Report from Saturday, April 27, 2024
Regardless of Tahoe’s place as a backcountry ski haven, Lassen and Star Peak are tied as the 2 nearest ultra-prominence peaks to Lake Tahoe.
Many have stared at Star Peak on the drive between the Wasatch and Tahoe. Its North Bowls tower over the outskirts of Winnemucca. Nevertheless, being positioned within the desert between these two ski meccas it often will get handed over.
Most journey reviews for Star are based mostly on hikers heading up the ATV highway to the summit from the west. Nevertheless, the prime ski terrain is discovered on the Northeast facet of the mountain within the Star Canyon. There are some previous mining roads working their method as much as the bottom of the steep terrain.
To the extent there’s a traditional line on Star it’s the East Couloir. Nevertheless, being the final weekend of April, that line by means of the choke was fairly tight.
The highway to the fork and star canyon is satisfactory in a daily AWD car. Nevertheless, we needed to go a few drainages as much as the north fork to drive to the snow line. That is the place the Jeep got here in useful.
From right here we skinned up a low bowl to get onto the ridge line. Nice Basin peaks all appear to have related topography of huge drainages from the summit ridge to the bottom. On this ridge, we might get the view of the descent line.
We obtained on to the principle ridge line and intersected the summer time ATV route, and the desert inside drainage of the Humboldt River under comes into view.
As soon as on the principle ridge line, we noticed the sunshine storm the day earlier was largely scoured on the bowl into the East Couloir. The summit has a windbreak and an antenna to mark.
After operating into Matt Bansak on the summit, we clicked in to traverse over to the climate station to drop into the chute on the NE Bowl.
As seen by Josh Daiek, when within the Nice Basin, the clag all the time rolls in proper after you click on into downhill mode. Proper on the drop in we couldn’t see quite a lot of toes forward.
We needed to patiently wait it out. However as soon as the primary solar patch got here by means of we took full benefit of it. Our persistence was rewarded.
The spring base had a very good coating of six inches on high from the day earlier than.
The bowl skied so effectively, we needed to pores and skin again up and do the opposite line we contemplated on the ascent.
By then the snow was so turning to mashed potatoes and we did just a few hundred toes again as much as the ridge line of our ascent route. We obtained one brief ski down our first ascent bowl to the Jeep.
Not dangerous for nearly Could within the desert!
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