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Once we got up to the
north bowl of Pyramid, we found plenty of skiable
snow. Pretty damn fine snow for mid-June, if you
really want to know. We first skinned, then
booted up to Aarons Peak. On the way up, we saw
a search and rescue plane doing several laps above the
Desolation Valley and buzzing the summits of the
Crystal Range. At one point, the pilot skimmed
over Lake Aloha, looped up in front of Mt. Price, and
then turned the plane on its side and with wings
vertical, flew right down the Heather Lake canyon and
behind Cracked Crag. Some of the best non-Blue
Angels flying I've ever witnessed. (side
note: That same day, a hiker died near Lovers
Leap and a skier was killed in the Cresent Moon
couloir on Round Top. I'm not sure why the plane
-- and a helicopter seen later -- were flying over the
Desolation).
Up on Aarons
Peak, the snow ran out about 200' from the summit, so
we climbed as high as we could up a narrow finger of
snow, then dropped down from there. These sunny
southeast slopes were perfect in the mid-morning sun.
We next climbed up to
the saddle between Pyramid Peak and the "sharkfin"
that forms the end of the knife ridge heading south
from Aarons. From there, we booted up to the end
of the snow, and then scrambled over steep talus the
remaining 250' to the summit. The highest point
in the Desolation Wilderness, Pyramid normally affords
a stunning view. However, on this day, there was
a lot of haze in the air, making the views slightly
less dramatic than I am accustomed to for this peak.
We lounged for about ten minutes on the summit, snapped some
photos of a friendly marmot, then headed down.
The ski down from Pyramid was incredible.
Probably the best non-powder snow I've skied all year
-- solid base, with a few inches of soft stuff on top
to push around. I only wish we had more
vertical, but the snow quality was nothing short of
incredible. Ironically, the second best
non-powder snow I skied this year was a corn day on
Dicks Peak in January (yes, January).
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