Playtime on The Nipple

Things really started to come together with the sled missions late winter this year. In early March Ally, Dan & I got out for a flawless stormy morning in Blackwood Canyon with deep & fun turns. It was the first full ski day on the machines, and that day finally delivered on what we were searching for when we bought the sleds. 

This weekend we got out to the Blue Lakes zone up on Carson Pass for some exploration. We hadn’t been there before and things were looking more like spring corn conditions so we weren’t expecting too much out of the ski day. We were however rewarded with six great runs ranging from corn perfection above Upper Blue Lake to silky and steep winter conditions in Polaris Bowl and off of The Nipple. I took one heavy tumble down a 50 degree chute after I threw a shoe on a hidden rock. Nothing like a tomahawking four+ times to keep things interesting. Other than that mild beating it was another day of perfection in the Tahoe back country. During the day we ascended over 11,000 feet traveling over 40+ miles and our bodies were beyond beat when we retuned home.

Ally shredding some corn perfection above Upper Blue Lake

Ally and me doubled up and headed for more.

Looking South past Upper Blue Lake – terrain is out of the sled zone but looks pretty good to tour

Sleds are hot so time to take a lunch break

Ally works her way out over the exposure in Polaris Bowl – keep going, it rolls to nearly 50 degrees!

Ally under the cornice, you can see my turns that ended as a fall-line tumble down the chute

Back to the top for lap #2

Starting my redemption run – getting to throw some smoke top to bottom

Oh yeah, Ally – we can go ski that

Dan & Ally scoping lines off the top of The Nipple

Stoked and ready to head up

We ditched the machines on a high saddle and traded in for a skin track

Chasing Dan

Towards the top it got too steep to ski up so we opted to boot pack it

Views from the uphill – future terrain to check out

Dan at the top of The Nipple – 9,342'

Me up top, ready for some turns

Got my skis back on and looking down the face – nearly 1,000' to the bottom

Ally mid-turn slaying her line

First turns from to top and they are steep with stuff rolling

Dan getting through the crux of the 45+ degree chute

And safe & happy on the lower pitch

Back on the shoulder to collect the transport

One final look back at our tracks off The Nipple as we head out

Headed home and all smiles with the zone in the background

Afternoon light on the lookers right side of the zone

Lots of moving around as seen in our Strava

Some ups and some downs to the day