Matt and I have been talking about getting out to Twin Peak and Matterhorn Peak for a few months now and last weekend provided the right time to get a three day weekend and get up into this beautiful country west of Bridgeport, CA.

We recruited mtnrider and mmcpheet and met up at Twin Lakes Friday morning. They said it was a chilly night sleeping in the truck but the morning was sunny and starting to warm up.

After packing up we hit the trail and the hardest part of the climb.

The snow was still pretty hard and we all struggled up the slope, most of us already sweating hard and feeling the heat of the morning with full packs.

After the first climb it was mostly smooth sailing up to camp

Once at camp (9,400 ft) and a quick rest Matt set a track up a slope just from camp and up to an unnamed lake with great terrain features all around.

The run down was still corn but starting to harden up in the late afternoon.

mtnrider airs

mmcpheet finds the soft side

We set up camp and enjoyed the scenery and calm weather.
Just before sunset a sick boy arrives at camp and digs a hole to sleep in.

The next morning we awake to clear skies and fairly calm winds. We decide to head up to the Twin Peaks glacier and look for good lines.

Skinning up a terminal moraine we can see lots of good terrain.

sick boy with the Twin Peaks couloir behind him.

A look down with Matt climbing up.

Matt, mtnrider and mmcpheet went for the top of the glacier and sick boy and I contoured around to a somewhat hidden chute which was already softening up in the morning sun.

View from our chute looking across to Twin Peaks with Matt going down.

Sick boy steppin up

After sick boy and I decide to stop climbing since the slope was really warming up, we drop in.

Sick boy

We meet up with the crew down in Horse Creek but get a few shots of mtnrider and mmcpheet first.

mtnrider

mmcpheet

Matt was ahead of us as we skinned up and could tell he had his sights set on a very nice chute protected from wind and filled with powder.

We opted for the pass. While sick boy skinned up to the chute, we opted for two laps below.

mmcpheet

Matt coming out of the choke

Sick boy goes next

mtnrider, mmcpheet, and I head for the rock face of Horse Creek Peak and get a sweet run back to camp.

Here’s the end of the track

Back at camp it was all smiles and lots of digging and wall building to get ready for the night. It wasn’t that windy yet, but it was a good thing we were getting ready.

We started seeing clouds roll over Matterhorn Peak and the winds picked up. By the middle of the night we thought we were at a train depot because the freight train of wind really started to hit. It was building through the night and by morning, after I got hardly any sleep, it was a pure wind tunnel. No one wanted to get up and once we did we realized the only riding we would be doing is with a full pack down to the car.

I thought the run down was still fun, but others may have a different perspective. “Check me out, I’m sideslipping” was the quote of the morning. 😀

Back at the car it was still pretty windy. We hung out in the back of mtnrider’s huge truck relaxing 😉 , then went into Bridgeport for Mexi food.

mmcpheet and I had the longest drives but it was still well worth it. We would of loved to ride Sunday and knock off some of the lines we saw Saturday, but, oh well, there is always next time.