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Freel Peak is the highest peak in the Tahoe basin, but being a bit remote and asthetically challenged keeps it off the beaten path.

On Saturday (4/21) I followed the Horse Meadows trail in from the south side and then rode down the north/west side back to my casa in Meyers. The snow on the south facing slopes was almost ripe corn which made for great skinning and relatively efficient boot packing. On the north/westerly faces the snow was good pow for the top thousand feet or so and heavy wet muck the rest of the way. The crux of the trip was the amazing white out conditions heading down from the summit. The vertigo was dramamine worthy.

Start of the road which had be pretty well "groomed" by sledders.


Freel is the highest middle point.


Looking back across Hope Valley and Carson Pass




The summit with the white blur just below.


I have about ten more pics of white out. It was nerve wracking to leave a rock outcropping and have absolutely nothing that stood out from the white.


Eventually I hit trees and was able to open it up and enjoy some decent powder turns.


Oso

thanks for the pics Dave!

We had similar white-out conditions yesterday while on the top of Ralstonia. It never cleared so we skied down near the skintrack.

Too bad the conditions 'blew.' Would the trip up Freel be worth it under better conditions?

Good work Dishwasher Dave. Looks like a solo venture? Did you come back down through Fountain Place / Oneidas or High Meadows / Cold Creek?

BCR - I thought you were tied up this weekend.?. Man of Steele and I had a Deso Traverse epic starting with Ralston on Saturday, finishing at Emerald Bay late yesterday. You may have even followed our skin tract to Ralstonia, and parked by Rich's car. Definitely every weather condition imaginable, including the white blindness on top of lofty summits that you guys experienced.

Sorry to hear that the white fog was so widespread. Anybody else experience that vertigo almost nauseas sensation?

With visibility the top of Freel is pretty awesome, but it is nowhere near as direct as say Tallac. For me it was a fun tour, but not much of a descent (though if I could have seen 5 feet it might have been better). In the summer I always like being able to look down on Echo Lakes in Desolation from Freel. There are some nice lines from Freel proper, but Job's Sista down to Star Lake is probably the coolest line in the area.

I descended towards Fountain Place/Oneidas, but at Fountain Place meadow I traversed hard west and eventually came out on Chippewa about a 1/4 mile from my place.

While the flank of Freel above the Fountain Place meadow is steep and has some awesome widely spaced tree sections, I bet the High Meadows exit with a detour for Trimmer would be the real ticket. I would need to check the map, but I think this would be much more fall line and with some uptracks could yield a ton of vertical.

I only posted that one pic of the bear tracks, but I think I passed three different sets.

I've experienced that vertigo sensation... whiteout conditions combined with foggles.... You can feel yourself sliding over the snow but have no visual 'confirmation' that you're actually moving, just pure white, definately nauseating.
So Freel the day after Tallac? Nice
Friday was awesome, thanks for your guidance

Dave

i thought tallac was the biggest hill in the tahoe area?

DD - we think alike. The Freel to Trimmer link up is the ticket. That area is very cool, but definitely heavy on the approach side. I've spent a lot more time there in the summer on foot or mountain bike than on skis in the winter. Mountain Voodoo and I are going to fix that problem, hopefully.

We did ski Jobs Sister to Star Lake last Spring - one of Tahoe's better runs. Took advantage of the bullwheel to get back there and definitely worthwhile.
Here's a picture:



and here's a link to the whole TR:
Jobs Sister

Thanks for the cool TR.

Joe,

Might be able to fix that problem this weekend !