Unable to find any friends to leave the warmth of summer to go skiing, I went up to Cameron Pass for a solo adventure. I schemed all week about crazy ski-camping options and massive traverses, but opted for a simpler traverse of the North Cameron Pass skiing areas to leave more time to study for my upcoming PhD Candidacy Exam.
I left the Montgomery Pass trailhead before 7 am, and after two short stretches of splashing through creeks, began skinning to the top. The skin up Montgomery through the trees is quite pleasant, and I would love to return in the middle of winter some time. I pushed to the top and transferred in the warm June sun. After a brief delay navigating cornices, I skied Montgomery bowl, aiming right to make the traverse more logical. The run was nice, but quite short without extending the run into the trees. I quickly transferred and began figuring out my route up Point 11,588. I opted for a route straight up the face to avoid the largest cornices, which worked well for a while. The steep section got a little dicey, and I slipped out above some rocks before catching myself, and opted to boot up the rest of the way in a mixture of supportable spring snow and gloppy mush. The wind was whipping at the top, so I transferred quickly and skied another great short ski line in variable snow.
I took a break at the bottom to enjoy the sun and ate a little, then began skinning up North Diamond Peak. I battled a bit on the hike, but slowly chugged along and topped out in more vicious wind. Again, the skiing was a bit variable, but the face is excellent and although steep enough to slide, it isn’t a classic avalanche performer like its southern sister. I traversed as far right as I could below the shelf before switching to skins once more. The skin up South Diamond Peak was a slog, but the day was nice and the snow wasn’t too soft yet. I topped out to incredible views of the Never Summer Range, and it magically wasn’t very windy. The last run was by far the best, with consistent corn and steep turns for a full 700′. The ski out through the avalanche chute was more pleasant than expected.
Once at the Cameron Pass Trailhead, I made the terrible choice to keep skis on and follow the cross country ski trail to Montgomery Trhd. Instead of a simple 1.5 mi. road walk, the xc trail went up and down, through creeks, brush, and dirt, and I eventually gave up and flooded my boots crossing a creek to the road. From there, I was only a few hundred yards to the car. I would’ve had much better skiing by just lapping S. Diamond Peak, but it was really fun to link together a traverse of all the popular North Cameron Pass zones, and ski four new-to-me runs. The day couldn’t have gone much better, and I had a blast. There’s still snow up there!
Trailhead: Montgomery Pass
Miles: 8.2 mi.
Vertical Gain: 3,500’
Snow: It’s still ski season! (30″ at the snotel)
The Skientist 