Copper Mountain traverse

Bob likes to do this trip at least once a year. The last time I did this with Bob, (2004) the entire mountain was frozen solid. This year we were fortunate to have excellent conditions in May.

We left one car at Banner Summit and one at the Cape Horn road pullout, booting from Banner Summit up onto the ridge. Firm the entire way. Once on top, the fun begins.

Bob likes to get the steep stuff, as you can tell in this pic (click for a bigger version and look for the orange parka), Meanwhile, I chose a more modest bowl, only about 35-40°.

Bob and I booted back up my bowl, where we met up with the rest of the gang. This is the view from the saddle, southeast toward the Sawtooths.

Enjoying the warm sun and lunch, we all told lies about other trips in May. As the youngest in this group, I had the best memory. But the old guys had some great lies to tell, including some stories about skiing in the Sawtooths in late June.

As the snow softened, it was time for more skiing. So Jim and I skied my bowl again. Here's Jim showing perfect Killy form while Tom and Charlie peer off the cornice immediately behind him.

The second time down was even better than the first. You can see our tracks coming down off the ridgetop.

But the car was a long way off and we needed to keep moving. So while Jim and I did the long route around and under the ridge, Tom and Charlie went over the top....

...and Bob went looking for more steep stuff.

Note the sluffs across his tracks.

We reunited later on the ridge and had another rest. Bob, however, had continued on and missed the photo op.

Then we split the group again, with Tom and Charlie skiing the south face of Copper while Jim, Bob, and I went off the north side. The north side crew ended our trip by wading the creek in our boots- fortunately, the stream was quite shallow and the car only a short distance down the road.

Turns in June? This year, it looks possible.

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