Participants: Bill, Arnold, Ulrike, Gordon, Jenny, Katrin, Gary.

Smooth vs Crunchy, a matter of some debate among peanut butter aficionado; back country ramblers on the other hand are pretty much unanimous in their opinions on the matter.

Fortunately, the group had ample warning on conditions from a trip in the area on the previous day, so there were no expectations of better snow conditions and we were there for the tour and the views.

Bill and Arnold at the base of Hero

Hero knob looking up the route to the col, we traverse up to the bench, up the bench for a while then gained the treed ridge against the sky line.

The route up to Hero’s knob involves climbing a thin tree triangle to a little below a cliff band, then traversing right onto a high bench that gives access to a high Col. The snow on the upper half of this tree triangle was particularly hard and smooth and it took some effort to get back to better conditions of an established track. Fortunately, conditions were better on the traverse itself and we made the high bench none the worse for wear…. If somewhat concerned about the trip down.



Looking back across the traverse

Ulrike after gaining the bench

After a bit of a respite (easy traveling) we followed an established track onto a ridge (climbers right) and eventually traversed out above the col. At this point we abandoned skis for a while and headed up towards the top of Hero’s knob. We did not go quite to the summit, but pretty close and very little of the view was obstructed. You don’t get many days in the winter where you can really appreciate the views, but the light winds, reasonable temperatures and good visibility made this just such a day.

Half way between the summit and col, this is where we traversed to from the ridge.

Gary takes a pic of the group heading up to a false summit.

Jenny and Gary at the high point on the ridge. A lower line to the actual summit would have required ice axes in these snow conditions.

Katrin

Gordon Near the summit of Hero Knob

Returning to the skis and then down to the Col we made a traversing entry into the bowl on the Murray side. The snow was marginally better than what we had ascended. By marginally better I mean that with only a moderate effort a person could kick through enough of the breakable crust to make a platform for a kick turn and another cautious traverse. Bill and Jenny did demonstrate that it was possible to link some turns in these conditions, but the effort to reward was still pretty thin. Gary also tried to get the most out of his new-fangled telly rig (Oxymoron alert) but most were just happy to make it down in one piece.

Hero Knob (Murray Side)

Bill watches Gary doing a tele turn.

Group on the descent

We arrived back at the cars at about 3 and all made our merry ways home.

Thanks to all for a great day and the attitudes that turn a difficult technical ski into a fun experience.

I'll post the pictures, which look pretty amazing, tommarow.

Gord