After a great day ski touring up in Arthurs Pass it was time to focus on another aspect in hopes of finding powder. After staring at the maps for a while we decided to ski tour Mount Wall in the Cheeseman Backcountry. Yossi had showed up and now it was a crew of 4 with him Ryan, Wiggles and me as we drove up to Mount Cheeseman ski area.
Climbing into the backcountry of Mount Cheeseman we could see a maritime cloud layer in the valley. It was our hope that we would be able to see as at the moment we could see the high peaks.
Mount Wall was looking good on the opposite side of the valley. We were hoping that the gullies were holding good snow as we prepared to descend into the valley.
As we rode into the valley below we were happy to find sun softened snow. We knew this aspect was in good conditions but Mount Wall was in the shade. It was a bit of a gamble but at least our first run was nice.
Climbing up the South face of Mount Wall we were happy to find powder conditions. Since there were numerous couloir we decided to split up in teams of making our way to the summit ridge.
Once cresting the ridge we took in the sunlight and the views. To the North we could see Broken River ski area, one of 4 resorts in the Cragieburn Range.
Looking back we had a great view of our approach run basking in the warm sun.
Riding one at a time we were excited to be riding powder snow on the open face. It had been a while since it snowed but the South face of Mount Wall was protected.
We rode down to the valley floor before hiking down the valley and traversing back to the access road and our car in the Mount Cheeseman Parking lot.
It was a great day out and we had found where the powder was. When we went into the ski area cafeteria we some people mentioned they watched us ride the line. It was a fun day riding Mount Wall with a solid crew.
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