Homestake Peak (13200’)

I have done this prominent peak six times on skis in one day from the car. When snow is good one can ski up the long east ridge to the summit, or very close. On descent there is a prominent north-facing, not-too-steep gully that takes one nicely down to the ascent track. For ascent it is fastest to take the Slide Lake Road route to Tenth Mountain Hut (about 11 miles round trip). Then cross the meadow and meander up the slopes to gain the east ridge. On March 4, 2012, Jonathan Kriegel and I summitted in under 4 hours, thanks to a track made by a fellow an hour or so ahead of us.

The first image below is from a short ski to the Tenth Mountain Hut on Jan. 3, 2013. It took about a month for the snow to build, and on Feb. 2, 2013, Troy Howard and I had a fine ascent in deep powder conditions. The round-trip typically takes about 6 hours. A couple days later I returned on light skis and, using wax and half-skins, I got to the summit in 2:15 and round-trip in 3:30.

On April 13, 2013, I returned with Elke Dratch and Robin Ackermann and we found the best coverage I have seen. We could easily ski to the very top. There were high winds, so we did not enter the steeper bowls on return, though those are certainly skiable.

The view on Jan 3, 2013.

From the April 2013 day:

Elke and Robin head to the top into a fierce, but only gusty, wind:

Robin tops out. She has giant risers.

Fine snow made the descent one of the best.

The view on Feb. 8, 2015, was remarkably clear: Here is the southern Gore Range.