a kook, a gaper, and a gumby: galavanting goons of the gothics
freshman year, I learned “how to lead belay” at the college gym and ski toured for the first time on an AIREE 1 course.
fast forward to junior year and I’m on a fully-funded 5-week mountaineering expedition with my dorm-hall neighbor who belayed my first sport lead at Shelf Road and led me up my first multi-pitch (Tenaya peak)
this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I hope it sets my life onto a new track that centers a mountain lifestyle
now each of us looks has skied more backcountry lines on the gothic glacier than anywhere else before combined! We may be the kookiest crew to step foot up here lol
we had high hopes of going alpine climbing but our rack ended up essentially un-used. it was generally humid and frigid with fresh snow falling almost every day.
by the end we had reached true summits of Mt Fria, Pioneer peak, Sentinel peak, Mt Pythias, Enterprise Peak, Mt Sir William. Mt Stockmer, Yggdrasil Mountain, The Citadel, and Silvertip mountain
we also reached the less technical sub-summits of Mt Thor, Mt Wotan, and The Ironman
most of the peaks we descended with un-interrupted ski turns.
the historic snowpack lent to safe and efficient glacier travel.
conditions with uncohered large rounds ~4ft deep menaced us with wet loose slides for the first 2 weeks. Then it was stable spring powder, and finally for the last three days (June 20-23) it was actual honest to god corn!