Gilcrest Couloir - A Nine Year Wait Ends!

I have been eying this particular couloir for nine years, ever since I climbed Gilcrest Peak "accidentally" with Truckee on a return trip from skiing Elderberry Canyon on Mt. Tom with Eric Wood when he was one of our residents. Looking for an easy ski on the drive home I drove up the road to Lundy Lake thinking I'd find something. Well, there was a nice peak with a broad ramp on the lower section, so off we went. One thing led to another and a few hours later we were on top of Gilcrest Peak at 11,575 feet. Looking down to the lake I noticed what looked like a couloir going all the way, but from up top I couldn't see it all so I skied down the east face, the way we came up. When I got to the car I looked back and saw "the line". It's the one on the "looker's" right that goes all the way to the (false) summit (picture taken April 2008):


So, after thinking and dreaming about it for these past NINE YEARS, I finally decided that the time and conditions were right. I was able to get Jon and Scott to join me. Jon saw the line last year on the way back from a Tioga Pass ski trip and Scott was just game for what I described as an unknown epic line. (Unknown is a bit of an exaggeration, but I've not seen it written up anywhere.)

We got to the Lundy Lake road a little later than planned (don't you always) and found that the gate was locked! What a shock! We really didn't want to hike the four miles to the lake, and we definitely didn't like the idea of hiking four miles out AFTER a big climb and ski. Just as we were getting in the car to find something else to ski, up comes the county road guy in one of those big snowblowers. He opens the gate and tells us to have at it!

We went up approximately the route I took nine years ago, around to the east side of then mountain and then up. It was surprisingly steep, enough to make me wonder what I was doing climbing it by myself that first time. Of course, I didn't intend to climb it that time, I just kept going "a little bit higher". Anyway, we reached the summit ridge around 2:15 and then continued up to he rocky summit before wondering where the entrance to the couloir was. We eventually figured out it was back down a few hundred feet f the summit plateau. The big rock buttresses that seemed to mark the entrance when we were looking up were actually about 1000' below us! It also turned out we had to ski one couloir for about 1,000' and then walk a hundred feet or less over to the next one that took us to the bottom.

We started our descent at 3:00 and found variable, but decent conditions. It was a mixture of firm windbuff, windblown powder and the occasional slick patch. Of course nothing like the ice ice I "enjoyed" for 3500' down Mt Marcy in NY. There were a couple of tight chokes which were a bit icy, but mostly the couloir was plenty wide and we could enjoy the turns. About half way down I realized I lost a basket on one of my poles (I was feeling off balance turning to my left). I have carried a spare basket in my repair kit for years, but of course it wasn't there when I needed it. But I was able to make a basket with a plastic lid to my "Zardoz Not Wax" container and duct tape. It worked pretty well! Between taking turns, the repair, enjoying the views and letting Scott take some pictures, it took us about an hour to reach the bottom and ski out the apron to the car.

It was a great ski and I felt great having the monkey off my back after all these years. Now I can't wait to go back and ski it with some fresh powder on it.

A picture of our route:


Here are some pictures that Scott and I took. His work can be found at TahoeLight.com.