Cardinal Mountain - 4.16.10

[d_mingori]

A few months ago we were on the summit of Tinemaha, looking at the north face of Cardinal Mountain:


With a number of steep chutes going through the rocks, the one in the center looked the most appealing. So I snapped some photos, and figured one day I'd return to check it out. Zooming in on the photo I noticed a cruxy section that may or may not be skiable. And since there's only one way to know for sure, Jon and I headed out there on Friday to have a look....

The white ninja realizing that his camouflage doesn't work in the sagebrush:


We made our way to the snow and proceeded on to the base of the north face. We were hoping to be able to see up the chute from below, but no such luck. It goes around a corner at the top, and was hidden from view.


So up we went:


The shadows started creeping their way over us:


Around the corner we found a small slot through the rocks with just enough snow to get through.


Jon doesn't NEED the stepladder. But it sure would have been nice to have it:




The final push to the ridge:


Back into the sun, with Split and Birch in the background:


Views from the summit:




Now it's time to ski:




And walk over rocks:


And back to skiing: