Saturday, March 26, 2016

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








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