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First catch the boat
Ben and Toby had offered to take me skiing if I ever made it to
California regardless of the time of year, and true to their word
they picked me up at 7:30am. I had an idea it was going to be a
longish day, with a 2+ hour drive via the best gas'n'food stop at
Mono lake (known as Whoa Nellie Deli) to Tioga Pass, the Eastern
entrance to Yosemite national Park. OK, no big deal but next up
is a new one on me, a boat ride to avoid an hours walk round Saddleback
Lake.
An hour or so walk futher on, first down an old mining trail, then
across scree and tallus brought us to the base of North peak on
the Sierra Crest. The Kook Chutes we had come to ski were now above
us.
  
Then test drive
your gloves
Before climbing the snow, while we got our gear ready we decided
to have a little fun with the gloves we had been given to test -
a game of fetch with Toby's dog. 'Buddie' was a bit reluctant at
first having been taught not to chew thing but soon got the idea.
The gloves can now be certified as 'dog tested'.
The snow at the base was soft and I was getting away with just kicking
steps and caring skis, thus avoiding crampons axe and skis and back
pack on. Soon it was obvious I was cheating too much, and as the
snow got firm I had to take side steps on skis instead. When the
terrain got steeper I spied some easy looking rocks at the side
(mistake). I took my skis off and decided to scramble, but this
turned into a real nightmare - I hadn't realized how horribly loouse
all the rocks would be! I probably dislodged hundreds of kilos of
scree and rocks in my effort to get up what was probably the most
unstable ground I have ever come across.
 
Get those turns
in
After a few minutes rest and berating from Ben and Toby for trying
to cheat it was time to ski. The descent was icy sun cups, receses
about the size of dusbin lids, starting moderately, then getting
steeper to near 50 degrees and finally backing off to a gentle slushy
20. A total vertical drop of 440 feet acording to our trusty altimiter.
The dog of course had no problems going up or down. Toby, the dog
and I did a second lap of the lower section but Ben was too tired
to climb so held the camera
(Quicktime required).
We had to hike all the
way back to the car, as by this time the lake shuttle had given
up for the night. A long but beautiful ride home to Lake Tahoe followed.
Words and Pictures
from Tom
Greenall - Natives Resort Reporter
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