Baldy Bowl 012211

Heavy deep powder provided some fun tree skiing at Baldy Bowl.

Lots of powder in the trees to enjoy.

On Saturday I joined the massive Callais CMC trip to Baldy Bowl with lots of others.  Forgive me if I leave off a name or five: Dave, Cathy, Sarah, Wendy, Judi, Ted, Will, Mark, Sue, Dan, Stuart, Susan, Norm, Phil, and Bob departed 4th and Union at 6:30.  Traffic crawled to Downieville, and after a stop, the caravan crept up through the snowfall to the tunnel, then to Frisco and on to Breckenridge where we met up with Candice.  Arriving at the Baldy Rd winter trailhead, we somehow managed to leave a spot or two unoccupied.  


We skinned up at the cars and skied over to the trailhead where a short powwow ensued.  Finally, around 10:30 we headed up the trail to the mine where we had a quick snack out of the wind, but mindful of the roof cornice hanging over the edge of the mine building.  

 

The horde settles in for a snack at the mine.

From there Dave led us uphill, then angling climber's left (north) to the trees.  The wind and heavy snow made it feel colder than expected, only for the skies to clear and have the sun out for a bit to warm up.  

The group split into two with Dave's group taking the open slopes on the edge of the trees and Dan's group climbing up through the foot-deep powder in the trees.  The snow was heavy but still passable, especially on the steeps and for those who hung back to take advantage of the slopes groomed by the first tracks bunch.

Lots of powder along the up-track.

At the bottom of the slope there was time for a couple bites to eat, then time to climb the well-packed uptrack.  The groups fragmented into smaller crews determined by timing and climbing speed, and then it was time for the second descent.  More goodness was enjoyed by those in the trees, though the open slope skiers were occasionally surprised by some wind-scoured hard pack.  Back at the mine it was already 2:00, much to our surprise.  Reluctantly, we headed back to the cars to pack it in and attempt to beat some of the traffic.  I drove a "secret shortcut" that by-passed the town of Breckenridge, coming onto route 9 at the 7-11.  We made it almost all the way to the tunnel traffic light, but had to wait through an entire 20-minute cycle before being allowed to continue.  The time passed relatively quickly watching telemark videos on YouTube.  Despite Loveland Pass being closed, there was the usual slowdown at the Loveland on-ramp, but speeds picked up from there, and we arrived at Tommyknockers around 4:00.  After a leisurely break, we hit the road back to town with traffic much reduced.

Stats: 4.4 miles / 1800' / 4 hrs

GPS track loaded at EveryTrail (click here).

Current Creek Chutes 011611

On our monthly Sunday trip, we found some decent powder in the Current Creek Chutes on the southwest side of the valley.

Dave swooshes through the powder.

I led a CMC trip to Current Creek on a Sunday with Cheryl, Kashia, Scott, and Dave.  We met at 7:00 at Woolly Mammoth, loaded up the cars, and hit the highway.  There was quite a bit of volume, but only minor slow downs on the way to Downieville.  From there, we avoided slow traffic by sneaking up the frontage road to the Empire turnoff, then on to the Current Creek trailhead.  We were on the snow before 9:00!  Several vehicles at the lot sported a couple inches of snow, leading us to expect some campers in the valley.  We headed up the drainage past the cabin, where a variety of boards for tele, AT, and snowboarding were stacked by the door.  


Past the cabin, we made the steepish climb to the aqueduct road, then continued our climb up to the Chutes.  A well-established up-track switched back and forth up the widest chute, then leveled off a bit when we hit the bottom of the yo-yo runs.  We continued climbing up a nicely powdered slope into an open bowl, then veered to the climber's left to ascend on the ridge through the trees.  We could only take so many tempting views of the untracked powder in the chute until we ripped the skins off and dropped into the powder.  We found light powder closer to the trees, with a mix of heavier powder in the middle with a few old tracks buried just beneath the surface.  

Scott glides down the lower chute.

Kashia swoops onto the lower slopes.

Cheryl joins the crowd at the skin-up spot.

After a pleasant run, we yo-yo'd the bowl a couple more times.  Except for a few crusty spots, the runs were very enjoyable.

Kashia cruises through the powder.

Kashia's chocolate covered coffee beans must have been having their effect on everyone, because we ended up back at the cars before 1:00.  We quickly departed to beat the Sunday traffic, only to find that there was none.  After a refreshing stop at Tommyknockers, we rolled back down to the park and ride.


3 runs / 3.0 miles / 1700'

The track for this trip is red with a yellow highlight

in the southwest corner of the bowl.  

The Peter Rabbit cabin is flagged with a waypoint.

The map and GPX track are also available on the EveryTrail web site.