Charlie Girl’s Fan Club Summits Jake's Peak
Jake’s Peak South Chutes Backcountry Ski Tour March 2024
Good ole Jake’s Peak—another blogpost celebrating her unreal views of Lake Tahoe, Desolation Wilderness, and incredible skiing. I previously wrote about skiing the Northeast line. I can’t promise improved writing (or skiing or fitness) but it is a new route.
There are two things I remember from that morning.
First: we were late, mostly because we got completely distracted by Charlie Girl—our neighbor’s dog, the goodest good girl, lover of belly rubs, and every piece of food ever.
Second: I distinctly remember rolling into the trailhead parking lot, blasting the Hamilton soundtrack, and everyone sing-shouting in unison, “I SAVED EVERY LETTER YOU WROTE ME!”
Here’s the GPX for the route. The first section is a snow-covered road and passes little houses and fixtures: it’s 15 or so minutes of a little winter wonderland. Then it start going up and doesn’t stop going up.
Quickly, I stripped down to a sun hoodie and unzipped every possible vent (bless my jacket and snow pants with zippers), but still felt death approaching.
I always bring ski crampons because skinning is not my spiritual gift, and even with them, I was, at best, flailing. The slope was icy, and apparently ski season cardio hadn’t kicked in by month three, so two of us started making wide, slow switchbacks. The third of us went straight up, which was an inspiration and simply miraculous to watch.
Every single person in our group—including Speedy McSpeedster—slipped at some point and had to self-rescue.
Eventually—after much more time than planned—we made it to the summit. It was lovely!
We saw a bear!
We took turns skiing down the very wide chute. It was probably a solid hour past peak corn conditions—being slow has consequences—but the snow was still fun. The line was steep and sporty in a way that felt exciting. No skins required on the exit.
My legs were absolutely cooked by the time we got back to the car. I would’ve guessed the highlight of the day was the skiing, or maybe the Hamilton singalong. But based on the photo count, it was clearly Charlie Girl.
Awed by you and your experiences.