Report from May 28, 2024

Yesterday, we went for a classic.

Kindergarten Chute on Peak 13,121′ in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

We’d tried to ski this chute in early May 2024 but it looked firm and unwelcoming so we skied a chute we dubbed “Preschool Chute” along with the “Wahoo Gullies.”

Fortunately, Kindergarten Chute welcomed us with open arms yesterday and we rushed in.

Peak 13,121′

“Kindergarten Chute”

Sierra Nevada Mountains, CA

• Summit (actually a notch): 12,500 feet
• Car:  9,400 feet
• Vertical From Car:  3,100′
• Vertical skied:   900 feet in the chute (we skied another 1,400′ down to the snow line)
  
• Max Pitch:  40º
• Average Pitch:  35º
• Aspect:  North
• Distance:  5.9-miles round trip
• Time From Car to Summit:  4 hours & 11 minutes
• Car to Car Time: 6 hours & 7 minutes
• Recommended Equipment:  skins, crampons, ice axe x2

Well, rushed in might not be the right words for me…

I was exhausted.

Skiing six days per week for 19 months straight has left its mark.

I moved as well as I could and hit the top of the chute way behind Greggy and Martin.

It took me four hours and 11 minutes to make the summit.

Upper Buttermilk Road is open as far as it goes right now which cuts off quite a bit of hiking.

Earlier in the month we’d used this road twice but had to park well below the end of the road due to large snow drifts making the road impassable.

From the car, we moved straight uphill in a small ravine.

We cut hard left on a very well-defined deer trail and bumped over and into the canyon that holds Kindergarten Chute and more.

We couldn’t decide whether to follow the small creek up the mellow valley floor to snowline or blitz straight up to the snow.

The deciding factor was the mini aspens.

They are evil…

10 outta 10 on the bushwhack-o-meter in there.

To make sure we avoided the aspens we went for the blitz uphill to snow.

It was tough going in shoes and loose talus but we made it to snow.

As soon as we did, it appeared the mellow valley floor option would’ve been the better move.

C’est la vie, non?

We clipped into skinned skis and moved on.

A steep mini-headwall slowed us down and delivered access the the canyon Kindergarten Chute lives in.

A mellow skin from the top of that headwall dumped me in a heaping pile at the bottom of Kindergarten Chute.

I was worked.

Food, water, sunscreen, rest, transition to boot crampons.

I did peek into “Checkered Demon” before my transition and it was still in the shade and didn’t appear to go all the way to the summit anymore (melted out).

By the time I started booting up, Greggy was already halfway to the top.

Dayum!

Martin wasn’t far behind him.

I put my head down and marched until I hit the wall.

Then it was 40 steps, stop, 10 deep breaths, 40 steps, stop, 10 deep breaths all the way to the top.

I pounded the rest of my water and ate the last of my food any laid flat.

20 minutes of this seemed to work and my foggy exhaustion turned to anxious excitement.

The snow on the way up did not appear to be “good.”

Crispy, low-density not corn on top with a firm crunch later beneath.

This snow was not and had never been “corn.”

It’s wild how much that big May 4, 2024, storm affected this zone and inhibited proper corn growth.

Martin went first and skied like a bat outta hell.

I went second and was mostly just barely hanging on.

I had a blast and the snow skied better than feared but was still mediocre at best.

Greggy came down last blasting his ski racer style all over Peak 13,121’s gargantuan walls.

We gathered, high-fived, and moved downhill.

We easily skied back to our shoes then opted for the mellow valley floor option home.

The baby bushwhacking was easy and fun.

No rattlesnakes and no mishaps right back to the car, six hours after leaving it.

The Taqueria Mi Guadalajara taco truck was horribly delicious (get the Al Pastor burrito!).

This was my last big ski mountaineering of the season here.

I’m too tired to do another biggie.

We’ll go for a medium-sized one tomorrow and that’ll be it for me.

It’s time to head back to Utah, pack up, and go on a two month surf trip to Central America.

I’ve been skiing as much as I possibly can for 19 months straight and it’s finally caught up to me.

I’m smoked.

Yesterday was ski day #186 of the season and ski day #457 of the past 537 days.

Thanks so much, California!

Photos in Chronological Order