Pyramid Peak

Quick report

A friend and I climbed from Pyramid Creek Trailhead to Pyramid peak on Sunday. Coverage was non-existent for the first couple thousand feet of the ascent. We hiked with splitboards on our backs. Then it got patchy. Finally, we reached a ridge where we could start skinning, and could slide on our skis to about 200 feet below the summit. Then we hiked again. When we got to the peak, and looked around, we realized there was not enough coverage to descend on our snowboards fully in any direction. So we descended on a patchy, south-facing aspect (the only one with corn, given wind, and the way to get back to our car), then down-climbed, then descended again. Luckily, we found a SICK chute, which we've nicknamed "secret garden," because we didn't know about it, and it led us to a beautiful area of lakes and waterfalls that reminded us of a Japanese Garden (around Toem and Osma lakes). It was awesome. No signs of instability either. But then we had to down climb a couple thousand feet to get to our car. In general, it seems most descents in desolation wilderness are patchy and boney. It's probably mostly or totally done after this heat wave.