22 January 2007

Erik “Deuce” Larson of Telluride Ski Patrol and I headed out our backcountry gate at 9 a.m. to begin the six hour traverse and climb to ski the Wasatch couloir (13,470 feet) to No Name (13,145 feet) and to the final descent off of Ballard Peak (12,800 feet). The Avalanche forecast for the day was moderate overall and we felt comfortable with the conditions that had prefaced the day’s climb.

We climbed up the Hilary Step from the top of Gold Hill on the ski area, and hiked along the ridgeline to where we would begin our ski over to our touring route. We got decent recycled (faceted) powder turns down and over to the face below San Joaquin and then began our traverse over to the gully climb up to Wasatch. The route was slick and it was quite difficult to get an edge. As we crossed the main sketchy slope approaching the climb, we kicked in our steps and gingerly made our way across the terrain.

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