Quick Stats: 8.2 Miles & 3,944′ gain via Baldy Bowl (Main Chute) from Manker Flat.
A while back I put out feelers in different Facebook groups for a mountaineering partner, specifically for winter mountaineering. I love my solo adventures, but when it comes to winter I was hoping to find someone that is cool, has similar goals, and has also taken an AIARE course. I had talked to a few people, and the closest I had come to finding someone took a turn for the less than awesome: We met in some Los Angeles Outdoorsy group, and we seemed to get along great. We exchanged Instagram handles, and when she looked at my profile she showed me her true colors: “You’re trans? Cool– I think for our first time out I’d like a friend to come along.” (Paraphrasing as I deleted the chat.)
I don’t know if she intended for it to sound malicious, but it made me feel like I was a predator. I processed what she said, never responded, promptly blocked her, and deleted the chat. This was back in October sometime, so it wasn’t for another month that I would try again finding someone. A few people reached out, as did this nice lady Jaskiran! We were trying to find a time in November to go out together; then again in December; but it wasn’t until today that we would get the opportunity. This also happened to be the day before my 4 day Winter Mountaineering Course through Sierra Mountain Center would begin. Definitely my idea of a good time, and how a vacation to the mountains should start!
We agreed to meet at Manker Flat sometime around 3 AM for an alpine start up Mount San Antonio / “Mount Baldy.” I also decided to disclose that I’m transgender as I now felt I should after that last experience. She barely acknowledged it since she’s really awesome. “Cool– an ally!” I thought. We’re off to a great start!
I realized at the trailhead that I had no way to contact her, and was sitting there waiting for her to pullup and recognize the pink Jeep. A car pulled around as I was putting my boots on and parked a couple spots down. From the other side I could hear a door open and shut.
“Brielle?” I heard from the dark.
“Jaskian?”
“Jaskiran!” She corrected. Whoops!
We took a few minutes to get ourselves situated, get our headlamps on, and start getting to know each other. The snow level was low, and there was a decent amount of snow and ice on the road leading from Manker Flat to the start of the Ski Hut Trail. Luckily there was also big ruts in the first stretch leading to the falls so we didn’t have to deal with our spikes or crampons right out of the gate. When we got to the start of the Ski Hut Trail however, it was time for microspikes to help us with traction. We had our crampons in our pack as well, but there was no need for them yet.
Jaskiran (or “Jas” for short) is a very bubbly person that also has a very rich background in living and travel. She proved to be a very fun person to talk to and get to know as we may our way up the heavily consolidated trail leading to the Sierra Club Ski Hut. When we got there dawn was beginning to break, and there was a group of people putting on their crampons (as were we). One of them assured us he was not a guide, but he was taking out a group of people based on a Facebook post to teach them some snow skills, and was also planning on creating a running belay with pickets and a rope. Jas and I continued to chat away as we stowed our poles, got our ice axes, and adjusted our crampons. At one point the person leading the other group was talking about the risks of the Baldy Bowl, and said that it wasn’t his intention to scare anyone, and didn’t want to sound morbid. I took issue with this and promptly interjected:
“Mountaineering is dangerous. Everything out here is risky and is trying to kill you. You should absolutely sound morbid because this sport can absolutely kill you.” I was expecting a bit of a chiding for interrupting, but instead he acknowledged that mountaineering is dangerous, and then continued his discussion.
With our crampons fastened and ice axes in hand, Jas and I left the Ski Hut to start to make our way up the Baldy Bowl. There are a number of different chutes on the western side of the bowl, but we decided that we were going to follow the “main chute,” which is directly up the south face. There was already a line that was pretty well kicked in and consolidated, so for the most part we followed this most of the way. With solo adventures I don’t get many opportunities to get photos of myself, so having a friend here to snap some photos was pretty awesome. What made it even better is that she was game to play photoshoot all the time– I was nervous she would get tired of me constantly asking for a photo. As the sun rose, we were basking in the alpenglow in one of the few areas you can find it near Los Angeles.
As we got further up the bowl, there were sections where the staircase we were following became less clear as the weather changes with altitude. Near the bottom of the bowl it was cold but barely breezy– meanwhile further up the snow on the slope was wind scoured, and we were getting pummeled by high winds the closer to the summit we got.
Closer still to the top and now the route was at it’s steepest point, and there were no more tracks to follow– classic snow climbing where we got to choose our own line and kick our own steps. Having never done the Bowl before, I didn’t realize that there are a couple little “Fukrili Points,” or as they’re more commonly known “false summits.” We climbed up and over a couple on our way to the summit, and stopped not far from the top to adjust our kit a bit.
Now, an important lesson about ice axes is to always plunge it in the snow if it’s not attached to your pack or in your hand. You can stick the spike in, or you can swing the pick in, but either way the axe should be firmly in the snow. When we stopped near the summit, I swung my axe to put the pick into the slope– my favorite way to set my axe down because it’s more satisfying than simply pushing the spike into the snow. Jas set her axe down on the slope, and then we watched it race away from us downhill toward Mount Harwood. Luckily it settled in a little depression where the tops of some flora barely poked through the snow. Jas borrowed my ice axe to make her way down to retrieve hers, and I just took in the views while she was gone. Once she was back, we made our way to the summit, still getting absolutely hammered by the winds.
The only people there, we stopped for a few summit photos before immediately making our way down via the Baldy Bowl Trail. On the way down we were absolutely elated, continued to chat, stopped often for photos, and alternated between glissading and plunge stepping our way down. When we got to the rim of the bowl south of the chutes, we decided to take advantage of the nature of winter mountaineering– this would be the perfect place to just glissade / plunge step our way down instead of continuing on what would be the trail in the summer months.
The party continued on the way down, and I call it that because it felt that way. Jas is a very fun person to be around that is pretty damn full of life, so a lot of good laughs were had– including when for no reason I got out my probe to check the snow depth. Just having fun! We eventually switched back to our trekking poles and micro spikes at the ski hut, and then made our way all the way down back to our cars at Manker Flat. We exchanged photos, and she wished me luck on my next 4 days of dirtbagging in the Eastern Sierra. She also warned me that I would fall in love with ice climbing, which is scheduled for day 2 of the 4 day course.
Of course, after that I still had a little energy in me, and I’m very much into the idea of chipping away at some of the peak lists I want to complete. While sitting in Alyx, I looked at some options around me, and set my sights on something nearby. . .
As I drove away, I had an awesome thought: Now when I look at Mount Baldy, I can say I’ve climbed directly up the face of it in a straight line. Crazy.