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Silver Peak – Glider Chute 5-7-05
Mattnogs, powderjunkie, bcrider
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Mattnogs, powderjunkie, bcriderVideo – Silver Peak
Headed to Silver Peak last Saturday to ski the Glider Chute. We used some beta from dibiase’s recent TR and met at the road closure on hwy 4 shortly after 7am. This was my first time to this area…the terrain reminds me of Carson Pass but based on its easterly location , you feel like you’re down on the eastside because you can see the desert valley.
We hoofed it on dry road and were quickly at the campground, probably only around ½ mile from the road closure.
Pj, bcr, matt
PJ was our map guy so we left the coordinates up to him. He suggested we pass the campground and continue walking the road to the first switchback. This would require us to only one stream (not two) and wouldn’t make us lose elevation. At the switchback we traversed through mostly dry forest to the stream. We searched high and low for a log crossing up and down the shore but couldn’t find anything. We tried to build our own crossing with downed logs but they would just wash out. Finally after heading upstream a ways we found a log to get across. We wasted about 30mins. Its hard to describe where the logs are and it takes away from the adventure…you’ll have to get across on your own. 🙂
Here is the crossing on the way out. It was much easier to find and more stable that the one on the way in.
Once past the stream nightmare we booted for a few hundred feet before switching to skins.
Matt and bcr
Our first view of the goal.
We contoured on an obvious lower ridge and decided to traverse across a barren slope to the farthest looker’s right snowfield.
Matt
Looking across the valley we noticed some nice looking lines. Melting fast though.
After making some good progress up the snowfield we eventually had to get back on the ascent ridge and back to boot mode.
Matt and bcr
PJ with the new Voile Mtn Gun. (somebody get this man a ski strap 🙂 )
bcr on the top, Carson Valley below.
Matt and pj
Nearby peak…tasty.
Looking in the opposite direction.
Across to the north summit of Silver Peak.
And down the Glider Chute.
After a quick bite to eat it was time to drop in.
bcr
Unfortunately the snow was less than stellar. There was an inch or two of new snow on the old layer. It wasn’t dust on crust but it was quite variable. There was also a lot of frozen debris lower in the chute. The scenery was great and it was better than sitting at a desk so we all made the most of it.
Bcr
matt
PJ trying not to get bucked by the frozen debris.
bcr
matt
None of our turns were very pretty but its hard to complain when you’re in a fun line like this. On the apron the snow softened and was smooth.
bcr
Based on the beta we gathered from dibiase’s TR we decided not to exit through the main gully. We traversed skier’s right after the apron to a small notch in a lower ridge. On the other side was a gully that was more direct back to the road/campground and we were also hoping for more continuous snow.
Looking back at the Glider chute from the notch…some good stuff on the right too.
The corn was ripe on this side.
Matt moments before making some nice turns. (note to self, make sure you have more that one picture left on your memory stick before shooting an action pic)
PJ on a steep shot.
and in the gully.
bcr
matt
The gully eventually became tight and we had to get creative to avoid being cliffed out.
Soon we decided it was best to get out of the gully and make our way through the forest. We found the summer trail and discovered we weren’t the only ones using it.
A fresh bear print…the snow was still soft.
Since we were in a different gully than our approach route we had to deal finding a log crossing again. This time we had much better luck and found a good one. We also had to cross a second creek exiting this way but again found good crossing.
PJ climbing out of the riverbed.
Back at the cars we enjoyed some Downtown Brown ale courtesy of PJ and reveled in our day. The day was just over 9hrs car to car, not sure about the elevation gain/loss. It was a great trip and nice to check out a new mountain.
Thanks PJ and Matt!
Killer!
Awesome pics
That area is so beautiful, between the nearby mountains and the waterfalls/cliffs down low. Who knew we had to watch out for bears when riding… that would make a pretty sweet shot, outrunning a bear down glider chute.
I especially like the skier lines you were making!
Just watched the vid. Cool. The decent snow looked more enjoyable in the video than you described it.
My favorite still:
Gotta love it!
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