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04-15-05 thru 04-17-05

Quoting Moynier: "Skins are worth their weight in gold"

J.P. and I headed into the E. Sierra bc this past w/e (Fri-Sun)...without skins and a splitboard, no way as a snowboarder could I have done this trip.




Bodhi weighted down



J.P's load



Starting at the Convict Lake Trailhead, we slugged 3-days worth of gear, food, and equipment some 6 miles up Convict Creek Canyon to Dorothy Lake (9500') where we set up basecamp, with the breathtaking view of Red Slate Mtn (13,100') looming behind us.



J.P. skinning...



Convict Canyon



Up the gut of Laural Mtn:


J.P.





Bodhi grind








Bodhi with Red Slate Behind


J.P.with Red Slate backdrop



Base Camp


{more below...}

Red Slate Mountain (13,237')


Our water source:



A line I wanted to do, but was too tired every night to muster it (our tent is in the circle)



Mt. Baldwin another 13,000-fter



Bodhi Skinning






J.P.


Views and possible sweet lines were everywhere...


The pit...failed at 18...



The Shelf right behind Bloody Mtn that we rode



J.P.top of shelf


Bodhi same pose (whutta facking gaper)


We did not get many riding photos, after all the effort of skinning elev to score the lines, who wanted to stop???


Bodhi riding a slope...


{more below...}

J.P.


J.P. making some turns...



One of our descent lines...


Look closely and you can see some of our tracks above Bunny Lake



Our tracks (on the knoll) with Red Slate overlooking...



A creek nuked our chute plan of exit off the ridge down to base camp...bummer, still found another fun way down in some crappy snow.



Trip in took 7 gruelling hours...trip out less than two--J.P. could have made it out much quicker than that, I had issues trying to ride a snowboard with 45lbs on my back (weird making turns, harder to stay on traverse lines, bogging down in flats)...

Looking back at the total trip, it was more of a touring trip than anything, but we managed to get some nice steep vertical in over the three days...

We talked about doing Red Slate Couloir, I wanted to bag it badly...but avy conditions, equipment problems, and tired bodies would prevent it. Got to go back and do it, might give it another go next month...

Red would have been the ascent route, Green would be the descent...the circles were the avy concerns that would make us look for other places to play (coupled with the shakey 8" layer learned from the pit on a similar wind-loaded aspect):



Damn, that was a good looking truck when we punched out on Sunday...I could taste how it was going to deliver me to some grub at the Pita Pit in Mammoth...


I felt like with all the peaks around us to ski, it was like going to an amusement park and having to chose only one roller coaster to ride before you had to go.

Red Slate Couloir close-up


Definite next time...


Crazy avy potential


Backside of Bloody Mtn and the shelf we rode from the base of the rock bands:


Chutes Backside of Bloody


J.P. with Bunny Lake Area playground behind him...



On hella physical trip, but I gotta go back in their again real soon.




peace,
D.

If you are bored and want to see the cut-outs,then here is a Link to more photos of the trip (impossible to imagine that there are more, eh?)

Nice TR Bro!!

By the way, I think you need a bigger pack. I've got a spare 3400 cu. in. REI pack (Talus 50) if you're interested.....

Shuuuush!

Got my eye on an Osprey 45-2...just need to wait till the cash comes in on May 1st to get it...as well as the tent you know of...

It was crazy the way I turned my daypack into a 3-day-er...

peace,
D.

Wonderful photos, thanks for sharing.

Glad to see the two of you had such a great time.

I am very impressed with your collective decision NOT to ski the couloir on Red Slate. Must have been a difficult decision to make.

Hope you return soon when conditions will allow a descent.

Yeah, a huge gut check in a backwards direction...I wanted it badly, I mean BADLY, but it just was not meant to be this trip.

Live to do it another day when things are correct to make a safe ascent/descent. There will always be other days...

peace,
D.

Wow!

Thanks for a great TR pictorial Bodhi! Lovin' all the pics.

Props for the overnighter too!

Ps. Agreed that you need a larger pack.
Good choice on the Osprey.

Very nice dude. SFB and I came to the same conclusion. While the "named" descents are awesome destinations, the surrounding areas can offer some incredible riding as well and should not be overlooked.

It's all about the tour.

Just curious, why did you opt to pitch your tent on rocks instead of smoothing out a nice flat snow bench?

Nice trip, D. We've only been there in the fall, so it looks like we might head out there soon. As soon as SnowDude has a free weekend!

How was the creek crossing? The bridge was gone when we were there.

Bridge was there (by the falls at Dorothy Lake)...it was pretty new, so it looks like they rebuilt it. Coming up, most of the creek was still covered by many feet of snow above about 9000' (above the ghost forest), so we actually crossed it many times...

peace,
D.