Skiing Among Giants

By: Dylan Peterson

By KAVU

May 7^th, 2024

This April, I had a reservation for two nights at the Williams Peak Hut, nestled in the infamous Sawtooth Mountains. I had high hopes our crew would make this an epic adventure, no matter the conditions. Spring ski missions can be hit or miss. Warm sunny days typically provide delicious corn skiing. But, with that comes a timeline dictated by nature. Early starts and early exits help to avoid being in the field as the fragile alpine surfaces take on too much heat later in the day. Luckily for us, our trip lined up perfectly with the first freeze/thaw cycle in about a week. (There is a lot of science behind the changing characteristics of a snowpack throughout the season, maybe I’ll dip into that next time.)

To start the trip off, the trek from the car to the yurt was mostly snow, with a few patches of rocks and sage along the moraine route. As we gained elevation, the snowpack grew in depth, and it turned back to "mid-winter conditions". Morning temperatures at elevation were below 15*F. This kept the previously springtime snow surfaces bulletproof. The excitement of getting buttery corn waned, as we realized the cold temps and cloud cover would likely not let the high elevation snow surfaces ‘turn on’.

Our second day in the area was our one, "full-day" of the trip, to get high in the alpine and ski what nature would allow. We started our hike out of the yurt towards Profile Basin. The skin track was rock-hard and slippery as hell. We got spooked quickly in the day, shooting to make a move into the basin, while trying to avoid continuing up the slick skin track. Once we made it to a comfortable transition spot, we clicked into downhill mode and skied a short, chattery run from the east shoulder of Williams Peak into Profile Basin.

A goal I had this trip was to ski off the south side of Williams Peak. I had attempted to ski this line last spring while tail guiding a ski-mountaineering course. Due to a client falling ill, we didn’t make it to the top and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

I was beyond stoked to see the line come into view. Hard but smooth surfaces; we can make that work. We strapped on our crampons and started the methodical climb to the top. The teeth of our crampons bit into the snow securely, confirming that the ski down would be edge able at best. At our first refueling pit stop, we spotted a mountain goat standing confidently at the very top of Williams (10,635ft).

He watched us ascend the rest of the way, curiously.

We skied the line one at a time, hooting and hollering our way down. It may not have been typical corn skiing, but I thought it skied pretty dang well! With the cold air temps, and solid snow surfaces, we set our eyes on another line across the way. We traversed through the basin ending up at the bottom of the well-known Resurrection Couloir.

Another quick transition and we were back in our crampons. As we climbed higher, the snow quality began to change. We made the group decision to end the ascent about halfway up the couloir. This being a north facing slope, there was a bit more light, cold snow holding on the surface. This made for some great turns and a few more ‘yee-haws’ as we regrouped at the base of the apron.

All this hiking and skiing took most of the day. We started our long traverse back to the yurt at around 5pm. We celebrated the great day with a few cold beers from our snow cooler and some delicious elk barbacoa tacos. The evening was capped with a roaring fire and a couple rounds of cards.

The next day was exit day. We had a leisure morning, cleaning the yurt and packing our belongings. No free skiing took place as we wanted to beat the heat to the low elevation soggy snow. With our backpacks a little lighter, the exit took a fraction of the time it took us to hike in.

Leaving the Sawtooth’s in the rearview mirror, we headed back to the Wood River Valley with our sights set on a recovery burger and schooner from Grumpy’s, one of our favorite après spots.