Jake's Peak
The Vitals elev.-9,187
Rock- Sierra Granite Skiing vertical- 2,350
feet
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photos
Click here for Topo
Map
3/15/04
Not having a whole lot of time, and having plenty of sun and warmth, we
decided to head up to Jake's Peak, just North of Emerald Bay. Never having
been before, I checked with Tahoe
Backcountry to make sure we had our bearings straight, and to check
out the parking situation. We already knew the way
up would be fairly straightforward since there are so few trees, and
now we knew that parking
was readily available just past the avalanche closure gate on the north
side of Emerald Bay. From here we started up at our usual 10:30 starting
time. Before we headed out we passed two skiers just finishing who warned
us of possible wet slides and hollow conditions. They were right. In fact,
we considered turning around before we got into the main gully. Things
got better when we reached the gully, however, instead of worse. Soon,
we were at the top in what is almost a basin. I never pictured mellow
terrain up here amongst all the jagged granite spires visible from the
road. After taking in the magical
scenery for a long while we decided to head down the eastern face
off the peak towards Emerald Point far below. The top portion in the trees
was less than ideal but it soon opened up to the huge slide path with
about four to six inches of slush on top. Not only that, but Lake Tahoe
is HUGE directly in front of you the rest of the way down. For some reason
this aspect hadn't been skied nearly as much as the southeast bowl, which
was pretty much trashed. Once past the old pinwheels and associated trenches,
it was a smooth open bowl for high speed GS water skiing turns. In other
words, Big Fun. Of course, we turned right towards the parking lot a bit
too late and had to walk up Hwy 89 for about 1/4 mile. Still, we completed
the tour in just under 4 hours. I highly recommend it for days when time
is short and the skies are blue.
When entering the backcountry, proper precautions should be taken, including
avalanche beacon and the know-how to use it, shovel, compass or GPS, friend, weather information, and common sense. Click here for thelatest avalanche advisory info. You can also find more info on our gear pages.
Ride Aware, It's Big out there.
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