Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 95 Location: Truckee/Tahoe Donner
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 2:26 am Post subject: TR: Skate Circumnavigation of Crown Point (Sierra Nevada)
Hi folks,
I posted this at fasterskier.com, but figured backcountry skiers here might enjoy some of the pics as well (somehow I get the impression that there's not a lot of crossover between fasterskier and telemarktalk, but I could be wrong).
We had been drooling over the prospective great spring skating conditions through the winter, but this spring's incredibly sparse (record low) precip in the Sierra has made great backcountry skating conditions a little problematic, but not non-existant. We've gotten a few great ones in, mostly local Tahoe trips (an incredible Echo Summit to Emerald Bay skate included). We’ve experienced everything from bottomless “mash potatoes” to perfect frozen conditions on a variety of local excursions.
But, around here, you can never trust that yesterday will be like today, and even though the weather looked dreadful for a high country tour the first weekend of May (warm, cloudy nights, threat of thundershowers in the forecast), our intrepid quartet (including Mitch Dion, Jeff Schloss, and Tav Streit) embarked on a middle-elevation (7,000 to 10,000 feet) backcountry tour in a spectacular area of the north/central Sierra Nevada near Bridgeport. This tour, a circumnavigation of Crown Point via Peeler and Crown Lakes, ventures into the Yosemite high country, crosses the Sierra crest twice, and returns the same way via spectacular Barney Lake and Robinson Creek.
The weather on the drive down from Truckee was dreadful — cloudy, even drizzly at times. And the forecast wasn’t much better, leaving us to think this was going to be a SHORT trip, and we could be back in Truckee bike riding by the afternoon. But miraculously (despite our “Designated Pessimist’s” predictions), the skis cleared at midnight and the day broke bright and cloudless after our 4:30 am wakeup call. Even though we’ve embarked from Twin Lakes many trips, this was the first time we’ve headed due west, and the lateness of the trip in the season and the low snowpack led to easy hiking for over an hour to Barney Lake, which unfortunately wasn’t completely frozen.
A short excursion around the lake, and we could finally mount our Fischer Revolutions -- THE ski of choice for backcountry skating -- for the steep gully climbing to Peeler Lake, sitting directly on the crest of the Sierra, uniquely draining both into California and Nevada.
The texture of the lake was supremely, scrumptiously smooth, with incredible views of Crown Point above.
The Northern Yosemite Crest beyond the lake.
And the Sawtooth Ridge area looking back across Peeler.
This led to a spectacular cruise over meadows and creeks down Rancheria Creek through Kerrick Meadows.
After a few miles of unbelievably enjoyable skating, we made a 270 degree turn back up toward Rock Island Pass, our high-point at 10,100 feet.
From there, it was fantastic corn skiing down to Snow, Crown, and Robinson Lakes, some of the best turns we’ve had all season, as the day warmed gently and the snow softened to perfection.
Great views of the massive face of Slide Mountain:
Down past Snow and Crown on great corn, we got to the "crux" at little Robinson Lake, trying to figure out how to get our twiggy little 147cm. skis down to Barney Lake and the safety of our running shoes.
From Robinson Lake, a last-minute route decision led to a drop off into a steep, narrow gully that, if the snow was nasty or the terrain turned into cliffs, could have led to some dicey skiing on our Revo's.
But instead, it was a steep cruise on great snow that led us all the way down to the valley below, almost directly to our original tracks that headed up on our morning route. A quick dash over to our stashed running shoes, and the long hike back down the valley led to the culmination of an almost perfect backcountry adventure skate trip — something that couldn’t have been predicted, but thoroughly enjoyed nonetheless. A little over 7 hours, car to car, and a pretty easy trip by our High Sierra standards, but well worth it!
Joined: 16 Mar 2007 Posts: 346 Location: sunny southern california
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 3:10 am Post subject:
awesome! that's an incredible location to take skinny skis!! thanks for sharing!!! _________________ a ship is safe in a harbor, but that is not what it is designed for.
Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2102 Location: N. Lake Tahoe
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 3:49 am Post subject:
Very very cool. What a great trip. What a wonderful way to cruise the backcountry!!! _________________ Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day.
Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 5324 Location: knee deep
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 12:07 pm Post subject:
Great report, Capt. Nordic. Nice lightweight guys on lightweight gear.
I've often said if you want a FS road to feel like a CO headwall then just put on the skinny skis!
I have a few pairs of Revolutions that are marked for skating but have a fishscale pattern. I never understood that. Maybe someone can give me some insight?? _________________ I don't trust to nothing, but I know it comes out right.
Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 95 Location: Truckee/Tahoe Donner
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 1:07 pm Post subject:
Grant,
Fischer made two versions of the original, non-metal-edge Revolution back in the mid-90's. John Slouber of Royal Gorge was the impetus behind the design, thinking that a shorter ski would be better for beginners. Fischer made both a crown, no-wax version and a skate version. The patterned ski never took off at all except for use as rentals at XC areas. The skate version had a short, unglorious life, and some people really liked them for groomed trails. We started using them in the backcountry and realized that they worked incredibly well for certain purposes, were bomb-proof, handled great, turned well, and really didn't give up a lot in overall speed (I even raced successfully on them one season). So if you have a patterned version, it won't be very good for backcountry skating, unfortunately. _________________ ___
Captain Nordic
Fantastic TR Captain, I'd love to see more of those. One question I've always had about a trip like this - let's say you are ten miles in, the weather gets a little warmer than expected, and the snow turns rotten. Skating becomes next to impossible. Do you just hunker down and wait for the snow to set up, and ski out by headlight, or slog on?
Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 180 Location: Tahoe Paradise
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 1:45 pm Post subject:
Super schweet....Is 4:30 what you would call a "Nordic" start?
Captain, I have a pair of Rossignol Tempo short skate skis. Are these basically the same as the Fisher Revs? I think they also came in a patterned version, but all this was before my time. I use them for BC skating because a ski partner told me about breaking his longer foam cores when he was pretty far from the trailhead....
Unfortunately I didn't get much skating (groomed, nor bc) in this year, and my fitness suffered for it. When out of shape I definitely feel like the shorter skate skis are a tougher ride, esp. uphill. Easier to tame on the descents, however. Still, having learned to tele with plastic boots, I find myself hesitant to drop the knee on the skate gear.
Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 95 Location: Truckee/Tahoe Donner
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 3:09 pm Post subject:
Hi all,
Regarding warming weather....Hunkering down is really not an option (did you happen to see the size of the packs we were wearing?). Weather and snow conditions are really critical for enjoyment, but hopefully not for survival (at least not yet). We've slogged many a mile at the end of long skate trips (>10 hours) in the afternoon, and it's definitely not enjoyable, and it certainly cuts down on your "average speed." You're definitely putting yourself out there, and an injury or breakage is part of the risk, as is changing conditions. Not much different as dropping into a couloir on the backside of the crest with heavy tele gear.
The threat of changing weather reminds of a trip long-past, when we were still doing overnighters with skate gear. We were attempting to ski from Lake Sabrina, over Piute Pass and through Humphrey's Basin, to Rock Creek in 2 days. It's a really long trip for skate skis, so we carried light packs, bags, stove, etc. (BTW, it really sucks to skate with more than about 15 pounds on your back). We got over the crest, and then into French Canyon, and the weather turned really warm, and our going was slow. So we decided to camp a little earlier than we had expected, figuring we could make up the extra on the second day with an early start. Well....got up to pee at 3 am (hydration's important, don't you know), and realized that it had TOTALLY clouded over, and the snow was NOT setting up. Sunk in past the knees. Ouch! We decided in the morning that we were DEFINITELY not going to make it to Rock Creek that day, and another night out (sans food) wasn't going to be enjoyable, so our choice was to head back (not a great option), or bail out via Pine Creek Pass and Canyon, which I had hiked up a few times but never skied. Needless to say, we had the most heinous trip bailout we'd ever experienced, but luckily made it down relatively unscathed (a couple of slide-to-die scenarios were avoided, barely).
Postscript to the story: I returned a couple years later to do the trip (with a different set of partners, imagine that?), only decided to go north to south, and do it in a single day. Longest day of adventure skating in my life, but we successfully completed the trip and finished over Piute Pass and down to North Lake after starting in Rock Creek. The last few miles through Humphrey's Basin was definitely a slog-fest, more like walking than skating (trying to skate through mush after 10 hours was the challenge). There were even some sections that were better for striding (even without any grip wax) than skating. But still one of the all-time classic trips. Here's a photo of Andrew Hall striding across Royce Lakes, with Mt. Humphrey's in the background:
Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 95 Location: Truckee/Tahoe Donner
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 3:13 pm Post subject:
Clydesdad,
in reality, 4:30 am is about as late as I would start for a major trip. Because of some car shuttling, this trip didn't end up leaving the trailhead until 5 am, but we lucked out in that the conditions stayed fantastic all day. We've left earlier by headlight many times.
As far as Rossi Tempos....let me just say that one of the guys on the trip used to use Tempos early on. He ALWAYS bitched about them. I've never used them, but he hated them, and has since switched exclusively to Revolutions. He's one of the top skaters in the country (and a former alpine racer), so I trust his judgment completely on this. Tav's the one who can tele or parallel anything we do, as you can see from the photos. If you see ME dropping a knee on Revo's, it's just for show, or else the snow is perfect. _________________ ___
Captain Nordic
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
All of the comments above are owned by the
poster, telemarktips.com is not responsible in any way for the
content. The views expressed by the posters are not necessarily
those of Tt.com, its management or owners. Ski safe, be happy,
rip it up, smile on your brother and sister!
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
Or just hiking?
