Dicks Peak, Desolation Wilderness, CA
For the last week or two now, I have been sitting down in Reno waiting for the storms to clear up in Truckee/Tahoe. It has been an incredible few weeks, and we are now at 260”, which is roughly 50% of the seasonal snowpack for the Sierra Crest in our area. This is great news! Not only for current skiing and spring skiing, but also for the summer, when the frequency and intensity of fires tends to depend much on the previous season’s snowpack. Since I am trapped down here in Reno while the plows clear the roadways up high, I figured I would take the time to try and catch up on some adventures from last season.
One of my goals this year is to keep my skiing closer to home. It can be a difficult task around here, not due to the snow, but rather how many people are in the area. But even so, I am hoping to explore more locally. Gas prices are high, it’s exhausting to race around that much, and my lower back doesn’t appreciate hours at a time in the car. Another one of my goals for this season is to get my telemark skills to a level that are nearly on par with my alpine skiing. I would love to convert to full-time telemark. Without getting too caught up in it, it’s worth mentioning why I want this for myself. A), I am looking forward to a new challenge. B), It is an incredible feeling, and I have fallen in love with “the turn.” It is funny how more than ever, telemark skiing is seen as “fringe,” or “useless,” but if you ask me, people making those claims just don’t get it, or can’t do it. I honestly feel like there will be a telemark resurgence. Where people won’t care so much about the weight of their bindings, but more about the connection to the turn, and telemarks connection to the origins of the sport (literally the original form of skiing). With the advent of AT equipment, everything has been made so easy, and this has allowed for millions of more people to access the backcountry and “crowd it up.” I suppose this is my revolt, and you better bet, yes, “Your girlfriend cares that I tele!”
In the spirit of keeping it local, this post is about a spring day in Lake Tahoe spent skiing Dicks Peak and repeating a line off of Janine Ridge that I skied with George a few seasons back. While the vertical here isn’t the same as skiing out of Bishop/Mammoth, or a Cascade volcano, it is still world class, and none of the aforementioned places have a view of the North American continent's largest alpine lake, Lake Tahoe.
On May 1st, 2021, Erik Schulte and I headed towards Emerald Bay, CA where we started our trek up to Dicks Peak from the Eagle Falls Trailhead. We got there bright and early due to the expected warm temperatures. But either way, if it’s a weekend, you better get there at the buttcrack of dawn to avoid the masses that have come over from Sacramento for an Instagram photo of the falls. We headed up the trail with sneakers on, then transitioned to boots and skis sooner than we had expected. With the season’s dismal spring coverage, we were pleasantly surprised to find the snow-line lower than the maps indicated. We began touring and before we knew it, we had reached Dick’s Lake. It is quite a straightforward tour in a wide, open, expanse. For the most part, you can see your approach the whole time.
In this photo: Wearing shorts, Erik Schulte ascends above a frozen Dicks Lake, and big blue Lake Tahoe resting in the background.
By the time we got to Dicks Lake, the lower elevations were heating up a lot, so much that Erik even transitioned to shorts. However, by the time we got high up on Dicks NE facing slope, the wind had picked up, and the snow was somewhere between chalk, corn, facets, and ice! Being from New England, this is just another day on the hill. Once we got to the main ridge, we left the skis behind and walked up to the summit to take in the few of Lake Tahoe, and to add another summit to the list. After a couple of photos and getting whacked by the wind, we walked back down to our skis and began the transition for our descent.
In this photo: Erik Schulte on the final push to Dicks Peak summit.
I dropped first, and smiling ear to ear, made some crusty/chalky/corny turns for about a 1,000 feet, then stopping where we decided the stopping point would be. Erik followed behind and we both were able to enjoy some sweeping turns across the apron/lower section of the bowl. High fives all around, we transitioned again, and began skinning up to the ridge that connects Janines to Dicks. I skied Janines a few seasons back and was pleasantly surprised with some of the chutes/couloirs on the east side. It didn’t take long at all to get over there, and once there, we were able to stare down the chute that I skied the previous season. It was a full go so we transitioned again and got into position to drop into the chute. Once again, I dropped first and stayed on the radio with Erik to give him some updates on the snow. By this time, it had warmed a lot and the east facing chute was definitely cooking. Warm wet slides were definitely on our mind, along with some rock-fall from melting along the ridge. However, terrain traps are minimal, the main one comes right at the egress of the main chute, so staying safe and picking a cautious route in this spot was the most important part of the line.
In this photo: Looking back at our tracks off of Janine Ridge.
We both thoroughly enjoyed the chute and were able to traverse high on the egress, which in the end turned out to be a great choice. Although we did have to transition to tour mode one last time, we were able to gain enough elevation to get one last (very good) run down the north side of Janine Ridge. It’s also worth mentioning that in the final egress, we actually transitioned to ski mode one last time and were able to get in about another 800vft of skiing down nearly to Eagle Lake before we transitioned to walk-mode and made our way back to the car.
I loved this trip for many reasons, but mainly for the satisfaction of having Desolation Wilderness nearly to ourselves. Sure, there were probably a hundred people in the lot when we returned, but that almost sweetened the trip more. It certainly added to our esteem needs as we answered awe filled questions from tourists..”Where, how, you skied what, where again..!?”
As always, Erik Schulte provided great vibes and conversation. It was a good day to be grateful for. Both of us have been overcoming injuries for some time now, so its always good to share the journey to recovery together. Cheers bruddah!