Great Trip, Music, you had a full gale on the summit..when I started climbing in 1979 in EBs, Poway was tiny on the way to Bouldering on Mt.Woodson from OB. Back in 1998 we had a dump like yours and climbed a 200ft 1ft thick 80 degrree Ice Tongue 3-4 ft wide on the North Face of Tahquitz. Rapped off under a huge overhang, W 5.9 W5. Glad to see San Diego representing and sharing the beauty and isolation of SoCal Mountaineering. I live in New Mexico now, the SD years were great, surfing empty Baja, N. County and Sunset Cliffs, Blacks, climb Mission Gorge, Cuyamaca, Canon Tajo, Joshua Tree, Sailing offshore racing boats Point Loma SDYC, Skiing Old Mammoth Hangmans Hollow and all cornice runs. So Cal still can be a special extreme place for those that dare leave the cities...LoL 🏞😁
I did this but went straight up the face. Didn't use the saddle and didn't traverse the face. Used some pretty tricked out alpine snowshoes. Much shorter. This was right after easter 2023. Plenty of snow, one guy on the traverse yelling to me I took the harder way, but the traverse with gear on my back seemed very sketchy. Basically there were post-holed boot marks on the traverse in spaces i would have been trying to plant a snowshoe. Much easier to plant those crampon like spikes in those shoes going straight up and be able to drive the legs with full force in one directly than trying to sidehill, one wrong lean and its over...falling sideways, knees ankles all twisted and knarled. At least going straight up the face much better chance to self arrest. But really it wasn't that tricky, I was just tired by that point. Im sure there is harder stuff out there, like snow creek, but for a first try this was a big deal for me. As I was putting on my snowboard gear at the summit, a telemarker popped up and we took a run down together. Got back near dark. Snowboarding at the bottom below the 9100 foot mark is tricky, in the trees, skis would do much better. 2023 was plenty of snow all the way down to the ranger station and lower. Much of the rest of the ski down the trail is strictly toe side which sucked for a boarder but a split guy or xc or alpine ski guy could do it pretty fast. I jacked up my knee and the mountain kind of told me to get more fit and strong, but I did it, and can look up at that peak every day I see it and know I did that. Instead of saying ill do it. It's done.
