M&R Traverse- North Lake Tahoe

AlexMitchko
Feb 9, 2023
2 min read

Updated: Apr 17, 2023

The North Shore Traverse is an idea that came to me while skiing my local ski hill, diamond peak. When skiing the upper mountain at DP one can look north and see a beautiful ridgeline that separates the Nevadan Crystal Bay side from Kings beach in CA.

We started at 9:00pm as we were just so excited about this traverse idea. Sam and I spent about 90 minutes moving uphill just under the summit of Mount Baldy to spend the night there. We popped in the mid and had a restful few hours.

The next morning we rose to a beautiful sunrise and stellar Tahoe weather: full sun with some clouds for texture, depth and beauty. That morning we summited Mount Baldy, Rifle Peak, Peak 9499, Rose Knob, and skied to the summit saddle of Incline peak, just northwest of the true summit. We got to camp mid afternoon which felt like a well deserved break from our heavy packs and tired legs. We had an excellent sunset; a delectable sherbet in the sky was quite special.

Night fell and morning rose, along with us. Sam and I Tagged the summit of incline peak before skiing to the base of Relay Peaks SW face; ascending this was probably the toughest portion of this trip as the wind scouring was so intense it forced slow yet creative route finding on the steeper portions. From here we skied the ridge that divides mount rose wilderness area and the east side of Relay peak. After a small rest at the weather station we proceeded to summit Mount Houghton and ski Mount Rose’s apron down towards reno.

The FATMAP link at the bottom of this article will have our exact route, distances, elevations etc.

This was never intended to be some epic, boundary-pushing expedition, but rather a idea that reminded me that fun is the most important element when pursuing objectives. If its not fun, why are you here? Definitions of fun will vary greatly from individual to individual. Jim Bridwell once said “ my best vacation is your worst nightmare” in reference to the mental fortitude and strength it took to pioneer some of the greatest big wall routes in Yosemite. Many mountaineers can relate to a similar mentality. The solace in suffering. Although we test our mettle as ski mountaineers with tough objectives, sometimes it’s nice just go play around in the backyard

https://fatmap.com/adventureid/18735554/m-r-traverse