South Early Winters Ski - May 3rd & 4th, 2008.
The superstar cast included Paul "The Prez" Sherman, Miz Laurie, Dr. Jill, and myself.

While not able to talk anyone into tackling the southwest couloir route of S. Early Winters Spire, I did convince the group (during a rainy trailhead conversation) that an alpine camp would ensure that we got first tracks in the morning. Alas, the "weather models" I had consulted and used to cajole the group were a bit off and we had rain and snow during the 1,500' climb from the Blue Lake parking lot to camp and as we set up. The weather improved as a soft snow ultimately yielded to blue skies and glimpses of the setting sun. From our camp we could begin to see Liberty Bell, and The Towers & Spires exposing themselves above us, while Whistler and Cutthroat Peaks were evident across the valley as the clouds lifted. All and all a nice evening around the camp with good food and beverages and, of course, lots of over-exaggerated stories about past climbing feats and proposed "hard-man routes" for this summer.

We woke to a cloudless (27 degree) morning and during B'fast greeted a lone Herculean teleskier who was apparently getting his 5,000' vert. in before breakfast. We, of course, poached his skin tracks and got freshies on the backside of S.E.W. col. Our first run was fabulous, as we skied down about 1,500' of light snow on soft crust for our first lap. The blistering sun was quickly converting the snow to slush, so Paul and I took another lap on this side before conditions on this southern exposed slope was completely hosed. Upon our return to the pass, the "crack-o-noon" club had arrived and a swarm of about 20+ people were just arriving to ski this SLUSHY backside. This, of course, influenced our decision to make a run down the shadier front side, which involved dropping over/around the cornice at the top of the col. This turned out to be the best run of the day as the snow was in prime shape. After lunch back at base camp, we headed
back up to the ridge and made a final run back to camp, before packing up and making a kamikaze run through the trees back to the parking lot.

Although we didn't bag a peak or ski anything super freaky on this trip, we had a pleasant mellow time and got some fantastic turns. As always, I was impressed by the vast and beautiful expanse of rugged wilderness of this area.

CDD