I have always wondered what it would be like to splitboard to Rampart Lake via the backdoor route in January. I usually don't even consider going due to the extensive avy terrain on the route. However, this week (last week of Jan 2022) presented a good opportunity with the low avy hazard due to some unusual weather and a very solid snowpack. So I pulled the trigger and went Jan 28-29.
I parked at the turnaround just past the winter Gold Creek Pond trailhead, where the snowmobilers launch. I skinned up to the Rampart Backdoor trailhead, which was almost 5 miles. The first 30 minutes of the road is flat, then it's 1.5 miles uphill, then a bit over 2.5 miles of ups and downs to the trailhead. Everything looks very different at the trailhead in winter, with all the brush that is usually over your head completely covered by snow. I skinned up the backdoor route a short distance until it quickly got very steep and icy (which is related to the weird inversion and good avy conditions). There were signs of maybe 2 snowshoers and one skier within the last few days. I switched to ice axe and crampons, since it quickly got way too scary for me to bootpack or skin. After some confusion route finding, I made it to Lake Laura, which looked beautiful covered in snow. Route finding is pretty important, since there are a lot of waterfalls and small cliffs, and it's easiest to follow the trail in order to avoid them. Next, I climbed to Lake Lillian, which looked glorious completely covered in snow, with massive icicles on the cliffs. There were signs of a significant avalanche near the West ridge above the lake, but nowhere else.
I steeled my courage, and climbed (still with axe and crampons) along the very steep standard trail up to the ridge, then moved along the ridge a bit and switched back to skinning as the terrain flattened out. I followed the eastern branch of the trail and stayed left of it, following the one sign of activity out there (a skin track), until I ended up on top of a ridge overlooking Rampart Lakes! It looked steep to get down, and I was pretty scared for some reason (being so far out there solo, with my dog, and it being my first run in a while), but I transitioned to snowboard more and rode down to the lake. The descent was pretty awesome, turning into a nice steep half pipe with some excellent snow. There were no signs of anybody else having been to the lake recently.
I camped for the night right on the lake. The "Mountain Forecast" said a low of 33F degrees, and it was actually 8F degrees, according to my thermometer. I actually didn't bother with thermal underwear due to that forecast and I regretted it, but fortunately I brought my 0 degree bag and was fine. I woke up the next morning concerned about how I was going to get back to my car, since there were numerous choices, e.g., east or west route? go by Mount Margaret instead of the backdoor? I ended up skinning up the exact slope I had snowboarded down yesterday (right between the east and west routes), then at that ridge, I was again afraid due to how steep it was. I snowboarded down into what in the summer is a shallow lake, and the run was glorious. I had to walk over some flat spots, but was able to snowboard quite a bit. Finally I got to the super steep spot right above Lake Lillian. This looked terrifying, partly because it is steep, but mainly because it's so skinny, icy, and I've never ridden anything this difficult before. I dropped in with ice axe in hand (just in case), basically slid on my edge, and managed to make it down with only one harmless but terrifying moment, and the final descent into the snow covered lake was awesome. Stoked, I walked across the lake, then decided to make an attempt to snowboard down through the steep icy forested woods back to the backdoor trailhead instead of extending my tour to include Mount Margaret. I couldn't boot pack down, since it was too steep and slippery, and I didn't want to put on my crampons just yet. It was hard and took a lot of concentration, but I actually did manage to snowboard down, much to my surprise. There were even a few fun open sections, and the solid snowpack helped.
Once back at the backdoor trailhead, I still had nearly 5 miles of snowmobile tracks to cover. I switched to skinning again and cruised back to the main road, then snowboarded down the next 1.5 miles which was fantastic (and fast). The last 30 minutes of flat wasn't fun at all, but was uneventful.
Rampart Lakes in the winter are gorgeous. It's fun to be able to just walk (and even camp) right on them, though I missed getting to pick blueberries and see the waterfalls. Overall, given the current conditions, I didn't feel significant concern about avalanches, and though a lot of the terrain is steep, frequently there are snow free cliffs right above that steep terrain. I was also able to snowboard much more of the route than I expected, though I was really glad I brought an ice axe and crampons too! I would definitely never even consider this route if the avy forecast wasn't green.
Comments