Sugarloaf Peak Couloir - Chaffin Creek... "Chute City"

Vertical: ~4,800ft

Distance: ~11mi

For more information about Sugarloaf Peak and other great tours in the area, visit John Lehrman's site, here. Included in the list of tours on that site is Sugarloaf Peak Couloir, on its north side. For this tour a new partner in crime, Joe, joined me. Around 7:30 we found ourselves at the Chaffin Creek trailhead, to which as of 4.12.2014, is JUST obtainable via a 4wd w/ ground clearance. 

The trail is melting quick, the first two miles required a skinning/walking alternation. 

Some wildlife along the way.

I was surprised at the amount of chutes/couloirs along the way. Mid winter seems like the South facing lines would be fantastic, a near surreal experience I'd imagine skiing a couloir with 200-500ft rock walls on both sides. We didn't take the time to investigate them, but looking on Google Earth it does seem like these fingers progress all the way into the upper valley heading north.

Joe

First glimpse of Sugarloaf Peak (east face)

And finally, about 4 miles in, the couloir shows itself.

We dug a pit part way up the apron, and found lots of layers but none were failing until ECTP15+ with the exception of the 10cm failure below the ice/snow sheet at ECTP11.  First worth mentioning was @ 20cm Q1, and then @ 30cm Q2 (ECTP18) and finally 100cm (ECTP30) Q2, but that didn't even attempt to slide until helped with a small shovel pry from behind. 

Looking south from the base of Sugarloaf apron

The snow was hard, nearly ice quality in most places making for slow going on the boot pack up. It was rather comical after we had snacked at the bottom, looking up and expecting to skin at least a few hundred yards, maybe 1/4 of the way up; only to find we made it ~100ft up before our skins would no longer hold. Joe didn't have crampons so I left mine at the car, but luckily with a few kicks, the 'ol ski boots punched through and we were on our way, slowly but surely. The ice at the bottom did slowly begin transitioning into more and more snow mixture, so that was nice.

Once we entered the narrow "freezer" we found about a foot of packed powder and decided to continue. (No way I was going to press forward if it was the snow/ice in the wider part of the chute.)

NE from the top of the couloir.

NW from the apron base.

Last look at Sugarloaf before ducking into the forest abyss. 

Snowed a bit towards the end, better than rain!

Stats.

S. Three Lakes Peak - Ninemile Valley

Distance: ~7 miles

Vertical: ~3,400ft

The transfer to spring is being made, which is probably my favorite season; activities of winter with the pleasantries of summer. This weekend my wife and I took a very good moderate tour to S. Three Lakes Peak located in the Ninemile Valley west of Missoula, Montana. Plenty of burn areas available west of McCormick Peak along the Ninemile road. Specifically road 5498 which is open for snowmobile access. The adventurous snowmobile rider could cut this tour in half as there is an old road that breaks off from 5498 (keep a sharp eye out) and will bring you about half way up. 

Merete and SW Ninemile Valley.

Point west of Three Lakes Pk.

Merete w/ Three Lakes Peak coming into view.

Looking SE towards Ninemile and Missoula

South Summit.

Looking towards Missoula

Dynafit Cho Oyu posing for the scenic shot!

Looking west, the camera, not me. :)

Action shot!

Merete w/ our turns barely visible in the background.

The Stats.

Sheafman Point - Winter fun when options are limited

Distance: ~6mi

Vertical: ~3,800ft

It's been a temperamental last couple months. Avalanche danger is on the alert, especially just before and after the recent blizzard. Luckily, the winds and snow didn't hit the Bitterroot nearly as much, in fact, there was 5" of undisturbed fluff at the base of Sheafman Point, and quickly worked up to 10" of the standard Montana cold smoke.  A bit of an inversion going on though, the snow got better and better on the way back down.

Sheafman Point - via W. Crow approach (alternate would be Mill Creek trailhead)

I was about to throw it in for the weekend, but after a thorough read through of the most recent report from MissoulaAvalanche.org I decided Sheafman would be a safe option. Using HillMap.com and its slope overlay, with exception of a few isolated areas, the entirety of Sheafman has no extended slope over 27 degrees. Moreover, the abundant downfall left behind by the fire creates lots of anchors aside from the trees/stumps.

That moment you know it's going to be great.

Plenty of stuff to duck-dive-dodge.

TIPS UP! Lots of downfall equates to plenty of tree limbs laying in wait to grab your ski tips and pull you under in a flash. Be careful!

Excitement building...

Rock 1

Rock 2

JetBoil - Zip

I ran out of water whilst atop Ward Mountain during the last tour. I'm now bringing along a JetBoil (Zip version: basically, no push button lighter.) Melted down some snow and now I'm free from the choice of either monitoring my water intake, or carrying an extra bottle. The entire kit fits inside of the cup, and weighs less than an extra 16oz of water.

Two false summits.

Trying to spy Mill Point south of Sheafman...

Sheafman Point looking dapper.

The chunky-monkey that prevented me from safely getting to the tippy top.

The second shelf looks like a good potential ski line, both in person and on Google Earth.

Dynafit Cho Oyu skis! 

About 1 mile before the trailhead.

SPOT GPS tracker points

The Route.