Today we skinned up the SW Ridge of Ferry Peak Point 9141′ and skied down the NW aspect of the same.  We started at the pullout just upriver of The Nordic Inn and Flying Saddle Resort, and had to do a half hour of traversing, bushwhacking, and road skiing to get back to where we started after our descent.

A descent of the NW aspects of this SW ridge looked tantalizing from Roman Nose a few days earlier but involved more traversing and off-fall-line descending than we’d bargained for.

Eventually we got funneled into a lower angle terrain trap gully with a few steep steps in it.  The steps were rocky, boney, and not very much fun with the amount of snow we’ve got.  The whole area looks like it could be fun to lap with more coverage and stable snowpack.

We saw a mountain goat, two herds of elk, two groups of deer, and a whole network of tracks from assorted wildlife.  It’s great to see how alive and abundant the area is.

The snow is holding up pretty well well despite several days of serious sunshine and warmer temps up high due to inversion.  We passed through a few crusty pockets on SW aspects at mid-elevations, and the wind has been blowing things off up top a bit, but for the most part its still perfect out there.

We ran into Grimaldi, Sprout, Morley, Pascale,  and friend who were also skiing Ferry today.  They had a good time skiing down Roman Nose in the evening Alpenglow.

The SW Ridge offered some great perspectives on the N side of Brad Peak.   I hope the Snake freezes enough this winter to make skiing these zones a lot logistically easier.