First traverse run, top of the Stagecoach chair, looking down at Carson Valley.
I had never skied Heavenly, and it had been at least ten years since Mark and Nancy had skied here, so we drove down for a day of scenic traversing skiing.
On Galaxy, the slowest chair in the universe.
Heavenly is an odd mountain. It has numerous knobs and intervening ridges, so it doesn’t have consistent fall lines.
Also, despite a high point of 10,000’, you never get above tree line.
Checking out the steeps of Killebrew and Mott Canyons.
We spent the day exploring, which meant a lot of skiing traversing, getting lost, and trying to figure out how to get where we wanted to go.
Getting a few turns between traverses.
I can see where Heavenly would be a lot of fun on a powder day in the trees, or if you were skiing with someone who knows the layout.
The lake and Jake’s Peak.
The area where Heavenly excels is scenery, as you have views of all of Lake Tahoe, as well as Carson Valley and the Desolation Wilderness.
The view at 10,000’ of Carson Valley to the east, Job’s Peak and Job’s Sister to the south, and pee stains to the west.
Chingus picks a line.
I think the key to skiing Heavenly is to pick one chair or one area and stick to it, otherwise you spend too much time just getting from area to another.
Denied.
I wanted to ski Gunbarrel, but it was closed due to thin, icy conditions.
It only took about an hour of skiing traversing and riding slow beginner lifts to discover this.
Scraping by.
We finally settled for a few runs in the Penises Pinnacles, a fairly consistent run on scrapy snow.
There’s that lake again.
We were surprised at how little snow there was, especially considering the high elevation.
There was granite sticking up everywhere, so you had to keep a sharp eye out.
Marginal snow in the trees.
The weather was great, no wind and warm enough to be pleasant without changing the snow.
Last run.
We had a good time, despite getting lost occasionally. When we come back we’ll have a better idea of what to traverse ski.
