Last week the media hyped it as the “Storm of the Century”. It did turn out to dump a couple of inches down here in the valley. According to the media the mountains were going to get FEET of snow. Some reports were as high as three to four feet. We were hoping to rent some BC skis and make a trip up to the summit of Genoa Peak.
Tahoe Jeff informed us a ski trip to Genoa was not going to happen. He said all of the hype turned out to be just that. It is a good thing to have friends in “High” places.
We quickly changed plans and set our sights on Stevens Peak. According to NOAA’s NOHRSC interactive snow information there was plenty of snow between Carson Pass and Stevens.
We arrived at Tahoe Sports LTD Friday evening. The BC ski selection was very disappointing. Well, I guess renters can’t be choosers, but it turns out the boots in our size would not even fit the bindings on the skis. WHAT? It is not like we are giants! I’m 6’ and she is 5’ 10”.
The guys at TS LTD informed us Heavenly only got 3”.
OK, skiing is now out of the question. She didn’t want to snow shoe all the way to Stevens. HMMM, I know! Let’s climb Rubicon. So off we go to Lonely Gulch.
You can see the summit block off in the distance.
The trail got steeper and the snow got deeper the higher we climbed.
We reached the summit and we were quickly joined by several twenty something boys out for a “schussboomin’ day of pow”. One of them shared with us his experience of “… an 1800 foot descent of Dicks on total golden pony corn.” And of last June’s descent of Shasta “…on the sickest lines of the season”.
You have gotta love the lingo!
The route up to the summit was pretty straight forward but the ice and snow added a slight degree of difficulty.
We climbed up here. Note the plethora of hand and foot holds.
The route, however, was not without its exposure.
We joined one of the “Dudes” already on the summit.
It was really a “bluebird sky” day.
“Yeah, I’m a “Bad Axx”. I bag peaks in the winter with boys my kid’s age.”
They finally caught up with and passed us near the end of trail.
We had a great time. Sport brought along her GoPro and I put together a completely rookie attempt at a video.
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I’m much better at writing reports. I have a lot to learn about videoing a climb and editing the content. Hopefully I’ll get better at it over time.
Thanks for reading our report.
-Russ
"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"
Kahil Gibran.
