Tinkering Around
I initially was not going to write about this one because it is not some magnificent stand-alone peak of prominence but Tinker Knob along the Pacific Crest turned out to be one of my favorite days of the season. First off, you ski right over the PCT which I always love revisiting, and revisiting, time after time.. Secondly, I was finally able to ski with a good buddy from work, also named Zach, who is a pretty damn chill dude and I figured it would be a nice day out on the mountain..The 5,000vft of great California corn snow turned out to be a lucky icing on the cake that day. For these reasons, I figured I would like to relive the experience in words, for me to remember down the road, and to give Tinker a little bit of respect!
In this photo: Zach Coffman on the west slope of Tinker Knob.
I have wanted to ski off Tinker for awhile now. When on the PCT in the summer all I can do is look down these west faces that run down to the American River North Fork and imagine what it would be like in the winter. The reason for not skiing this peak has always been the long approach for moderately sloped long descents. However, I love trees, and the Red/Silver Firs along the route are massive with vibrantly green lichen growing up them so it made the cross-country part of the day great.
We got up and at it pretty early but nothing too crazy, leaving Reno at about 7:15am, on snow at Deep Creek (along Highway 89 just north of Squaw Valley) around 8:15am. We had a pretty quick skin into the main bowls beneath Tinker and the surrounding peaks along the Pacific Crest. The snow was firm all the way till our first main ascent which was up a south facing chute onto the ridge that extends west up to Tinker Knob. Here at the bottom where it began to get steeper, the snow was starting to corn up. Once to the top of the chute, the snow was firm again, a good sign that we would be able to chase the corn around the compass all day. With high hopes, we charged on towards the summit.
When we arrived at the summit, the snow was still quite firm, so we decided we would ski a south facing line halfway down the face, only a little bit into tree-line, then skin back and assess the snow again for a second run, potentially down the west face. We skied about a 1,400vft then turned around and headed back up towards the rock wall just below the west side of the summit. We decided we had all day and that while it would be a long one, it would be worth it. On the way back up, the sun had made its way around the south, and to the west, that snow was softening perfectly, and it was obvious that this would be a very nice run down the west slope.
In this photo: Zach Coffman skins up Tinker Knob from the SW.
We made our way back up pretty quickly and then party skied (both at once) all the way down the west face, dropping around 3,000vft to the American River. While more of an overflowing creek than a river at the north fork, its nothing to downplay. The water was gushing crystal clear and icy blue patterns, the trees were huge old growth firs full of life with lichen attached, and the Sierra sun was beaming, We took about twenty minutes down here to just relax and take it all in. It was very nice to have the peace and quiet amongst the current craziness.
To get out of here, we decided to retrace our downhill line for about half of the ascent out, then we would skirt south of the peak to the crest and then ski out the way we came in. About halfway up we realized that a bear had already laid down the easiest egress. I am not kidding, these animals are so smart. I have seen this before in Yosemite in the spring. The bears are marching out of hibernation and into lower elevations for some easier feeding so they take you from west to east over the passes, usually the most gradual route. We followed the track for probably 1,000vft and then split off for our final approach and descent back to the car.
In this photo: Zach Coffman tours up the west slope of Tinker Knob.
This also turned out to be just an awesome descent with great corn. The sun had moved to the other side of the mountain, so what had gotten too soft, actually firmed back up just enough for our evening descent out. We carved our way down the east bowl and then onto a south face that we would drop then contour numerous times in order to shorten the flat ski out. While definitely a long day in the mountains, it was fun to have this experience and all worth the effort. I don’t know if I will be back to this area to ski, but I am happy that I went!
