Well, we have had a superb snow year in the Sierra Nevada and at the beginning of June the snow on some faces still lay deep and consolidated. To be honest I had hung up my skis for the summer, but a chance encounter with a photo from a blog post by Ian Tupman showed the east face of Mulhacen to be laden with the white stuff. The plan began to form.
A report from Richard Hartley of Spanish Highs
Due to the heat I imagined that the descent would have to be done very early in the morning before the lower slopes turned into slushy mush. This would mean ascending to the summit of Mulhacen and an overnight bivouac on top.
With fine settled weather for the foreseeable future, Ian Tupman, Kiersten Rowland and Pepe Badaje decided to join me. Not to ski, but to enjoy the trip and maybe do a bit of filming.
There are a couple of trip reports (links below) detailing the wonderful sunset and sunrise from our night on the summit of Mulhacen so I won't reiterate here, suffice to say that we spent a memorable and enjoyable evening.
Sunset and sunrise from the roof of Spain
A night at the Mulhacén Hilton
As morning came it quickly became apparent that I had seriously misjudged the likely state of the snow. I had been hoping for reasonably hard snow but instead found extensive patches of sheet ice. The night had been much colder than expected. After an hour of hanging around after breakfast the snow had still not markedly softened.
A decision was made. Time to go.
I erred on the side of caution as I set off from the summit area, traversing into the upper bowl. It quickly became apparent that this wasn't going to be an easy ski. Large sections of rutted, uneven ice made turning almost impossible (well for my skiing standard anyway!) I took a fall. Ouch! Lost my GoPro from the ski (It's on the video below and thanks to Ian for it's eventual recovery) and then made some large traversing turns before dropping into the upper snowfield.
Skiing gingerly off the summit and onto rutted ice
The upper bowl
This steepened but, as the ice was much less rutted and turning from ice to just hard neve, I began to gain in confidence. The turns became easier and I actually started to enjoy it! A long rightward traverse followed over steep ground. This led onto much easier terrain. Here I took a short break, sat on a rock and listened to the silence. No wind. No sound. Nothing.
The steepest section at mid height
Time to go. After dodging a few rocks I entered the lower half of the face. Here the snow was just about perfect and I was able to make long swooping turns. The slope was complete to the valley floor and there were plenty of ways I could have gone. Totally relaxed, absorbed in the adventure, I effortlessly carved my way down the hill.
At half height down the east face
All too soon, it seemed, I arrived at the bottom and all that remained was a gentle gliding traverse to Laguna Hondera, the idillic lake situated at the entrance to the wonderful valley of Siete Lagunas.
The lower section of the face before Siete Lagunas
As I sat on grassy banks beside the babbling streams feeding out from the lake I reflected on a superb adventure. 600m of ski descent. In June. Sure, I had been tested, but that is all part of the game isn't it? The hot sun beat down on my head as I headed up to rejoin my friends. The summer was here. It was time to hang up my skis.
Summer is here! The beautiful Siete Lagunas
Thanks to Kiersten Rowland, Pepe Badaje and Ian Tupman for taking the following video clips and for the photos above. Also for being good mountain companions. This is what it is all about!
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