First adventure of the season

Written and Photographed by Daygin Presscott

Dusting off the cobwebs with a fun little adventure to South Rams Head on the Main Range.

With a fresh snowfall, finally offering sufficient coverage for touring and riding, myself and a good friend (Evan) thought we would start the season off with an easy adventure out of Dead Horse Gap.

We packed camping stuff for the night, plenty of chocolate and some climbing gear. Hoping to find a bit of rime ice off the back of South Rams with the intention of spending some time swinging tools, building snow anchors etc. My main goal for this season is to build on my winter skills. No grandiose projects planned, just as much learning as possible!

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, we were greeted by unconsolidated snow and deceptive rime ice, which wasn’t ice at all. But, we found a fun little chimney, which offered a bit of mixed climbing. Enough to get us psyched and be left with plenty of snow in the face and down the shell.

With some moody low cloud rolling in, we headed back to camp and dropped off the climbing gear before skinning back to the top. The afternoon which ensued, consisted of plenty of turns in some seriously good snow.

Back at camp, we took in the pastel alpenglow whilst preparing some dinner and reflecting on how rad it is to be in the mountains.

The night was spent playing card games, chess and consuming a potentially unhealthy amount of chocolate.

In the morning we were greeted by a beautiful sunrise, brisk temperatures (-6) and a couple mates who joined us for a few pow laps before the higher temperatures settled in.

 

Overall, a successful little trip to iron out some kinks and get our gear dialed in for the season.

Layers for the trip: With a forecasted low of -8 overnight.