Sniktau, S Face and E Face and N Face

On May 22, 2010, Jonathan Kriegel and I skied the S Face of Sniktau (13234). Skiing was firm. The climb back to the bump above Loveland Pass was not a problem as far as terrain, but the winds were horrendous. I would not be surprised if they were 100 mph. We were knocked down multiple times and the final transition atop that bump was a trial.

Here is a shot from June 14, 2011, when I went from Loveland Pass to the valley across this face of Sniktau.

On June 17, 2011, Jonathan Kriegel, Chet Roe, and I climbed Sniktau in poor weather. Low visibility at the top meant we abandoned our S Face plan and went for the E Face instead. It skied fine. But the traverse back around the peak to Loveland Pass was a real chore. Clearly a car should be left somewhere low for this tour.

Below is a photo of Sniktau’s NW side. The drainage is Sheep Creek, where five skiers and snowboarders were killed in April 2013, by a slide that started on the ridge above the switchback. Photo taken May 22, 2013, from Golden Bear. On May 15, 2016, Randy Garrison andI skied from the summit into this basin. Conditions were fine.

On May 28, 2017, Randy Garrison, Robert McGrath, Chet Roe III, Chet Roe IV, Bob Portmann, and I skied two nice runs on Sniktau. We started at the pass (12000) and skied the southernmost of the east face routes down to 11800. There were some avy issues here due to the recent storm snow. Then we climbed back up to 13234 via the northern of the east face routes and finished with the Sheep Creek run to the switchback (11600 where we had left a car. Conditions were generally excellent. The view below shows the east side, with the summit just right of center. Photo by Robert McGrath.