Whetstone Mountain 4.21.09
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Yet another old TR from the spring. This time I forgot my camera, so all of these photos are from Tom.
Whetsone Mountain is a high, somewhat isolated mountain right outside Crested Butte. At 12,516′ it offers over 3500′ of skiing to the valley floor but unfortunately there are a couple of problems when it comes to skiing Whetstone. Like the resort, Whetstone sits in the shadow of mountains to the West, so it probably sees only 250-300″ a year whereas a few miles to the West may see double that amount. The bigger problem is that private property surrounds much of the mountain and makes access more difficult than that of the surrounding peaks. Many of the property owners are cool about it, though, and grant access when requested.
We ended up with a big group- Sydney, Ben, Tom and three of his friends from out of town, plus myself. We decided to ski the North facing “M” face, which holds some of the steeper alpine lines on Whetstone. Ben dropped in first and was then able to radio back up to us and guide each of us into a different line, which made for one of the best days of the spring. Conditions were perfect springtime powder.
I went second…
Tom’s buddies:
Sydney:
Our proud tracks, easily seen from HWY 135…
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