Idaho Summits Spring Outing - Peak 10027

Heading toward the Summit (J. Platt photo)

Dylan and I have attended the last three Idaho Summits group outings and have had a great time at all of them.  This weekend saw the group meet to climb Peak 10027 near Lake Alturus in the northern Sawtooths.  Dylan had prior obligations (something about camping with a bunch of Kuna High School science club guys and gals) and somehow he had it in his mind that this would be more fun that hanging with a bunch of old men.  I'm not too sure if he made the right choice.

The group (15 of us) gathered at the Cabin Creek trail head a little before 8AM, on a bluebird day with temps in the low 20's.  There was not a cloud in the sky and just enough of a breeze to keep you cool.  John Platt (http://www.splattski.com/2012/pk10027_b/index.html) set a blistering pace for the first hour until we finally got on to solid snow cover.  Here we slowed down a bit and had some time to converse.  We had quite a group with us - the ages ranged from 22 to early 60's, and we were international too - Oleg originally hailed from Russia, while Rodolfo grew up in Spain.

We quickly progressed up through the snow as the temperatures continued to rise.  The snow remained solid, and thankfully we didn't need to remove our snowshoes from our packs.  At roughly 8800 feet we took a break with the summit in full view.  At this point, I joined George and Jake on an assault directly up the east face while the others took a ridge route.

Summit of Peak 10027 with our route

George took the lead on traversing the snow field as we moved higher.  The snow was softening but we felt very secure with our crampons providing a firm gripping.  As the mountain steepened, George graciously allowed Jake to take the lead.  After all, we had at least 20 years on him and have learned that youth are good for breaking trail.  With Jake setting the pace we were on the summit quickly. 

Nearing the summit (George R photo)

Once on top we were treated to fantastic views as the others in the group came up the ridge route to join us.

Steve and Eric are all smiles

John P approaching the summit

The Splattski summit photo courtesy of George R.

Luckily the summit was plenty big and easily accommodated the 15 of us.  We spent the better part of an hour here eating, taking pictures and chatting in the gorgeous weather.  There were multiple plans on leaving the summit.  Nathan (who had already skied one lap) skied down, three others decided to traverse north and climb McDonald Peak, George and I were going to glissade down off the summit, and the others would traverse south and east across a ridge before heading down. 

George pondering a possible glissade path

And here is the path

The glissade down was a blast!  The snow was nice and soft allowing for a very controlled descent with good speed.  We dropped 1000 feet in a matter of minutes.  As George and I continued down through the snow we were joined by Bob (who decided against taking the long way out) and the three of us cruised out and were down at the car enjoying a beer by 2PM.

I'd like to thank Dan (http://idahosummits.com/trip_reports/trip_report.php?trip_id=71)  for setting up another great trip.

PS: Here is a great photo taken by Matt that Dan doctored up to show routes.