Current Creek Middle 110s 033112

The end of March saw the continuation of the heat wave. The snow suffered for it, and so did the skiers.

Lots of rocks to dodge due to the thin snow cover.

Tom scheduled the CMC trip to meet at 7:30 at HH, where Wendy, Ginger, and Joel met up with Tom and Cheryl. We loaded up the Xterra and flew to Downieville, then onto the trail head.


We saw a couple of other skiers packing their skis at the parking lot as we strapped on the gear. A few expressed concern at the crusty, uneven snow surface, but Tom assured them that would change. We climbed up a solid surface below Teacup Bowl, following an uptrack similar to the one on Mar 24. As we got to higher ground, the bomb craters from CDOT appeared between the trees.

CDOT avalanche bomb craters above the highway.

The reduction of the snow cover was distressing. Broad open areas of bare ground greeted us on our way to the top, with frequent collapses on the shallow slopes due to the thin snow.

Ginger, Cheryl, Wendy (mostly hidden), and Joel near the top of the Middle 110s.
Note large patch of bare ground behind us.

Large patches of bare ground lurk between the trees.

Nonetheless, we continued to the peak, and deskinned for a run. The warm temperatures made the skin glue extra sticky.

Cheryl gets extra leverage to remove her skins.

Collapsing was most prevalent at the top, tripping up many a skier. As we approached the slope break, we angled over to skiers left to find some less steep pitches, only to discover a distressing number of rocks to avoid. We skied down to the aqueduct and a bit beyond, where the slopes were pitted with rocky obstacles. Next we headed a bit south to skiers right, and skied a nice 100' run into the trees.


It was 11:30 when we skinned up, and we decided to skin up to the top of the steep slope for a final run. 

Wendy de-skins at the top of the second run.

The snow surface was pitted with sun cups, runnels, ridges, and occasional rocks, making the descent a bit interesting. We gathered at the bottom of the run and attempted to make our way out. Our uptrack was melted out, so we ventured closer to the edge of the cliffs in our search of good coverage. As we got lower, the snow strength diminished, leaving us wallowing in collapse pits of our own making. The thin cloud cover of the morning had all but vanished, and the full strength of the sun hastened the snow collapse. We made our way to some rocks and bare ground for a late lunch, welcome after the unsupportive snow. Finally we strapped the skis back on for the final drop to the car.


On our way to Tommyknockers, we consoled ourselves with stories of past ski trips of the season. Tom got a happy hour price for the Pick Ax IPA, plus a free Cocoa Porter that was on the beer engine.


Stats: 2 runs / 1300' / 2.5 mi / 5.5 hrs.

Slope map with current track in magenta.

Current Creek Middle 110s 033112