Backcountry Ski Trip to Split Mountain

Split Mountain, 14,053 ft.

Having done some reading on the California Fourteeners, I thought a winter trip to Split Mountain on skis sounded like a good idea. I want to reach all of the fourteeners in the state and having recently acquired backcountry ski gear I am always looking for an opportunity to get out and use the stuff! My friend Jason was on board before I even finished telling him the plan. Like me, he is always up for a winter trip where skiing or splitboarding is a possibility. We tried to get some others to join us but had no luck. Once again, it was just the two of us for another backcountry adventure.

Split Mountain is located along the spine of the Eastern Sierras between Independence and Big Pine. The typical driving route to the trailhead is supposed to take 1 to 1 1/2 hours on some rather evil dirt roads as you leave Hwy 395. After doing a little research we found an alternate route that may cross private land, but may not and SHOULD not have any locked gates. It is rather tricky to navigate unless you are very good with a map, and fortunately we both are. We made it from the Hwy 395 to the trailhead in a half hour and wondered what everybody was making such a big deal about. No other cars were parked there as this is a rarely used trail even in the summer, let alone the winter!

Jason points the way up the canyon.

Is it rather odd to start a backcountry ski trip when you are standing in the high desert. Dry brush surrounded us and it was warm. We would be heading up the South facing side of the canyon where there was no snow until we got up another thousand feet. Surprisingly the other side of the canyon had a thin layer of snow nearly down to where we were parked but it looked too thin to travel on so we hiked. Having learned how uncomfortable long approaches are in my backcountry boots, I brought a light pair of tennis shoes to start the hike in. I figured I would just leave them alongside the trail when I transitioned to my boots and recover them on my return.

We didn't transition to skis until we were about a mile or more in. The trail to this point is just as others had described it.....crappy! This trail has probably not seen maintenance since the Great Depression and it showed. The lower sections are rocky and often lead you into a thicket of bushes near the creek. When we finally had reached snow it was so soft that were postholing yet it was not continuous enough to ski tour. When we finally reached the point to transition to skis we were both relieved. We did notice that on the other side of the canyon (north facing) the snow ran much further below us. Because of this we decided we would descend on that side which meant we would not be coming back the same way. This forced me to carry my lightweight hiking shoes on up the mountain.

Jason lays down a fresh skin track on virgin snow.

The ski tour was very nice for the next mile or so. Gently climbing and following easy terrain was a joy. Unfortunately one look up told us the story of what was still before us. There was a large climb to the top of the canyon and from our maps it looked like we needed to go to the highest point. We began the long climb up, kickturning our way up the steep slope. As we neared the top it was getting late in the afternoon and the sun had dropped behind Split Mountain. This meant that the snow was now cooling fast and quickly went from a soft, easy to traverse slope to an ice crusted face. I needed to lead as it is easier for me to edge with skis than it is with Jason's splitboard. He followed my track on up.

We finally made it to the top and saw that we needed to do a long traverse along a very icy surface with a slope around 35 degrees. As I had been edging for over the last hour I was getting tired of this. I pulled out my ski crampons from my bag of tricks. Like crampons for boots, these are designed to provide metal spikes along the side of your skis when traveling in icy conditions. I had never used them before and was very glad I had them now! I headed out and was silly how easy these made this. I wished I had been using them for the last hour! The only downside was that they sound like a cowbell as they make contact with the ice. All I could think about was the Saturday Night Live skit with Christopher Walken calling for "more cowbell!" We needed a little humor to keep going this late in the day and that provided it.

We arrive at camp and view our goal, late!

We finally rounded the ridge on our traverse and saw what we had been waiting for, the headwall of Split Mountain. This meant we had arrived at the area we planned on camping, Red Lake. It was totally snow covered so we set up camp where we had some trees for a little wind protection and most importantly, a flat spot for the tent. Jason was not very perky and was ready to get camp set up. We got the tent set up quickly as it was already 5PM and darkness would be upon us within two hours tops. We got that done and anchored the tent very well with my homemade snow anchors, a tip I picked up from Jason. Jason then asked me what my thoughts were on having a fire? We were within the area we could have one, just barely, and it sure would make the cold more tolerable. I said I thought it would be great and he instantly got to work building a nice fire pit on an snowless patch just 15 feet from the tent. Before long we were getting water going on my stove and enjoying the warmth of a fire. There was plenty of wood around which was surprising with all the snow but we came up with enough for the evening without much trouble.

A campfire to lift our spirits.

It was finally time to take it all in. We were surrounded by immense beauty. Split mountain jetting up from Red Lake right before us and we were the only people up there to enjoy it. With a fire to warm us, we stayed up until a little after 9PM, fairly late considering we had up since 2:30AM to make the drive up. We did not want to start the climb from camp up Split Mountain too early in the morning as we needed the sun to work it's magic and soften the icy surface on the snow to make travel easier; and safer.

The night brought some fairly gusty winds but our well anchored tent did perfectly. The forecasted temps for this elevation were to be 10 degrees at night and 29 during the day. That night might have been that cold outside the tent but with both of us in the tent it was running in the high 20's which was not so bad. We both slept fairly well and awoke to a sunshine filled morning and light wind. We got ready to head out and were heading for the summit by 8:30AM. We wanted to let the snow soften yet still allow us ample time to reach the summit and return under good snow conditions.

Me at the top of the false saddle with the true saddle and summit behind me.

The initial travel was a long gradual traverse heading toward the false saddle above Red Lake. The conditions were very icy as the sun had not yet hit this area. Jason was still using his crampons with his board on his back while I was making good progress with my ski crampons. As we started to climb the final leg toward the top of the saddle the weather had turned for the worse. High winds were blowing down the icy slope, clouds covered the sky and the peak and the surface was wind scoured and very icy. Jason was doing OK in full crampons and my ski apparatus was at it's limit. I made my way over to the side of the slope where I could safely transition to full boot crampons and put my skis on my pack. I made it up to the top of the slope to join Jason. From the top of the false saddle we could see the path to the true saddle on the ridgeline before us. It looked even worse than what we had just done. Ice was now blowing with the wind gusts and pelting any exposed flesh. The clouds continued to build and no sun was anywhere in sight. I looked at Jason and said, "I'm done.....".

Jason was a good sport and said, "I can turn around at any time..... I just didn't want to say it first." Fortunately we both recognized the danger in continuing onward. It was already around 11AM and there was still plenty more to go. Getting caught on the summit in what would surely be extreme winds and very icy conditions is not what we had in mind. The descent back to camp was not going to be that great as the sun never softened the snow and it would be another long, icy adventure. We took some pictures and wind readings. The wind was gusting to 40 MPH and the windchill was hitting -8 F. With the wind transporting large amounts of ice crystals I felt like I was inside a snowcone machine! Jason walked up to the 12,000 level next to the mountain for a picture before we packed up and headed down.

Back at camp looking toward the summit.

The downhill portion was a little scary as the slope was extremely icy. I locked the front bindings on my skis as I figured if one came off it would travel 1,500 ft. below to the frozen lake as ski brakes don't work well on ice. While making a turn on the icy slope I had a wipeout. I slid for at least 50 to 75 ft. before coming to a stop. My knee was in great pain. Here I was, in the middle of a steep, icy and windblown slope with my knee in extreme pain and not knowing if I was going to stay put or begin to slide again. I laid there for several minutes. Jason was below me and stopped. I could barely hear him ask if I was alright over the wind. I moved a little to let him know I was not totally incapacitated. I managed to get my skis situated and continued on over to meet him.

My knee hurt but in the binding it was not too bad as it limited the amount of movement. We made it back to camp just before noon. The sky looked even worse up high on the mountain as it was now covered in clouds clinging to the summit. I took off my ski boots and put on my down slippers to limit the weight swinging on my knee. I took some pain meds and settled in for what looked to be a pleasant afternoon by the fire. We collected wood, made meals and melted snow and drank plenty of fluids for the rest of the day. I was upset we did not summit but relieved to be back at camp really enjoying ourselves.

Clear night on Split Mountain.

The campfire once again provided hours of warmth and entertainment. Heating liquids and drying gear was also made much easier with our blaze. As night fell the winds picked up again. We ducked inside the tent again around 9 or so. Many fears ran through my head that night. Would my knee swell up or be in such pain that I could not make it out in the morning? Would the sun come out tomorrow and soften the slope or would it be another hair raising experience as we either downclimb or ice skate our way out with the wind gusting and blowing us around with full packs. In addition, the winds that night were very strong and woke us up multiple times. There were occasions where the wind was actually blowing under the tent. We stuck the anemometer out one of the vents and recorded winds at almost 40 MPH but we had also had worse ones. We stopped as the ice being blown along with the snow was coming in the tent and that was not good. Jason made a very profound statement, "Our lives are in the hands of a couple paper thin layers of nylon and Chinese stitching." We both got a laugh out of it but it was true. Without a tent we would be screwed! We both were exceptionally pleased at how well the REI Arete ASL 3 tent held up to a full side-on wind. We did not even run all the guylines out, just the basics and it still held.

Clothing break on the way down.

Morning came and with the sun came the change in the wind pattern we were hoping for. The gusts were less frequent and much milder. We got up and were pleased to see lots of sun! We were not in a hurry as we needed to let the snow soften so we casually packed up and got our gear ready. We tore down our fire pit and put the black sides of the rocks down. We headed out around 9:30AM. The snow conditions were great and my knee was a little better, certainly no worse than the night before.

We enjoyed 4,000 vertical feet and nearly 4 miles of skiing back toward the truck on untracked snow. This is what backcountry skiing is supposed to be! I did have a few wipeouts as I am not accustomed to skiing with a full pack and I was a little timid on the upper, steeper slopes due to my knee but I finally got into a good rhythm. We skied all the way back to within a 1/4 mile of the truck  taking our gear off and hiking the remainder. I started the descent with 4 layers on top including a down jacket. We stopped a little over halfway down and stripped down to t-shirts as we were roasting! What a difference a few thousand feet and some sun make. I was so happy to see the truck after all the bad thoughts I had the night before. I was also rather tired from the long ski back down and did not bother taking off my pack for my first rest. I just opened the tailgate and laid face down on it and it felt so good!

The end of a great adventure.

I'm tired, I will rest right here!

Every trip is a new learning experience. Most of my backpacking has been where fires were prohibited but I must say that I will seek out more locations where this is allowed as it makes the time around camp much more enjoyable. In the future I will also stake out my tent better even if the wind is not blowing at that time as things change, quickly! Jason and I also discussed that perhaps our trips should be day tours to higher elevations and ski back down to the lower areas for the night. This will mean less wind, warmer nights and perhaps even some steaks on the bbq for dinner! All good lessons learned. I am eager to get out for more. I have a guided backcountry ski trip coming up in 2 weeks and I am sure I will learn plenty on that. At least on that trip we will be staying in a condo so no more frigid nights!

Click here for the complete set of photos for this adventure.