Cirque Peak

Access from Lone Pine, CA:

Take Whitney Portal Road W from 395.
Take Horseshoe Meadows Road S to Cottonwood Lakes trailhead (9960').

Run:

I hiked up Cottonwood Lakes trail until I lost it. The road to the trailhead opened two days before, so there weren't many if any tracks up there. I continued north until I was east of Cirque Peak's south ridge. The sramble up the ridge (12300') was interesting; sand, loose rock and snow. The snow was too soft to skin up. I dropped my skis at the top of the ridge to summit Cirque Peak (12900') due to lack of consistent snow between there and the summit. I hiked back to the top of the ridge and skied down to ~10000'. The top of the run was steeper than 40 degrees, but quickly mellowed to about 35 degrees. The snow was a bit too firm at the top, but quickly became ideal and remained ideal the whole way.

Avalanche Conditions:

Spring conditions; saw old, small loose avalanches.

Total Elevation: 2940'

Skied Elevation: ~2900'

The Backcountry Club Trip Report