Trimmer Peak - Backcountry Skiing
The vitals elev-9,915
Rock-granite Terrain-steep sub alpine forest Part of the Carson Range.
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Map
Route 1- The Endless Right Hand Traverse
We started this tour at the top of High Meadows Trail. A snow park permit
is not required but I am not certain how they feel about your parking
there during periods of heavy snow removal. There are no signs to indicate
it's a bad thing, however. Head up the road (it's marked and there are
snow machine tracks everywhere) until you get to the forest service gate.
Here we headed to the right and crossed the powerline trail before we
got to the first drainage. We stayed to the right of this drainage and
began the endless right hand traverse,
which took us to the top of the drainage we should have come up in the
first place. Actually, the path we took would have been better had the
snow level been just a bit higher. Once we reached the drainage we should
have used in the first place, we came upon, you guessed it, an even steeper
right hand traverse. This took us to the top of the two
slide paths that can easily be seen from South Lake Tahoe. At the
top of these paths lies a sub peak of Trimmer peak (elev 9880) that would
be the start of our descent. For the sake of your skis, start from 9860.
Once underway, however, it was whipped cream
for over 2,400 feet through an enchanted forest of racing gate sized
pines. Since it was 2:45 and the worst bartender
in Tahoe had to be at work at 3:30, we had to jet. From here down
it was a skier cross through dense growth that, fortunately, left no major
injuries (not including gear). Keeping near our route up kept us out of
the one big uphill that normally must be endured when leaving high meadows.
We left at 10:15 in the morning and made it back by three. There are many
more sides of Trimmer Peak that I would like to explore and hope to in
the future.
Route Two - Head up the Main Drain.
Follow the road about 3/4 mile past the forest service gate (not the one
at the parking lot). When the powerlines appear again on your right its
time to make a move for the ridge line so you'll want to bear right. Eventually
you will enter the gully that forms out of the ends of the two large slide
paths. Follow this gully until it ends, then make 100 traverses up to
the top of the ridgeline on the left. Follow the ridgeline and you will
come to a saddle where you can decide what peaklet you want to drop off
of.
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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