TR: Hull Mt. April 11, 2012

 

The Descent

We made good time and finally topped out on the bottom of Hullaska Ridge.  The snow drifts in here on the eastern side of the ridge.  The fog had returned and the wind on the top of the ridge was blowing.  I measured the wind speed at  15-20mph with gusts to 25.

We continued up Hullaska Ridge above Grey Bowl.  The fog and blowing snow kept our focus on the immediate terrain.  No more visuals.  About 300 vertical feet from the top is a stand of large trees.  Reminded me of the group of trees on Boardman Ridge above Rabbit Ridge and Porcupine Ridge.  We call it the Summit Woods.  Except these trees are huge.

Only 300 feet to go.  I put the lifters on high and cranked out the last remaining terrain.  Topped out on the summit ridge 3.5 hours from the Jeep.  1.5 hours of skinning from peak 5620′.

Changed out right by the tree that sits in the middle of the 4-way intersection of the summit ridge, Hullaska Ridge, Hullafar Bowl and the ridge that leads down to The Shaft and the Hullback Chutes.

Just in time.  The weather closed in even more.  It started snowing heavily and the wind increased.  Time to ski!

The Descent – part I


 
I skied down to where Jamie was waiting then we continued down Hullaska Ridge. The snow was super smooth.  A little manky and slow, especially with my scaled skis, but we couldn’t see anyway since the fog was so dense. The blowing snow was blinding and some serious vertigo was going on so we skied slowly, watching for dips or rises in the snow surface.  Any little drift that we couldn’t see might take us out.  After almost two decades of skiing Hull I know the run down Boardman Ridge very well — I know every tree and where all the drifts are.  If even a small branch has broken on a tree, I’ll notice.  I can ski quickly down the upper part of Boardman in the fog.  I do it in my sleep all the time, but I’ve only skied down Hullaska Ridge a few times.  After four knee surgeries I’ve learned to be careful so I can survive to ski another day.

With good visibility, Hullaska Ridge is going to be a great run back.  We skied on down to the end of Hullaska Ridge and beared left a bit to hook up with peak 5620′.
 
Second Pitch Down


 
Made it with the skis on to the base of peak 5620′ where I scaled my way up to the top.  Jamie put his skins on and we met up at the top.

In this video, you can see the snow covered ridge heading back to the jeep on the left, Boardman Ridge on the right with Lake Pillsbury peaking out from behind and the snow covered hill on the right is the bottom of Hullaska Ridge.

Skis back on the pack


 
The skis went back on the packs and we retraced out route down the ridge line.

The final bushwack


 
What had taken 2 hours to climb, took us 45 minutes to hike down.  Luckily, the weather report was correct; snow levels had dropped.   The snow kept falling all the way back to the Jeep.  Rain would have been epic and ugly.

 

It was sleeting heavily as we broke down camp so we took a few breaks in the Jeep to warm up and when we finally had everything back in the Jeep we headed back down to the M6.

The drive out FR 19N50

© 2012