First (and Last) Ski Tour of the season 2015/2016: Round Top

The two main conclusions from my hike a few days ago were: "There is plenty of snow on the Northern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains for a ski tour and I need to improve my fitness" helped me decide on what to do on this day: A ski tour with only little altitude gain on the northern slopes of Round Top. Since I hiked Round Top twice already (click and clack), I also knew what to expect and an altitude gain of only 2000 ft should be possible even in my poor current physical state.

I start my tour at the (lower) SNO-Park parking lot at Carson Pass and only have to cross the street in order to be able to put on my skis. The orientation here is not that simple because the terrain is rather flat and the forest prevents you from getting a good overview of where you are and need to go. However, the motto is to get up the mountain and don't let the terrain mislead you to bear west, because Winnemucca Lake is south and that's where you want to head towards. Once there and all the trees are left behind you, things get very obvious. The saddle west of Round Top can be reached via the route which suites you. Making a wide turn west will take you there on the least steep route, going straight up (my choice today) makes is somewhat steeper (30° or a little more).

From the saddle west of Round Top I go up somewhat higher with my skis and when it gets too steep I continue on foot. Soon the ridge becomes snow free and the way up to the false summit is straight forward. The best way over to top is to follow the ridge down to the gap between the highpoint and the false summit and then scramble up on the south side. To my surprise I'm the first one this year to write my name in the summit register, but it might be due to the fact that in the winter time, the register is buried below the snow.

My way down back to the parking lot is pretty much the same as my way up, of course somewhat straighter skiing down. However, close to the parking lot I did get a little too far west, because I ended up about half a mile down the road from where I parked and had to walk back up the highway in order to get back to my car.