On Saturday April 19th, Bobbi Clemmer and I skied the Northeast Face of Mystery Mountain in Idaho’s revered Sawtooth Range. We spent three days in the Sawtooths – my first ski trip outside the Tetons in many years.
Mystery Mountain is a skier’s peak, and the Northeast Face is the crowning jewel. In a range characterized by steep and narrow couloirs, this broad face is the black sheep. When panning the Sawtooth Range for moderate ski mountaineering adventures that would suit both Bobbi and I’s palate, Mystery jumped from the screen. The Northeast Face is just steep, tall and consequential enough to be engaging for the seasoned, but just moderate enough to be enjoyed by the budding. From summit to creek bed the line is 1,600 feet tall and reminiscent of a smaller Middle Teton’s East Face. Viewed from Stanley, the keynote town of the Sawtooths, it’s the single most obvious ski descent. This is where our Sawtooth sabbatical would begin.
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The drive from Teton Valley to the Sawtooth Range isn’t trivial. After a full work day on Friday, Bobbi Clemmer and I hammered the five hours of mule deer hopscotch past the Lost River Range and up the Salmon River with equal parts tension and fatigue. We survived. Fortunately, the northeast tilt of our objective allowed a gentle wake up by spring skiing standards. At 5:00AM we sprung to action, scarfed down some muesli, and departed the van by bicycle at first light. The road to Stanley Lake was still closed but melting quickly, and our first two miles were spent oscillating between pedaling on sketchy black ice and short snow portages. Bobbi fishtailed and slammed once. I barely held on. Between miles two and three we hit the continuous snow-line, stashed bikes, and continued on skis to Stanley Lake. The next two hours were filled solely with type three debauchery. As newcomers to the Sawtooths, we missed the memo about the western edge of Stanley Lake being a sprawling bog of 100 ponds, 1,000 creeks, and 10,000 downed trees. It seemed like we clicked in and out of our skis every five minutes. We would later learn the only sane passage through this natural labyrinth of type three fun is stalking the summer trail like a hawk. By spring, when the skin track melts and freezes to invisibility each day, a GPS device is best.
Whether or not we took the most efficient approach to Mystery remains unknown. Unless your skiing one of the two “50 Classic Ski Descents of North America” in the Sawtooths – the North Couloir of McGown Peak or the Sickle Couloir – very little beta is available. We originally planned to climb the face bottom-up, but accidentally landed further north, heading for the cirque underpinning the north face of aforementioned McGown. Using the good ol’ topographic map point-and-shoot technique, we climbed to the obvious col just east of McGown’s north face, traversed over a tight drainage and flat plateau, and skied a short shot to Unnamed Lake 8,609′ between Mystery’s north face and McGown’s south. From there we climbed the easternmost of many benign treed couloirs just west of the north face, which led directly to the summit. I can’t speak to the “best” approach, but this one was surprisingly good. If I were to ski Mystery again, I’d probably reuse this course.
The 9,830 foot summit of Mystery Mountain has panoramic views in every direction. Looking south, towards the core of the Sawtooths, dozens of wild couloirs catch the eye – some attainable, others waiting to be skied for the first time, and many between. What the Sawtooths lack in elevation (the tallest peak, Thompson, is only 10,751 feet) is made up for with long approaches and dramatic topography. We dropped into the Northeast Face around 1:00PM, greeted by a 50 degree slip over an aging cornice and rightward traverse onto the main face, which offers a sustained pitch between 40-45 degrees above a relevant dotting of exposed granite. I made my way down first, battling a difficult breakable crust with every turn. Bobbi came second, and while I certainly expected her to side-slip every inch of the exposed upper face, she managed to link three quality jump turns in soft pockets. When the cliffs opened up we traversed left to an immaculate south facing pitch of 35 degree corn skiing, then followed the lower angle face through differing qualities of variable snow to the creek below. Expecting corn the entire way, we were surprised by the bi-polar snow conditions, surmising that the “trace to one inch” overnight storm from two days earlier must’ve dropped a few inches of snow that hadn’t yet consolidated. Below 8,000 feet we reached the consolidation line, and enjoyed 1,500 feet of amazing, ethereal, gladed corn skiing through a newly burnt old-growth forest, angling generally north towards Stanley Lake.
Determined not to relive the treachery of our morning, Bobbi locked onto the remnants of a well worn skin track, successfully navigating our ship over most of the proper creek crossings to Stanley Lake road. Reaching the bicycles was transcendent, as by that point our skins had quintupled in weight, soaked through like a sponge. 11 hours later we returned to the van, beaten, battered, but smiling.
As mentioned above, Mystery is a skier’s mountain. Between the Northeast Face, a rad looking North Couloir which would require some rappelling, and a broad north and south face which seemed to hold infinite moderate options, this peak has something for everyone. For our team, it was the perfect first Sawtooth objective. The skiing on the Northeast Face itself was spectacular by every metric, and returning to Stanley Lake was far more “fall-line” than expected. With a clear road and improved bog crossing strategy by spring, or snowmobile assist by winter, this line is an easy short day tick with tremendous reward.
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Ski mountaineering, rock climbing, ice climbing and all other forms of mountain recreation are inherently dangerous. Should you decide to attempt anything you read about in this article, you are doing so at your own risk! This article is written to the best possible level of accuracy and detail, but I am only human – information could be presented wrong. Furthermore, conditions in the mountains are subject to change at any time. Ten Thousand Too Far and Brandon Wanthal are not liable for any actions or repercussions acted upon or suffered from the result of this article’s reading.
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