Splitboard.com Forums

Date: April 27-29, 2012

Location: A range full of Crystals, somewhere deep in a desolate and wild place


Weather: Sunny and perfect for harvesting


Conditions: Surf's up!


Photos:
Schralph


bcrider





bcrider POV: Wolf Hunting in the Crystal Range 2012
[vimeo]41576919[/vimeo]





ALOHA TO THE TAHOE SEASON (Part 1)


Part 1 Music: Beastie Boys - Slow and Low



With the thin and late Tahoe season of 2012 winding down, bcrider solicited me to join him for a high-elevation harvesting expedition out in the Crystal Range, seeking the last stashes of bounty to be reaped in the Tahoe area. We took the machines in on Friday evening, April 27, and found a little area from which to stage our assault.





The next morning as first light broke, jayte attempted to decode some plans sent to him by Princess Leia. The droids you're looking for are, like, right behind you, dude. He rolled out solo to find C3PO's parts while bcrider and I went on our own mission.





Leaving the machines behind and searching for signs of booty on foot, bcrider found gimpy's signature harvest from the day before on the West Slope of the Crystal Range. Up and over is the bearing we would take to find the goods.





Toward the top, bcrider demonstrated his crouching tiger, hidden whippet, high-angle skinning technique.





Behind bcrider, we saw the last signs of Winter in Tahoe ...





... but Winter was quickly transitioning to Spring.





Pyramid Peak, highest in the Crystal Range, overlooked us as we neared the Sierra Crest.





And, turning to look over the ridge, the Aloha Lakes Basin came into view.





Who needs a SPOT Tracker when you can Facebook in the Desolation Wilderness?





No, REALLY - I'm serious.





A little more up and up to get to the top of Agassiz.





I followed up in bcrider's bootpack along the steep ridge.





Up top, we saw open fields ripe for harvest all the way down to Aloha Lake. Not quite sure what's below me though.





Despite some nice lines below the summit, I wanted to drop in from over THERE though - because it looked $$$. bcrider agreed and we headed off the summit down the ridge of the Crystal Range.





Wait, we were just up there? Next time I should just jump kick off the overhung diving board ... maybe when there's 10 feet of pow in the LZ?





Traversing along the ridge of the Crystal Range offers limitless opportunity for Type 3 puckerific knife edge straddling fun, if you're into that sort of thing. NTTIAWWT, but we opted for the less ass-puckering route.





bcrider says, "The Price is Right!" atop the summit, while showing off some new hardware.





Bob Barker presented bcrider with the grand showcase.





bcrider tried to guess the angle of the prize. Don't guess too high, or you'll forfeit!





Yeah, I guess that snow looks kind of okay ...





I took the consolation prize - no complaining here!





There's nothing quite like harvesting out in wide open fields.





It's actually kind of hard to imagine that there was even this much snow out here, considering what the rest of Tahoe looked like at the time.





Also nothing wrong with rolling slow and low when you're the only ones out and around for miles and miles.





So much booty to be had out in the Crystals.





Down at the lake, bcrider put on his best suit befitting our location before heading back to the top of the Crest.





I didn't really take much to bcrider's crouching tiger technique, and opted more for a praying mantis skinning manouver.





Back down to tha West-SIIIIIIIIDE!





Surf's up brah, Cali-styleeee.

ALOHA TO THE TAHOE SEASON (Part 2)

Part 2 Music Beastie Boys - Posse in Effect




Forget Last FRIDAY, now u know what we did Last SATURDAY, foolz.





That's how bcrider and schralphzilla roll out in the Deso, Henny and e'ry-thang.





With the light disappearing on the West Slope ...





We lit it up and got our blaze on before calling it a night.





Sunday morning, we transported ourselves back to the top of the crest. bcrider took in a view that never gets old, while Heavenly Resort had its last flecks of snow showing.





In contrast to the Tahoe Basin proper, there were just endless amounts of snow out in the Crystal Range. Price Peak loomed in the background, from which we dropped in the day before.





bcrider found a fun entrance on the arm of Agassiz ...





... before getting into some nice steep and spicy goods.





When in doubt, air it out!





I followed in below bcrider's tracks through the steep knob ...





... and took a nice line down to the lake.





On our last real turns for the day, bcrider requested permission for the Aloha shirt flyby ...





... and despite the pattern being full he still did the hula dance down to Aloha Lake.





After we packed up camp, I put this trip up on my "all-time" list. If there was a culturally appropriate way to say "Aloha" to the Tahoe season, I could not think of a better way than this amazing trip to the Crystal Range. I can close my eyes at night and think back to the amazing place that we visited.





The best thing about life is that it's cyclical. In Hawaiian, Aloha means hello and goodbye. Goodbye to the Tahoe snowriding season ...

... but hello to rock climbing at the leap with Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer and others,





... hello to wakeboarding at Fallen Leaf with liketoride and others,




... and hello to Tahoe singletrack with AKBruin, spats, ja_surf and others.





Soooooo, thanks Tahoe. If not turns on snow, we will have plenty other things to do.

ALOHA!!!!


And, Rest in Peace MCA. This TR is dedicated to you. Keep the rhymes real and the turns knee deep - you are missed.

Great TR!!

Best TR of the year! No Doubt!

Great pics! Love the pics of Bc on top and in that chute. It's always hard for me to pic up "steepness" and that shit looks steep! The surf slash always brings back the soul for me. I'll drink to that.

Sweet TR! Looks like you guys had a great time.

Nicely done!!!

Thanks for an epic TR, great night shots

windlips in the backcountry. one of the best things in life! very nice shwackkk.
great way to end the season

OK, I guess only BCD's addition to this trip could've made the photography any more outstanding. I need to ride with you guys more often so I can get a picture of myself looking that awesome while riding.

PS, I'm going to call that chute BCR dropped into: "Steep". Generally I go with a hawaiian style backcountry gauge and call everything 45 degrees, but sometimes I need another notch. So "Steep" it is.

Nice work guys, it's been a couple seasons since I've ridden with either of you, here's hoping to change that next season.