House Team Rider Tracks Down Winter in the Californian Spring
“The Heart is Open, The Gate is Closed”
This wasn’t the first time I have woken up as early as can be or driven an incredible distance only to find the access gate closed to my hearts desire. So what is one to do when lemons and salt fall from the sky…I like to turn the lemons into limes and make some tasty ass margaritas. In this neck of the woods, I have a lot of ground to cover and more to learn but the information I’ve gathered thus far is it’s nice to have crampons and an ice axe. More than once I’ve ended up puckered on something steep, wondering why I didn’t bring or have the proper gear.
With plans up in the air, after a solid drive from Tahoe which included grazing a good sized deer at 55mph, we (my old roommate Finely and I) decided to camp where we were and figure out our ski in the morning . What we found was Mt. Gibbs, a score of an adventurous drive, and something I’ve never skied or even thought about skiing honestly. So we hiked, following the advice from some friends from the Tahoe area. I felt like we were doing the same thing they did but a few days behind. One of these days that gate to The Dana Plateau/Tuolumne will be open and I will get to shred more vert with ease. ‘Til then, I guess I need to earn my turns.
I felt a good bit out of shape on the the 4k climb to where we decided to click in. A couple of times, I honestly wanted to deadman my ice axe in the snow and anchor myself to the side of the mountain for a nap or just stop from feeling like I was going to pass out. Finley would not allow anything of that nature. I guess the day before it snowed and thats why the gate was closed…hard to tell unless you were on the snow and could actually see/feel the new snow. Our decent was a good one for my playful LINE Mr. Pollard’s Opus Skis. I would have hacked that mountain with turns from 10th grade if I was on anything skinnier.
Of course as we were hiking up Gibbs across Blood Valley, Mt Lewis was calling our name. The plan for the next day was made assuming the gate was closed. We set up camp in a baller ass spot near Walker Lake and hiked into the sunset looking for our route.
The ski on the second day was a breeze in the shade and the snow was a creamy concoction of old and new snow. At least we got to use our skins on this one but we were a week late. The final chute was a lot further from our camp spot than anticipated. On our drive back we could see the sign saying the gate yo The Dana Plateau/Tuolumne was open but it was too late. Hot springs and a burger were calling our names. We had to get back to work and our adventure was over. Spring park riding was the next thing on this kids mind…
By: Garrett Russell
