Mt Langley via Tuttle Creek to Northeast Couloir
Friday, April 14, 2017

My splitboarder friend Izzy and I started hiking from the Tuttle Creek trailhead at 0423. A group of three skiers from Colorado started a few minutes after us and caught us at the creek crossing. Two of them continued on the trail toward the ashram, but Izzy and I and a member of their party tried to bushwhack up the southside of the creek, as I had done in my previous ascent. We wasted a good half hour thrashing around before bailing on our idea and we continued up to the ashram and along a use trail along the north side of the creek.

Around 8600 ft or so we crossed to the south side of the creek via a snow bridge. After booting up the steep slope along the side of the creek for 300 feet, we put on skis and began the long skin up. At the base of the couloir (12000 ft), we switched to crampons and followed the bootpack of the climbers above us. Three and a half hours later, I found myself alone at the summit. Izzy had stopped midway up the chute.

I stayed at the summit only long enough to take a few pictures, then clicked into my skis and had a great time skiing all the way back down to the creek crossing. We did a terrible job routefinding on the way down and bushwhacked from the creek crossing all the way to the ashram.

Suunto Movescount (GPS and heart rate data) here: http://www.movescount.com/moves/move151698072

Looking down at Izzy just after we crossed the creek


Looking up the steep slope after the creek crossing


View from the bottom of the couloir, looking straight up


Across the entrance of the couloir, two other climbers get ready


View down into the cirque from the bottom of the couloir


At the top of the couloir, looking up the final slope to the summit


From the top of the couloir


Looking down the final slope


Almost to the summit!


There's the summit


Summit selfie, Whitney in the center background


Looking northwest


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