Winter Alta Peak

 Introduction

Sequoia National Park is best known for harboring some of the oldest, largest and tallest trees on earth. While the old forest is a sight every outdoor enthusiast should experience, sequoia offers much more. The old forest (where most of the attention focuses) sits at the extreme western edge of the Sierra - at around 6,000ft of altitude. A winter wonderland lies in the east, especially for backcountry skiers and snowshoers. The Pear Lake Ski hut is a remote backcountry ski hut, built in the 1930's. The hut is located at 9,200ft of altitude and 7 miles from the nearest trailhead. It makes for the perfect basecamp for backcountry skiers, split boarders and snowshoers. We travelled to the ski hut and used it as a basecamp for summiting Alta Peak.

 Day 1 - Wolverton trailhead to Pear Lake ski hut

We had a late start and only hit the trail at 1PM. It's a steep 6.5 mile / 2000ft elevation gain from Wolverton trailhead to the Peak Lake ski hut. We were blessed with a cloudless sky.
The last storm was 5 days ago and it had been pretty cold ever since therefore the tracks from previous hikers had neither melted nor been covered by snow. I had hiked this trail right after a snowstorm back in February 2016 and it had been much harder to follow the trail.
If you find yourself hiking on an untracked path, look for orange triangular markers on the trees along the trail and follow them. 

The trail consists of a steep uphill slope for the first 3 miles which will take you to an area called "The hump."
From there, the trail goes down to Heather Lake (frozen in the winter). Then, it's an easy and mellow hike to the hut.

If you are not skinning up, make sure you are using good snowshoes, preferably with a heel lifter. Having crampons as a backup is a nice addition in case you encounter icy conditions, which is likely to happen in the winter if it hasn’t been snowing for several days.

The sun set down at 4:45PM that day (it was December 21st, the winter solstice), so we finished in the dark, using our flashlights. After hiking 1h in the dark, our eyes finally glimpsed at a glowing light, hidden between trees: The ski hut!

The hut was built between 1939 and 1941 by the civilian conservatory corps and is fully equipped: Pellet burning stove, 10 mattresses, running water (derived from the nearby creek), cooking utensils, a guitar, books, board games etc..). It offers an authentic western mountain feeling, and its secludedness makes it a true wonder of the Sierra.

Make sure to obtain a reservation on the hut's website prior to heading there. They use a lottery system to allocate spots. You can also visit their Facebook page, where people will sometimes trade in their spot and also post valuable information on snow and trail conditions.

As we arrived, we were greeted by a French and Italian couple and a German-American father and daughter. After making acquaintance and cooking our respective dinners, we played a fantastic game of cards called "Oh Hell" while sipping through a bottle of whiskey and eating chocolate, listening to the sound of the wood pellet stove which provides a nice extra 20F from the outside temperature.

The atmosphere quickly warmed up and we all went to bed in great spirits!

Download terrain profile for day 1

 Day 2 - Summit of Alta Peak

We woke up to another beautiful sunny day, providing us with excellent condition for our ascent of Winter Alta Peak.
Alta Peak "proper" is a very technical climb in the winter, The rock formation would most likely require rock climbing gear (at least while ascending from the eastern side where we were located). For that reason, another Alta Peak is climbed in the winter, commonly referred as "Winter Alta" or "Skiers' Alta".

After discussing the various possible routes with a fellow camper, we strapped on our snowshoes and set foot.

According to someone who had spoken with the hut keepers, we were the first people to ascend Winter Alta this season, so no real assessment of avalanche risk and snow quality had been made.

We ascended a first peak called the Matterhorn. Located directly to the east of the Ski Hut, we ascended north of the rock formation. The slopes were moderate but we found the snow to be a bit sketchy.

It consisted of a 4-ich thick outerlayer of icy snow, covering a large base of deep powder. We found ourselves walking on eggshells, oftentimes cracking through the outerlayer and making deep steps into the powder.

These were not ideal conditions, but manageable with snowshoes though the inconsistency of the snow slowed our ascent. 

We took a break at the top of the Matterhorn before continuing our ascent, following the north side of Alta. We were glad to have our ice axes with us as conditions became very icy as we gained altitude.

The slopes are mostly moderate for most of the way before becoming reasonably steep past 10,500ft. Indeed, the nearly 60 degrees slopes near the top required the use of our ice axes.

As we reached the mountain's backbone at 11,000ft, we glanced at the gorgeous view of the western divide and the Sierra mountains. The last 200ft are completely exposed to the wind and consists in walking on the mountain's backbone. Winter Alta culminates at 11,300 ft according to my GPS.

The wind was quite strong at the summit and the temperature considerably dropped. After taking pictures of the epic scenery bestowed upon us, we made our way back down to the hut for a well deserved meal and some whisky.

Download terrain profile for day 2

Day 3 - Pear Lake ski hut back to trailhead

A blizzard was forecast to hit the Sierra. We made our way back to the Wolverton trailhead in a beautiful morning snowstorm, as our track on Winter Alta were being covered by a fresh layer of powder, for other snowshoers and skiers to enjoy.

Download terrain profile for day 3