Little Buddha
Wind slabs in the upper mountains pushed us to mid elevation terrain.
It was Primos bday and we decided to spend a couple days in the alpine skiing and climbing ice. A lot of the folks in Leavenworth are either skiers or climbers. It is rare that people excel at both.
In Primo fashion he chose these random lines on peak in front of Sherpa, which I kept calling Little Buddha.
Camp at the head of Mountaineers Creek with Argonaut and Sherpa in plain view.
Primo doing his nerd thing and studying nearby avalanche debris.
Our first line of the trip where we go a couple pitches of ice to a sweet couloir. Skied the upper sections then rapped the ice.
Nice view of the rarely climbed W face of Colchuck and Argonaut. If you look close you can see some ice lines on Colchuck that I have projected over the years. More of an early season mission due to its solar input.
The matriarch of the range!
Sherpa Pass (Sherpa/arg Col) on our mission up and over Little Buddha toward Stuart.
Sherpa NE Couloir
Near the summit of Little Buddha, Primo found this huge Larch. Amazed by its size and beauty he circled it. Almost like he was courting it. One thing I always appreciated about Primo was his love for nature and passion for the details.
One of my favorite shots of Primo below the W ridge.
Entrance to the panel
View From below
The panel we skied is right of center.