Info About the Morning Mission
The Morning Mission is a prominent gully system located on a sub summit of Lemetfjellet in the Tamokdalen Backcountry. With a summit elevation of 1,280 meters the line itself runs down 600 meters before opening up to much mellower terrain below. The safest access is from the Southeast bowl but then you can’t be sure about the snow pack inside until dropping in. Being two separate couloirs with an exposed snowfield between them it is a ski tour that must be done when snow conditions are stable.
Why the Morning Mission
The plans to ski Morning Mission loosely fell together the night before the trip. Heading back home from skiing Tamokfjellet we noticed some people putting their gear back in their car. Stopping to chat it was Saana and Ode who had just got done skiing the Morning Mission. They mentioned that the snow was good and the conditions were stable. Knowing that the line has massive exposure and that the conditions were in there prime we decided to go for.
Heading up to the Entrance
My good friend Jussi showed up at Tamokhuset during the night. Waking up the next morning Tippu, Jussi and I drove out to our starting point and started climbing. Fighting our way through the lower trees we followed a snow filled creek until arriving in the alpine.
Making our way East on the edge of the bowl we reached a low sub summit. Looking around we had a clear view of the Kitchen Chute to the East. Behind that was the vast backcountry within the Tamokdalen Backcountry.
Being on the edge of a vertical drop to the valley below we careful looked for the entrance to the Morning Mission. Spotting what seemed to be a gully we skinned over to its edge for a closer inspection.
Staring down the line we could see the tracks from the group the day before. This line would have to be skied in sections as it consisted of two separate couloirs with a cliff band in-between them. We could only see the top before the Morning Mission dropped out of sight.
Dropping into the Morning Mission
Chatting over who would go first Tippu lead the way. Though the snow was still good we could tell that the wind overnight had packed it down. His first few turns were conservative before opening up and disappearing over the roller.
Once he was out of view and confirmed that he was in a safe spot Jussi skied down next.
With both of them being out of potential avalanche danger I made my way down near the bottom of the first couloir. Traversing off to the side I snapped a few photos of Jussi. By now the snow was more sheltered with him kicking up powder with every turn.
Before long we were on the open slopes above a massive cliff band. It was a bit nerve rattling to know what we were on top of but fortunately the snow was good and edgeable.
Getting Out of the Exposure Zone
Making a hard traverse to the skiers right we found the lower couloir. Standing on top of it we were happy to be out of exposure. It was a awesome looking line that cut through the massive rock bands all the way to the valley.
Being protected from the wind this feature offered the best snow of the day. With adrenaline still rushing though our blood we made our way down one at a time.
What was steep and exposed couloirs became an open slope with no cause for concern. Making our way down we head towards the skiers right side of the main drainage to avoid a nasty waterfall.
Heading back to the trees I would occasional look back up at the Morning Mission. This was my first time actually seeing the line from below. Seeing the massive cliff band within it I felt fortunate that we had gone there in stable conditions. Huge thanks to Jussi and Tippu for being great ski touring partners as well as Saana and Ode for being the avalanche poodles.
If you are interested in this ski tour here is the topo route below
