Saturday April 16, Orbit Peak, 8350 feet; Powder skiing

A view of the Lodge from the start of our ascent into Orbit.

Larry on the bonus first run of the day. La Clytte and Groove Tube behind.

Bob Portman

Apprentice Sofia Forsman from Sweden.

Glenn Cain

Jonathan Kriegel

Katie Larson

Alien Peak; Bianca’s party is in the narrow gully rising left to right.

leaving the upper east bowl and approaching the ridge of Orbit.

The banana couloirs of Arras.

Cruising the upper reaches of Orbit to get to the summit, out of frame on right.

Bob and his green Black Crows, Icefall Peak behind.

Stan and Arras at top of Orbit.

Bob with Tivoli Spire and Tivoli Shoulder above his right boot. We descended Tivoli Shoulder two days earlier.

The next shot is a 3-frame vertical panorama of Icefall Peak. Just below the triangle rock in center is the crevasse area of the Diamond Glacier that yields fantastic shapes every year. Just above the rock the tracks of the team that climbed about 500 feet above the rock are visible; they were on the Diamond Spur. A zoom below shows those tracks.

Larry and Rostrum.

A view of our camping area from 2015 below Valenciennes Peak. Mons on left, then St. Julien. Then Park Pass and Valenciennes Mountain; our camp was just above the snaking white drainage (Mons Creek). The sunny saddle with an unnamed high peak on its right was one of the finer spots we visited last year.

The descent into the upper bowl of Orbit had the best powder of the week. Sofia led Glenn, Jonathan, and me down here.