Trip Report: 12,054' White Mountain, CA – FNF Chute, Cornice Chute, Normal Chute

Report from May 15, 2026

The day before my 5th annual bachelor party, we got a massive crew together and went to the Promised Land – 12,054′ White Mountain, CA.

White always delivers, has a massive corn window, has tons of different chutes for all abilities, has fresh water to drink, and we’ve never ever had a bad time here.

12,054′ White Mountain, CA

North Chutes Details

Summit: 12,018′ (actually a ridgeline)
Vertical from car: we each climbed & skied 3 chutes this day for 3,749-vertical-feet
Vertical skied: 3,434′
Pitch at steepest point: 45º+
Aspect: Northeast (1st chute), North (2nd & 3rd chutes)
Distance: 9.2-miles round trip
Time from car to summit: 4 hours & 9 minutes to the top of the first chute
Car to car time: 8 hrs 58 mins
Recommended Equipment: crampons, 2 ice axes, skins
Additional Notes: This zone is composed of a myriad of short, steep chutes/runs from about 400-vertical-feet up to 1,000-vertical-feet – pick what you want to ski, boot up, and ski down

Squad goals realized this day:

Tall Carl
John Little
Dwanis
Dobbs
Stokeasaurus
Fox
Alan
Leesure
Me

We set off together, split into 2 groups, crossed all the streams, and met up at the base of White and drank it in.

I also used my new BeFree water filter to snag some delicious water from the stream – others just drank right out of it to no ill effect.

From there, we naturally split into 3 groups as we climbed.

Fast Crew:

Tall Carl
Leesure
Fox

High Vibes Crew:

Alan
Stokeasaurus
John Little

Old School Crew:

Dwanis
Dobbs
Me

Dwanis, Dobbs, and I have been skiing together since 2006 (have you even seen Hustle & Snow? It got into the Banff Film Festival…).

The Old School Crew went for a chute we’d never skied before on the headwall of White Mountain proper we’re calling FNF Chute (Firm Not Flat).

Fast Crew went for a couple of classics: One Wall and others.

High Vibes Crew skied the same chutes as Fast Crew but in reverse order.

The chute we went for looked tight, a little no-fall-zoney in spots, but clean enough.

I put in the booter and it ended up being kinda full-on, with an ice axe in each hand, steep and icy in the crux.

We were glad to be on top and a little nervous about how soft the snow would be on the way down.

We hung out on top for a bit to let things soften.

I dropped first and it was a touch firm in the choke, but nothing tragic.

The first half of the chute was very steep and definitely no fall zone as the chute dog-legged left, meaning a fall in the upper section was a fall into and off of rock cliffs.

Past the choke, the snow softened and glowed.

Perfect corn right down into the basin.

In the time that it took us to ski one chute, the other two crews had already skied two, and we’re headed back to the front side in the time that it took us to ski one chute, the other two crews had already skied two, and we’re headed back to the front side.

We followed suit and were soon standing atop Cornice Chute, one of my favorite chutes in this area, and for some reason, nobody had skied it yet.

I dropped last on this one and corn at chute skied well, but the lower gully skied incredibly.

I’m talking sweet sweet five outta five spring harvest corn.

I was really tired after this, so I took a break with the boys and grabbed water and snacks and only climbed and skied one more time because everybody else did.

Hell, the fast crew even ended up skiing four chutes this day.

I think Leesure actually skied five…