VIDEO: Consolation Prize on Wheeler Peak
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Check out the latest video from David – ‘Consolation Prize on Wheeler Peak’
Rising like a snowcapped battleship from the scrubby ocean of sage that surrounds it, Great Basin National Park isn’t the first place I’d think to go skiing. Then again, the vertical relief of Wheeler Peak is enough to convert warm valley temperatures into snow, which happens to fill in some gorgeous couloirs that can be skied from nearly off the summit.
Alex Taran and I had planned to do just that. Leaving the trailhead at 7pm, we walked in though moonlight aspen groves and pitched camp. Come morning, sunshine was pushing through the tent walls, and after some oatmeal, it was on. Once on the summit ridge, we realized just why the snow was staying cold–sustained gusts of 40 to 50 mph battered us around, dropping the windchill and forcing us to ski this fun couloir in great chalky condition as our means of escape. Dodging hypothermia never felt so good.
For more adventures of this sort, check out skinningwithbearspray.com