Report from May 17, 2024

Garrett and I returned to 13,417-feet-high Mt. Lamarck’s “North Couloir” yesterday.

We tried to ski Lamarck back on May 3, 2024, but it was firm that day.

Instead, we skied a chute called “Valdezean Amor Couloir” and it was delicious.

Yesterday was ski day #144 of my season and ski day #447 in the past 527 days (6 days per week for 19 months straight…).

I’m tired…

13,417 feet Mt. Lamarck

“North Couloir”

Sierra Nevada Mountains, CA

• Summit (actually a ridgeline):  13,400 feet
• Car:  9,300 feet
• Vertical From Car:  4,500 feet 
• Vertical skied:  1,600 feet in chute + apron (another 900 feet down to Lower Lamarck Lake)
  
• Max Pitch:  40º
• Average Pitch:  40º
• Aspect:  North
• Distance:  12.5-miles round trip
• Time From Car to Summit:  5 hours and 45 minutes
• Car to Car Time: 9 hours and 35 minutes
• Recommended Equipment:  skins, crampons, ice axe x2

We started hiking from North Lake at about 7:30 a.m.

We ran into our old buddy Rockwood in the parking lot, I was elated to see him.

He is genuinely one of my favorite human beings and also the only other human we’ve seen on our 8 ski mountaineering trips here this month.

At the campground, we crossed the creek and started grinding up the switchbacks in patchy snow.

There wasn’t enough snow to skin until we hit Lower Lamarck Lake at 10,700 feet.

The lake ice wasn’t great…

Big holes and lotza gray spots…

I poked around and found the intact ice to be around 12 inches thick.

We went for it and the ice didn’t budge.

A short gully walk uphill dumped us onto the expansive Upper Lamarck Lake.

The ice looked better here and we crossed the lake without incident.

Well, that’s a lie.

Garrett’s skis sunk into the snow on the edge of the lake on our ice dismount and he took a funny forward fall but didn’t get wet.

The headwall up to the Lamarack basin was brutal.

Blistering heat and mushy snow plagued us as we mindlessly zombied uphill.

Garrett put in the entire skin track.

From the top of the headwall, it was another hour to the base of the North Couloir of Lamarck.

I was hopelessly tired.

Garrett was not.

He started booting up the chute and gabbing away.

I struggled to keep up.

He handed the front off to me about a third of the way up and I did my best.

I set the booter with fierce determination and passion but not much energy.

I did get us up and over the roller over and into the mellower part of the chute.

Garrett took over again and took us to the top.

The booter took about 1 hour and 25 minutes.

We were on top 5 hours and 45 minutes after leaving the car with only 3 rest breaks.

I had to completely lay down for 20 minutes to get my legs back.

Rockwood and Corby showed up just as I was coming back to life.

Rockwood and Garrett reminisced about their forays into the Darwin Canyon.

Mt. Darwin and Mt. Mendel and friends looked spectacular.

I ate the rest of my food and the end of my water and started to feel better.

Garret was a gem and let me drop the chute first.

I’d assumed I’d have to stop a couple of times to catch my breath but the snow was so good I was able to rip the chute’s 1,600-vertical-feet right down to the basin below.

Perfect corn snow at 13,000 feet was a treat.

This was our first high-elevation trip with good snow so far this month.

Finally!

Garrett shredded down and took the skier’s right chute option near the base of the chute.

We high-fived, caught our breath, and came up with a plan for our exit.

It’s a privilege to watch Garrett move through these mountains.

He found a way through the boulder-field and onto the headwall above Upper Lamarck Lake.

The headwall skied like a corn-filled dream.

We scooted across the lake and I had to plop down in the rocks and drink a full liter of water from the stream.

This was my third liter of the day.

I filled my bottle with a half liter and skied down to Lower Lamarck Lake and its sketchy ice.

The ice held again and we took a big break as we switched into shoes and mentally digested the 1.5 hour downhill dirt walk ahead.

The dirt walk was painfully numb and uneventful.

It felt really good to hit the flat road at the campground.

At the car, I felt like I’d been hit by a train.

9 hours and 35 minutes of moving.

I was worked.

Garrett talked me into a dip in the lake and I didn’t want to…

I did it anyway and it brought me back to life.

I plunged twice!

I felt awesome afterward.

The drive to Bishop was a delight as I blasted Ella Fitzgerald with Louis Armstrong.

Cheap gas and an Al Pastor burrito at the “Taqueria Mi Guadalajara” taco truck always make Bishop great.

I drove home to Mammoth and Garrett delved back into the mountains to camp and ski mountaineer some more.

I met up with a crew of 17 for my third annual bachelor party and we shared a barrel of laughs at the Mammoth Brewery.

A stupid fun day.

Thanks, California!

Photos in Chronological Order