We expand our horizons north of Sargent's
- December 29, 2012
- Team: Ralph
- Summit: Brundage Mountain, 7903
- Car to car: about 6 hours
Note: click images to see a larger version in a new window
Ralph was looking for turns. Early turns. He left Boise at about 4:30, paused briefly in Donnelly while the local cops violated his constitutional rights, and got to my house right about 7am. So we were rolling early. Cold early, like about 3 degrees. Although it was cold, the snomo road was silent. So well worth the early start. We enjoyed catching up and were soon heading up the ski track into the basin under Sargent's. |
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It had been two weeks since I had been up here, so I was excited to see what the snow as like. But the rimed trees were getting all the attention. The tank traps (sastrugi and tree drifts) were bigger than normal, making the upper ridge a challenge. But there were 3-4 inches of stiff, frozen powder over a fairly firm base. Gonna be a good day. |
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| We tagged the top of Sargent's in the background, then skied some glades, avoided a few cliffs, then worked our way through the trees to the open hillsides to the north. |  |
| From the top of that bump, we dropped into a mellow valley. | |
The bottom of that valley opened onto a broad face with lots of room for turns in fresh snow. Ralph caught me in this one. |
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| Looking back up from whence we came. |  |
| We did a couple really fun, although short, laps off the bump north of Sargent's then climbed the adjoining ridge back up Sargent's once more. At this point we had climbed a little more than 4k, so the legs were talking. Or maybe whimpering just a bit. |  |
| From the ridge, we could look back and see some of our tracks (any tracks you see here are ours). |  |
On the summit (again) we ran into a couple from California who had ridden the wire. We chatted for a few minutes, enjoying the sunshine and calm air, then took off. One more drop, back to the road, and then home to the hot tub. Great day! |
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