White Pine Rambling

Ready to drop into Lake Chute

White Pine is one of those drainages that I often daydream about, but with this being only my second season in the Wasatch (and a very high danger one at that), I've mostly stayed away. This May, I was able to take advantage of a relatively light final exam period by heading into White Pine on three separate occasions. I didn't have a hard and fast plan. Instead, I would reach tree line and choose terrain that made the most sense in terms of snow conditions. 

Lake Chute, Lake Peak May 4, 2021

I started the tour noticing a soft refreeze at about 8k and followed the White Pine Road to the meadow, arriving in about 1:15. As I emerged from the gully, I noticed about 5-10cm of trapdoor crust on top of wet, stale corn. Not inspiring. Boulder Basin looked tempting, but the snow surface on N-NE was still firm and I was hoping to nail some better, softer snow on the SE-facing Lake Chute.

Boulder Basin looking good

A party ahead of me finished skiing Boulder Basin and told me that it was okay and that Lake Chute looked a bit choppy but could be better by the time I drop in. I skinned below the flanks of Boulder Basin until I reached a cornice overhanging the apron of Lake Chute. Switching to booting was necessary and quite bad. The trapdoor crust over junk corn persisted and I was up to my crotch in lousy spring snow the entire way up the Chute. I arrived on the summit of Lake Peak in 3:06, which likely would go much faster in better conditions. 

Red Baldy and Red Top from the top of Lake Chute

The upper section of Lake Chute was moderately steep in the high 30s/low 40s and firm. I made choppy turns over chunder and punchy snow all the way down to White Pine Lake and began the very easy and enjoyable egress down the White Pine Road and back to the trailhead. This was the first day I broke in my CiloGear 45 pack, which worked surprisingly well as a daypack. It's steadily becoming my go-to workhorse... 

NW Red Baldy, Red Baldy May 6, 2021

Back at it again with a slightly later start than a couple of days ago, I noticed another soft refreeze as I climbed the White Pine Road, but stoke was still high. 

At the meadow 5 minutes quicker than last time due to having the road and skin track a bit more dialed, I had my sights set on Red Baldy. I was at the base of NW Red Baldy an hour later skinning up very firm yet edge-able crust (no trapdoor this time, thankfully). Noticed some large debris piles on my way up. Gulp.

Looking cross-drainage at Lake Chute

Due to very firm, exposed, and annoying skinning conditions, I transitioned just shy of the summit, which I arrived at in 2:45. Again, this could go much faster with better conditions. I'll blame it on a lack of ski crampons. I've made an honest attempt at finding them in the past, but it turns out that hardboot splitboards require specialized (see: more expensive than necessary) ski crampons. It's tough to get splitboarding gear this season so I've had to suffer. 

Looking down-drainage at the next day's objective

NW Red Baldy rode exceptionally firm but thankfully smooth with little chunder. This is an excellent moderate ski run and I would love to come back and ride it in better conditions. 

The top of NW Red Baldy fairly locked up

Looking back up at my firm descent

I was back to the snow-covered creek (which was melting out fast!) in 3:05, the meadow in 3:15, and the car in 3:40. 

NW Red Baldy, Red Baldy; Birthday Chutes, Red Top May 8, 2021

With finals behind me, I had a long Saturday planned and hoped that this spring snow had a bit more time over the past couple of days to come into better shape.

It didn't. But that's okay because I managed to cover a lot of ground and get eyes on some lines that I certainly would like to return to in the future. 

With much colder temperatures in the forecast, I opted to start the day at 8 AM, hoping that this would set me up for some softer descents. Thanks to a very motivated party on my tail on the White Pine Road, I made it from the TH to the White Pine/Red Pine fork in :23, and the meadow in under 1:00. I was doing well on time and it was still cold so I decided to check out Icefall, a SE-facing line off of Red Baldy. 

Looking across canyon at Twins and the north side of LCC

I wasn't really up for firm, exposed skinning today so I took the skis off early and started booting. I got my eyes on Red Baldy's N couloir, which looks like an excellent and somewhat cryptic descent. I'd like to ride it one day, but I'd probably want to go from the bottom up or ski it with someone who has done so before. 

The upper section of Red Baldy's N couloir

Loving Red Baldy's narrow NW ridge with great styrofoam snow

I noticed that another party had ascended Red Baldy's SW ridge before me and arrived at the top of Icefall. I watched all seven(!) of them ski it and felt hopeful as I traversed across Red Baldy's cruxy and fun NW ridge. 

Aesthetic ridgetop booting

I arrived at what seems like the true Red Baldy summit in 3:25 and made a quick transition atop one of the micro-entrances into Icefall. It was about 11 AM, but the S-facing snow on the ridgetop felt perfect. I was delighted to drop in to a line that I heard so many great things about.

Looking down one of the many entrances of Icefall and into Silver Creek

And so I was disappointed when I made several turns and kicked off very wet, unsupportable mush about 12"+ deep. Not only would I need to descend the line with these deteriorating conditions, but I would also need to ascend out of Silver Creek and over East Pass, which is all S-facing. I had no desire to shave my margins this close despite watching a party of seven ski it without consequence, so I bailed. In my opinion, wet slab was definitely a factor. 

As such, I down climbed Red Baldy's summit, strapped in, and traversed over rocks into NW Baldy to ski that line once again. Very similar conditions to the last time. At the apron, I cut hard skier's right with hopes of getting Tri Chute in decent conditions. 

Unfortunately the lower portion of Tri Chute looked thin coverage-wise and the choke was filled with avy debris. My last option was Birthday Chutes, so I continued traversing skier's right until I reached the NW ridge leading up to the top of the chutes. 

My stoke eroded when one of my skins failed. The glue would not stick despite multiple warming efforts, so I resolved to booting the ridge all of the way to the top of the chutes. This really sucked, as more trapdoor crust made the last 1,000 feet go painstakingly slow (roughly 1 hour). 

Looking up at a grueling bootpack/posthole that I will repress from my memory 

I was quite gassed at the top, which I arrived at in 5:45. I stopped for a long break, fueled up, and realized how cold and windy it was. No wonder why N-NW never really came into shape. 

I descended one of the Birthday Chutes (the second one from looker's right) and really enjoyed the lower sections above the White Pine meadow, which were pleasantly soft and fast. 

Firm turns down one of the Birthday Chutes

I was back at the car in an elapsed 6:30, surprisingly worked for the amount of vert and ready to start packing for a two week road trip with Libby. 

Thoughts:

- Conditions on the north side of the compass never really came into shape during this week, and that was fine with me I suppose. While spring conditions offer relative stability, nailing down good spring conditions is complicated. I'll continue to stick to the old "you don't know until you go" adage.

- White Pine is one of those places where I can say with utmost sincerity "It's just good being out here." That adage would define these outings since the riding was never that good, but the aesthetics were top notch.