| Summary | |
| Owner | Eric Gilbertson |
| Creation Date | 2011-08-10 21:00:58 UTC-0400 |
| Description | Skiing Burt Ravine & Great Gulf via the Cog.
Participants: Stanislav Trufanov. Weather: Temps: 30's-70's F; Clear with night showers forecasted. TR: On the morning of May 17 I awoke on the porch of Camelot's famed sauna. Night temps did not dip as low as forecasted & I had no reason not to jump out of the bag & hit the road right away. Taking 118 north instead of 93 allowed for a pleasant look into a morning life of valley towns waking up to another day. A newly-opened PriceCopper in Lincoln offered good pricing on a trail lunch- a bag of pitted dates & one of walnuts. On a clear spring day, approaching the Presidentials from the West on Route 3 provides one with an ample opportunity to view remaining ski routes on Westward slopes. Despite the solar glare traverses, gullies & snowfields stand out clearly against the background of krummholz & rock. Burt Ravine & the Great Gulf were on a list of things to do & I texted the itinerary over to my WIMP sis Nika after working out a plan. The following 45 miuntes saw me reach the Cog Parking lot, shuffle gear & interact with UK natives on a bus tour. They were interested in my ski plans & the contents of my hydration bladders. The hike up did not take long. The skin track started on a narrow snowbank near the upper switch house(~4200') & ended near Jacob's Ladder(~4700'). From here Burt Ravine was best accessed by skiing down through the krummholz near the entryway, linking a few vertical snowfields & traversing to the bigger runs at their lower half. Aiming for the top of the snowfield put one on a collision course with a few rock & vegetation bands, no pleasant way over which could be found. Making one run down Burt, I met a party of three free-heelers destined for the Gulf. It was possible to gain the Gulfside Trail without trampling vegetation. We connected a number of wandering rock bands & made our way over to the Great Gulf & Gulfside Trails' junction. Here, the top of Mother-In-Law was found in great shape. The run's lower 2/3's were intercepted by at least 2 rock bands & one 2'-&-fading snowbridge. Taking the skis off twice I was able to enjoy well-covered low-angle glades at the bottom of the ravine. I turned around within 200' of Spaulding Lake & started heading back up. It was time. Airplane Gully- which topped out near the Gulfside/ Westside Trails' junction- provided a convenient yet strenuous bootpack up. Well-exposed & precarious at times this route left one wishing for a race-weight ice axe. The Gully was skiable top-to-bottom & yeilded to moderate-angle snowfields in its' lower half. The upper 1/3 was steep skiing that asked for sharp skill & edge due to its width & run-out. The day ended with 2 more runs down Burt, a dusty pack down the coal-littered Cogway & joking with locals while waiting for potato-egg salad at the N. Woodstock Citgo. Thanks to the annonymous skiers for their great company, my sister Nika for WIMPing & Jonathan Shefftz for his outstanding conditions beta: http://picasaweb.google.com/jshefftz/20100513WestSide# |