Current Creek 050810 - True Corn at the Middle 110s

Greetings Friends,

There was just enough sun at the Middle 110s for a great corn day on Saturday.

Naoki is looking good on the way up to the Middle 110s.

Springtime means later meet times, and I met Dave and Norm at the 4th and Union lot at 7:30.  The light rail bridge over 6th Ave rolled out successfully last weekend , but construction on the tunnel under Union made access to the lot a bit slow.  I love the I-70 traffic at this time of the year, because there's hardly any, and 30 minutes later we were in Downieville to meet up with Diane, Judi, and Naoki who carpooled from Boulder.  It was only at Downieville that we finalized our destination at the reliable Current Creek, but this time we chose the Middle and Lower 110s to start, hoping the east-facing aspect would favor us with good conditions.  The sun was shining at the trailhead, with some dust on crust on the few cars parked sideways in the parking lot.  The valley route paralleling the creek had already been "broken" earlier in the morning, but the firm crust supported our skis with just enough softness to give our edges something to hold on to.  We headed north to 11,721', with a brief stop for a snow pit.  The dust layers lurked a few inches below the surface, and they slid easily with some light pressure.

Diane, Tom, and Judi enjoy the sun during the climb.

We finished the steepest parts of the climb and eased into the gentle rounded portion at the top.  Upon reaching the unassuming rocks jutting a few feet above the snow at the summit, we de-skinned and headed down to the east.  

Diane, Naoki, Dave, Judi, and Norm get ready for the descent.

The upper section was still rather firm crust with an inch or two of give to make the turns easier, but things really got good in the steeper section just above the aqueduct.  The extra slope must have been more perpendicular to the rising sun to soak up the warmth, and the lower elevation out of the wind reinforced the effect.  

Diane and Naoki make some turns.

Naoki makes his turns.

We descended 150' below the aqueduct for a total of 500' below the peak and stopped, while Norm, Judi, and Diane explored another 100' of the lower section where the trees got a bit tighter.  

Dave makes a turn in the trees below the aqueduct.

The rest of us snacked in the sun and re-skinned, and we all headed up to the top for a second run.  By this time the high clouds had given way to ones of the heavier variety, and the winds cooled down the upper gentle slopes enough that they provided less purchase than on the first run down.  However, the steeper slopes were out of the wind, thereby maintaining the same 4 - 6" of corn that we had seen the first time.  At the bottom we were all grins again, so after a few bites to eat, we headed up for another one, stopping short of the summit to focus on the lower slopes.  Again we enjoyed a great run with stable corn conditions, and that was enough for most, but not all.  After the fourth run, we gathered at the bottom and picked our way down through a couple of nice open gullies below the rocky cliffs.  Unfortunately, we were too low and below the elevation of the trailhead, so it was a slow, side-stepping slog through the tight trees back to the cars.  Still, it was totally worth it to hit the Middle and Lower 110s.

It's pretty melted out at the trailhead.

Stats: 3 - 4 runs / 3.5 miles / 1800 - 2000'  / 5.5 hours.

Pictures here:
  http://picasaweb.google.com/tbrez53/CurrentCreek050810/

Maps and 3D attached.

Uptrack to the left, yo-yos and down track to the right..

3D view of today's trip in red, 

older trip to Upper 110s in blue.

I have added another Leader's Choice Mod III to the CMC schedule for Saturday May 15.  The Middle 110s will be beckoning, but there are lots of good choices for Saturday.  Hope to see you on the slopes.

Tom