grandiose dreams, epic tribulations and great triumphs, we all know mediocrity generally plagues an average amount of missions. This past weekend in Tahoe helped proved the fact that, like people, 49% of adventures are below average.

This particular median escapade started when JT Holmes, Jason Abraham, Elyse Saugstad and I decided to skip out on the White Ribbon of Death on Red Dog at Squaw Valley for one day and mish it down to Carson Pass for a backcountry outing.



Our planned destination. Round Top peak.



My ambitious mind had planned to tackle the Crescent Moon couloir (looker's right chute) in low-tide gnar conditions ala Jeremy Jones.
My eyes upon first arrival then said, "Well low-tide can't even begin to explain how dry that couloir is". Mediocrity was inching its way closer.

Looker's right couloir looking rockier than Tiger Wood's marriage.


So immediately our grandiose dreams were vanquished. But we just got up at 6:00 am, drove an hour and a half and didn't want to ski another day on the W.R.O.D. at Squaw. So we skinned on.

"We're not turning around. We're going that way!"



"We found the low-tide gnar!"



The gnarliest of the gnar. Sketchy-log creek-crossing on loose skins and Alpine Trekkers (aka Alpine Day Wreckers).



Skinning up the mediocre.



Average.




And then the trip got so average that photographerJason Abraham didn't even take his camera out. So there was a total of zero pictures of skiing. Yup. Count that. Zero. We skied right back down our skin track on a solid 20 degree pitch. Whoopee.


So yes, this outing was dramatically anti-climactic. So to leave you all with at least something interesting. Here's a picture of the super-duper famous JT "Birdman" Holmes post-porty-a-potty-poo. It was such an important moment that I had to take a picture of another person taking a picture of JT's post-dump exit. It smelled bad and was his second dump of three that day. Well, I guess that's above average.

Labels: Backcountry, backcountry skiing, Backcountry Tahoe, Cody Townsend, Elyse Saugstad, jason abraham, JT Holmes

Comments:

 Eric Asistin
no one go in there for about 35-45 min.

# : December 10, 2009 2:54 PM

 

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I believe it's the multitude of shared traits that makes backcountry fly-fishing and backcountry skiing so appealing to me. Both provide a healthy amount of solitude and silence. Both command respect of nature and reverence at its organic beauty. Both make you rely on yourself and breach that safety net of emergency hotlines, instant communication and rapid travel. Then in skiing and in fishing there is a surge of adrenaline and excitement in a peaceful and calm world. For me that adrenaline comes when I'm experiencing those moments of flight on a pair of skis or setting that hook as a monster brown trout just breached the surface water and attacked my floating fly.

I really don't know why I wrote what I just wrote. It really is a terrible introduction for a Trip Report. I guess it has to do with the fact that most people find it contradictory or even oxymoronic that a professional skier/thrill-seeker would be into such a calm and silent sport such as fly-fishing. I guess I just wanted to explain myself to myself. Cause sometimes even I think, "Why the hell do I like this fly-fishing thing so much?"

Anyways, I recently went on a backcountry fly-fishing trip with a few buddies deep into the Sierra wilds. Since your attention span is probably waning by now, here are some pictures and stats of the trip.

Days: 3
Nights: 2
Miles: 18.9
Pack Wgt: 52 lbs.
Trout Caught: Group: 100+ Me: 20+
Trout Eaten: 7
Lakes Fished: 5
Streams Fished: 2
Liquor Consumed: 9 pints of Jameson Irish Whiskey, 1 litre Milagro Tequila


What were all truly looking for.

Labels: Backcountry, backcountry skiing, Cody Townsend, fishing

Comments:

 ben-day-ho
looks so fun!!!!!!!!!! love this time of year!!

# : July 3, 2009 12:26 PM

 

 Anonymous
kelly says u rock cody :)

# : July 3, 2009 1:00 PM

 

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The skiing around the lake has really turned to crap over the past couple weeks. The gate up to the fourth of July chutes finally opened last friday, and if you missed it don't worry. Since the first couple times I rode my bike up there the snow has gotten progressively less smooth...imagine that. So, usually about once a year I try to ski Mount Shasta. It usually happens anywhere from mid May to mid June. This year it just happened to be yesterday.

This pic was taken about 20 minutes into the hike, our route is straight for the top from here, ascending the obvious snow filled gully just lookers left at the top.

This shot is from about halfway, notice all the wacky smoke haze in the sky. This is where it starts to hurt.

Standing on the summit, the trailhead is just down in the trees about where the snow runs out.

A shot of the whole mountain. Our route is from right off the summit, and straight down, the lower 3,000 feet or so is obscured by the trees.

Labels: Backcountry, Jeremy Benson, MT Shasta, Ski

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My birthday was last Saturday, the 31st of May. Every year I try to ski on my birthday, and some years its way easier than others. A couple years ago Alpine Meadows and Squaw were still open, this year, however, was a completely different story. I talked with a few of my more hardcore friends and we devised a simple plan to get some great skiing in the basin and only a few miles from my house.

Labels: Backcountry, Jeremy Benson, Skiing

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Our weatherman Joe just sent me over these photo and I had to post them. Joe's Words "Looking back, we should have skied it from the top of the peak.....the first 50ft was steep but after that is was nothing crazy. Even 5 days after the last storm and all the wind we endured, Annie and I skied binding deep soft wintery snow the entire 1500' ". With some warm days here the backcountry should be running rather nicely.

Labels: Backcountry, Desolation Wilderness, Lake Tahoe, Mount Tallac, Porters, Skiing, Weather

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