Current Creek 042311

After a week of snow and temperatures near freezing, the south-facing slopes were ready for some serious powder harvesting.

I gathered the CMC crew at Woolly Mammoth HH at 7:30.  Cheryl, Phil, Vaune, Dave, Norm, Ginger, and Fred divided up the car pools and we drove off towards the slopes.  On the way out we saw Joel, but couldn't catch up to him until Downieville.  It was strange but encouraging to see fresh snow down low, and it only got better as we climbed.  The roads went from dry to wet to slush to snow-packed as we approached Berthoud Pass.  The snow was still coming down as we pulled into the trailhead parking lot.  


We delayed our start so Good Samaritan Fred could drive a skier with a dislocated shoulder to his car on top of the pass.  Soon we were all skinned up and ready to climb.  There was 4 - 8" of powder on top of the sun crust on the south-facing slopes, so we broke trail towards the Upper 110's saddle between Current and Second Creeks.  After a snack at the bottom of the slope, we ascended to the ridge and de-skinned.

As we headed down the crust made the descent pretty fast, but the ample powder on top made the turns come easier.  We had a quick bite at the bottom while half the group extended the down track a couple hundred feet, then we made another climb to the ridge.  A couple of other groups made use of the up-track, but graciously turned off to find their own powder.  

On the third run, some of us veered further west to take in some new terrain that ended up steepening at the bottom.  While we played on that slope, the faster members of the group found time for a fourth run at the ridge for a tree run on the west side of the ridge.

We regrouped at the lunch spot and began our traverse to the east.  A few of the group succumbed to the temptation of the untracked slopes, while the rest of us headed over towards the edges of Teacup Bowl.  We cruised down the gentle treed slopes to the bottom, despite a few encounters with unexpected dips in the flat light.  


3 - 4 runs, 3 miles / 1700 - 1900'

View the map and GPX on Every Trail. Zoom out to see the terrain map.

Upper 110s track with topo contours, slopes, and air photo.
Blue: 25-30°
Orange: 30-35°
Red: 35-40°
Dark red: 40-45°
Gray: 45-50°