Birthday Yurtin' in the Sawtooth (march 8-11, 2015)

[brutah]

Five years ago I went on a hut trip in the sawtooths, visiting both Fishhook and Bench huts run by Sun Valley Trekking. Unfortunately during that trip, conditions didn't merit wandering into any of the larger terrain. So when my friend Corey said there was availability at Fishhook in early March I jumped at the opportunity especially considering I'd be celebrating a birthday during the trip. If you haven’t been to Fishhook, you should go because it is awesome. Just the hot tub and views of Williams, Thompson and Horstmann peaks are worth the mere 4 mile trek in from hwy 75. With only a few weeks’ notice, we were able to rally a solid crew of skiers and splitboarders from Idaho, Utah and Washington. With bluebird weather and a green avy rose, we were all stoked and also confused because there are a million of aesthetic lines (no joke) accessed from the hut. Luckily, there was another group sharing the hut for two nights which allowed us to narrow our choices some since neither group was interested in piling into the same zone.

We ended up touring up the valley south of Thompson Peak on day one. it was scenic and the terrain was big. a mixed bag of scenic photos now:







Our group of six ended up splitting into two after a long approach up the canyon. The group of three splitboarders continued up west to the head of the canyon we were in and were treated to soft faceted powder skiing in the shade of huge north facing cliffs.

The 3 splitboarders really give a perspective to the terrain. Can you spot them?


Meanwhile, our group of three skiers headed up the ridge to our south to check out the views and do some chuting.



The first run was a good warm up, not a super steep shot with a nice little choke. Looking at the first run. Far looker’s left against the cliff, i drew a line that's hard to see.

The second line was a little more aesthetic. (lookers right)

Great climbing and skiing conditions. My friend ben was a mountain goat in a past life.

Dave topping out.

Dave opening it up under the chute.

Hot tubbin with random 22 year old kids. Not weird at all. This is quite possibly the best hot tub in the world. A nighttime soak under clear skies is worth the price of admission.

After little debate that evening, it was decided we’d go ski the sickle couloir off Horstmann Peak.
Moon setting over the mighty shield of horstmann.

First views of the day’s objective

snacks.


Going up

Did I mention the climbing was top notch? Looking down…..

Right as we were transitioning, we were joined by Jackson, one of the 22 years old from the other group we shared the hut two of our three nights. Even though, he had skied the sickle before the allure of this classic had him ditching his friends at the last minute to come climb and ski this couloir with us. Consequently, the best action photo I got of the descent was of our random friend.

Corey shreds

So does eric. And everyone decided to wear blue coats.

Ben kept to the blue coat dress code, made obvious by this photo:

Ben under the shield

Until next time fishhook……

[cat in january]

Always enjoy your trip reports, thanks for sharing.

[406]

Very nice, thanks for the TR. Was the gal in the hot tub part of your group?

[sillyputty]

Beautiful pictures! That is a stellar area! I was in bench hut in late December, I'm jealous of the hot tub.

[brutah]

Very nice, thanks for the TR. Was the gal in the hot tub part of your group?

she was not. she was with the bad ass young'uns which we shared the hut.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Nice work. Thanks.