Best Sierra alpine rock-ski tour combo?

Getting back into skiing this season after a long hiatus has made me curious about the possibilities of linking ski tours with alpine rock climbs in the Sierra. 

What are the best alpine rock routes that would be nice to approach and descend from on skis? What time of year/conditions would you target them to get both decent climbing/skiing conditions?

To be clear, I'm primarily thinking of routes where you'd tour in, stash the ski gear, climb a reasonably dry rock route, descend back to the skis (crampons and axe OK), and ski out. Focus is on good climbing and a reasonable descent, not skiing the gnar. Long-approaches that require camping OK, this is aspirational. Some routes done in this style that I've seen reference to in the past:

• The Hulk
• N Arete of Matterhorn (seems like you might carry skis up this route)
• Charlotte Dome (can't remember where I read about this one)
• Awesome TR of Joel Kauffman, George Lowe, and Tad McCrea doing some new routing in this style on the Palisade Crest 

I can comment on Charlotte Dome.

Great ski in (we went over Kearsarge Pass) and about 13 miles long. The South Face can be climbed in late winter if there is a spell of dry weather. The face dries up pretty quickly. The descent can be a problem if you don't bring extra boots. That's complicated by already having ski boots for the approach. We (all those years ago, 1993 ?) did it in oversized rock shoes (with thick wool socks in them) and had one hell of a time getting down. But it was a great combo ski and climb trip.   

Alois Smrz wrote:

I can comment on Charlotte Dome.

Great ski in (we went over Kearsarge Pass) and about 13 miles long. The South Face can be climbed in late winter if there is a spell of dry weather. The face dries up pretty quickly. The descent can be a problem if you don't bring extra boots. That's complicated by already having ski boots for the approach. We (all those years ago, 1992 ?) did it in oversized rock shoes (with thick wool socks in them) and had one hell of a time getting down. But it was a great combo ski and climb trip.   

Nice! Yes I think that it was your post that I recall seeing about Charlotte Dome. Sounds like a perfect combo aside from the descent. What gear do you think would be necessary to make that descent safe? Would you take the normal descent or a variation?

The formation in the background is Horn Peak in Sequoia, April 2019. We had just climbed it while doing the Sierra High Route ski tour. This formation and many others are right along the traditional route. Not sure it's exactly what you're looking for, but it's an example of something that's been done. As you say, descents can be tricky. We just rigged rappels back to our skis on this particular route.

I would say the best time to do this, in general, is in April or May of big snow years - to allow good snow coverage but warmer temps for climbing. 

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/107600659/petit-griffon

 Petit Griffon is a great one because you can rap right back down to your ski gear and then ski a pretty nice couloir with tons of other nice terrain around. 

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105815144/trapezoid-peak

If you climb 5.12 trapezoid Peak could be a good option because the new routes that Andy P has put up are set up for rappel.  

There are some good Mt.Whitney winter climb articles &  posts.

This was two years ago in March on the Hulk. We climbed Beeline as it comes in to the sun the earliest and is arguably the easiest route up the mountain.  And if you wanted to really get sporty it would make the best option if you wanted to carry your skis up and ski down the west couloir.  Beeline tops out of the right skyline and you don't have to do the chimney finish.  You could stash the skis on the ridge, tag the summit and then make a few raps in to the gulley.  

Wish I had something to add other than I appreciate all the ideas people are providing and this is a cool thread. I didn't know Neil K and crew had done that multigenerational climb, pretty rad!

North Arete Bear Creek Spire in April of 2019. Although not technically winter, that was a fat snow year similar to how this season is shaping up. A couple of steep bowls on the way up to Dade Lake via Treasure Lakes were icy in the late afternoon and we were wishing we had put crampons on sooner than we did. There was another party camped at Dade lake apparently there purely for the skiing accessed from Cox Col. Looked like they were scoring some excellent corn turns. We camped on the bench above Dade which made for a quick n easy approach in boots on the firm snow in the morning. Climbing was great, and I remember thinking how much colder it seemed, on a different ascent, one summer day in June or July. Probably because we were layered in winter gear with no wind. Descending cox col in the afternoon was quick n mushy. Packed up camp and skied out via treasure lakes. Initially was a little too mushy on the steep couple of bowls directly below Dade Lake, and there was definitely concern of wet slide. After negotiating our way around the mush, the skiing was excellent the rest of the way down the gullies and rollers on out to mosquito flat. So much fun in the glorious afternoon sunlight.

DANC wrote:

North Arete Bear Creek Spire in April of 2019. Although not technically winter, that was a fat snow year similar to how this season is shaping up. A couple of steep bowls on the way up to Dade Lake via Treasure Lakes were icy in the late afternoon and we were wishing we had put crampons on sooner than we did. There was another party camped at Dade lake apparently there purely for the skiing accessed from Cox Col. Looked like they were scoring some excellent corn turns. We camped on the bench above Dade which made for a quick n easy approach in boots on the firm snow in the morning. Climbing was great and I remember thinking how much colder it seemed on a summer day in June. Probably because we were layered in winter gear with no wind. Descending cox col in the afternoon was quick n mushy. Packed up camp and skied out via treasure lakes. Initially was a little too mushy on the steep couple of bowls, directly below Dade Lake and there was definitely concern of wet slide. Carefully negotiating our way down, the skiing was excellent the rest of the way down the gullies and rollers on out to mosquito flat. So much fun in the glorious afternoon sunlight.

 

Nice! I had thought of this one but thought that the N Arete would likely be very cold in the shade.

Skiing to Tuolumne from Le Vining, skiing up to Cathedral Peak and climbing the Wilts route. A very long ski trip and  sunny, easy climb. Wonderful scenery.

Hiking and skiing the George Creek approach to Carl Heller, climbing the East Ridge (good winter scramble), good skiing back to car.

Non technical, but huge trip up George Creek to Mt Williamson. Years ago, it was called among the longest ski descents in the Sierra if you ski from Williamson's summit down to where the snow ends at cc 4,000'.

I'm moving to Reno in July and will be looking to do a lot of long mixed sport days.  A lot of these objectives are appealing to me and within reason, hit me up if anyone in here is looking for a partner!

Great to see this thread started.  I’ve been thinking about this with each passing storm this winter and the resulting canceled climbing trip.

Late April to May historically seem best for the ski-climb combo.  That said, powerful late-season storms in May happen.  I've spent many days sitting in my tent waiting out heavy storms during May ski tours.  I also think *most* would want to avoid north-facing aspects until late May unless they are out for Type-II fun. Not just due to the cold but iced-up features, especially this year.

The problem I’m having is that there are fewer well-traveled south-facing routes.  East-facing moderates abound on the crest but the steep drainages that access most of the climbs make a ski approach with climbing gear less attractive.  

Charlotte Dome seems to be the standout option due to  the combination of approaches, aspect, quality etc..but other possibilities with decent aspects and moderate grades:

Miter Basin (decent ski approach) - Iridescent Pillar: Iridescent Flow 5.10

North Fork LPC (rough approach) - Mount Whitney East Face - EF/EB, Mount Russell South Face - Fishook, etc, Arctic Lake Wall - Arctic Blast 5.10

George Creek (rough approach) The Cleaver - Southwest Ridge 5.6, Mt Barnard - East Pillar 5.9+, Shaw Spire - Southeast Arete 5.8, Tulainyo Tower - Kind Line 5.10

North Fork Big Pine Creek (decent approach) - Swiss Arete - doesn’t seem to hold much snow, N Palisade - U Notch, Celestial Aretes - too ledgy?

Bishop Creek (decent approach) Picture Peak - NE Buttress 5.9 (sounds very sandbagged)

Pine Creek (rough approach) Granite Park Spire - White Peregrines 10a

Rock Creek (good approach) Petite Griffon 5.7, Ruby Peak - East facing choss?

Ritter/Banner (good approach) - great skiing, not so much climbing

So my mind is gravitating to the south and west, especially toward an extended trip to the south-facing granite domes and faces of the Tamarack Lakes region.  Depending on road access, I’m hoping this season could hold the possibility of putting skis on much sooner into the approaches.  Besides road access issues, some of the westside approaches also present an even bigger problem in terms of creek crossings.  Haven’t thought about these approaches enough as I’ve never skied the westside.  Possibly all are just bad ideas.

Tamarack Lake (Approach??) Prism Time 10b, Saber Ridge 5.7, Stonehenge 10a

The Obelisk (Approach??) Southeast/west routes 5.7-9

The Whaleback (Approach??) 5.Easy

If anyone on this thread is interested in attempting a ski-tour climb this spring feel free to send me a PM.

If you go to Tamarack Lake, consider going through Pear Lake and Tablelands and then ski down to Tamarack. Might be more straightforward and definitely more scenic.

Anyone been getting after it yet this season and linked up some touring and climbing?

I'm looking for a partner for Swiss Arete for mid-May.

Hey all! Did anyone end up getting after these last season or this season? Cheers

After this post in 2023, I climbed Red Dihedral on the Hulk in June with a ski approach.

May would have been better. There was good coverage after branching off into Little Slide Canyon (in a 250% of average snowfall season) even in June but there would've been plenty of warm days in May which would've offered good climbing and better snow coverage and conditions. We just stashed skis at the base and rappelled the formation, so we didn't ski either of the couloirs, though the apron below the Hulk and exit from Little Slide had fun skiing. 

Doing an easier route that you carry skis up is still appealing to me, but the trouble is that most routes in the Sierra are best done in rock shoes, so you'd likely have to carry your boots. 

Honestly, unless it is a snowy arête with some rocks, you don't really want to be climbing with your ski boots, it is not very good for them. You'll be having to carry your skis anyway, so a classic technic is to clip your boots to your skis while climbing. I don't if you've rock climbed with skis (A frame or diagonal) before, but be aware it changes your mobility and balance quite a bit, so I'd start with an easy route 5-6/5.7 before attempting harder climbs.. 

Thank you for the info so far! I’d be carrying my rock shoes for sure, looking for spring conditions of ski in ski out with trad climbing in between