Ruby Peak East Face route
There’s a couloir south of Ruby Peak on the Benthos Buttress that I’ve been eyeing for awhile. I’ve also been scoping out the east face of Ruby Peak. Today was the day to combine the two. Continue reading
I gained the Chief Joseph ridge on the far far left, traversed up and over the summit, dropped into the upper chute which put me at the bottom of the lower chute, booted and skied the lower chute, then traversed the bottom to the left. Whew, follow me?
Chief Joseph doesn’t have a shortage of chutes but these two in particular have been on my mind ever since I first visited this area. To make matters worse, Chief Joseph is visible from pretty much anywhere in the Joseph/Enterprise area, we have a good view of it from our house, and during the summer I get to stare at it for a good 20 minutes everyday coming home from work. To say that Joe haunts me is an understatement. The stars aligned today and I had a chance to see what these lines are all about up close.
This couloir is easy to see from the north end of Wallowa Lake and periodically on the West Fork. It’s been on my mind for awhile and I did attempt it earlier this winter. Glad I finally had a chance to get up there as it’s a classic couloir; steep, lined with tall rock, and a great ski.
Gunsight Couloir from the West Fork
Looking through the sights. The upper third was 50 degrees tapering to 40 degrees for the remainder
Great day, great snow and a great ski.
5 Mile Couloir
I noticed this line when Emily and I were in the Lakes Basin and had to check it out.
We took a break from skiing and spent the weekend climbing rock in Hells Canyon. Nice change of pace and good to work some different muscles. The forecast is looking good for awhile, hopefully conditions line up to finish some ski projects I’ve been working on. Back to work in a couple weeks, need to get it while the gettins good!
I apologize for the short notice, time got away from me. Emily will be doing a presentation tonight on her career as a photographer. From her humble beginnings with a point and shoot to shooting with a professional DSLR. The presentation is geared towards skiing and will be heavy with awesome photos from Wallowa County and elsewhere. Check it out! 7:00pm at the Josephy Center in Joseph.
Ruby Peak. Ruby’s Pearl is the obvious couloir in the center
I saw this couloir last year while skiing a couple of the other north face chutes. Shortly after that I realized you can’t miss it from highway 82 coming into Enterprise. Finally got around to heading up Ruby again today.
Emily and I headed into the Lakes Basin last weekend to ski Eagle Cap and check out the area. Emily spent a lot of time in the area last summer for work and loved it. I had never been out that way so I was excited to see some new country.
The North East Face
I don’t know what the proper name of this thing is, just Peak 9440? Any help there would be appreciated. What I do know is that it stares at me every day when I leave the house, and everyday I tell myself I need to get up there. After yesterday’s outing on Twin Peaks I got a good look at it and the skiing was good, so I went back for more.
The SE face of Twin Peaks
It’s been warm lately, but we’ve been getting a corn cycle going so the skiing has been pretty good. I’ve always wondered what this side of Twin Peaks looks like and it did not disappoint. Continue reading
