Truchas Peaks Squad Action
Posted: Sat May 02, 2015 6:14 pm
Yesterday Micah and I had an epic New Mexico adventure. We did something like 15-20 miles and about 7,000 vertical feet, almost all on skis!
I've been meaning to get into the Truchas Peaks for a decade or so. Truchas Peak itself is 13,102 ft, the second highest peak in New Mexico, but this range is more rugged and remote than the mountains near Taos around Wheeler Peak (the highest peak in NM). Micah had a (mis?)adventure there with a splitboarder friend two years ago and he wanted a bigger, better dose.
Theme song - Borgore is all class
(2020 COVID UPDATE: upgrading BB, exploring why this embedded video wasn't working, tried this video and IT'S PRETTY GOOD: Vyr08m6yRbw. Will embed that in something new somewhere...)
So we started by hiking 5.5 miles to Trampas Lake at about 11,400 ft (see photo). The end of the road is just below 9,000 ft and to our surprise, we were continuously skinning very shortly after 10,000 ft.
We climbed over the low col on the right from the lake.
The new snow from the last week caused some concern in places but it sure was pretty.
The top bit to the col made for some very fun refrozen corn turns around sunset on the exit!
This view of Middle Truchas Peak from the col made Micah want to head that way, so we made our way over there as best as we could on skis. South slopes can be perilous in NM.
It was not the original plan, but from the false summit of Middle Truchas it looked all too easy to get to the southerly Truchas Peak, which is the highest. It also looked like the northeast face on it could hold adventure. So we skied to the south on great corn.
When we got to the summit of Truchas Peak, our minds were blown by an improbably skiable line off the summit that did not jive with previous ski experience in my beloved adopted home state. I scrambled down a ridge from the summit to get a better look at it. The line had maximum allure. Its no-fall nature and (expected) variable snow created ambivalence, but the zones of risk from the new snow looked quite manageable and the desire to ski something beautiful won. So I stayed on the ridge with a spectacular vantage while Micah carefully assessed the snow on the entrance. Here he's making careful sidesteps into a slope of soft 60 degree-ish snow above a big cliff to see how it reacts.
The improbable, beautiful, steep chute looked like it might be perfect corn but New Mexico experience suggested that this was not likely. So it was to our great joy when it was perfect corn!
This is the stuff of dreams.
This terrain on the northeast face is sweet.
We weren't worried about cutting out the pockets of new snow after this final choke.
Wow that was exhilirating!
We skied off the summit to the right then down the diagonal sliver that heads left into the main part of the face.
This range has a different vibe than our other backcountry zones here in northern NM. This looks so very intriguing.
I've been meaning to get into the Truchas Peaks for a decade or so. Truchas Peak itself is 13,102 ft, the second highest peak in New Mexico, but this range is more rugged and remote than the mountains near Taos around Wheeler Peak (the highest peak in NM). Micah had a (mis?)adventure there with a splitboarder friend two years ago and he wanted a bigger, better dose.
Theme song - Borgore is all class
(2020 COVID UPDATE: upgrading BB, exploring why this embedded video wasn't working, tried this video and IT'S PRETTY GOOD: Vyr08m6yRbw. Will embed that in something new somewhere...)
So we started by hiking 5.5 miles to Trampas Lake at about 11,400 ft (see photo). The end of the road is just below 9,000 ft and to our surprise, we were continuously skinning very shortly after 10,000 ft.
We climbed over the low col on the right from the lake.
The new snow from the last week caused some concern in places but it sure was pretty.
The top bit to the col made for some very fun refrozen corn turns around sunset on the exit!
This view of Middle Truchas Peak from the col made Micah want to head that way, so we made our way over there as best as we could on skis. South slopes can be perilous in NM.
It was not the original plan, but from the false summit of Middle Truchas it looked all too easy to get to the southerly Truchas Peak, which is the highest. It also looked like the northeast face on it could hold adventure. So we skied to the south on great corn.
When we got to the summit of Truchas Peak, our minds were blown by an improbably skiable line off the summit that did not jive with previous ski experience in my beloved adopted home state. I scrambled down a ridge from the summit to get a better look at it. The line had maximum allure. Its no-fall nature and (expected) variable snow created ambivalence, but the zones of risk from the new snow looked quite manageable and the desire to ski something beautiful won. So I stayed on the ridge with a spectacular vantage while Micah carefully assessed the snow on the entrance. Here he's making careful sidesteps into a slope of soft 60 degree-ish snow above a big cliff to see how it reacts.
The improbable, beautiful, steep chute looked like it might be perfect corn but New Mexico experience suggested that this was not likely. So it was to our great joy when it was perfect corn!
This is the stuff of dreams.
This terrain on the northeast face is sweet.
We weren't worried about cutting out the pockets of new snow after this final choke.
Wow that was exhilirating!
We skied off the summit to the right then down the diagonal sliver that heads left into the main part of the face.
This range has a different vibe than our other backcountry zones here in northern NM. This looks so very intriguing.
