Stuart Peak (Rattlesnake)- May 3, 2025

Date: May 3, 2025

Participants: Forest Dean, Tony LeBaron

On a fine spring day Tony and I met at the main Rattlesnake trailhead at 7:00am, loaded our ski gear on our bikes and set off up the trail.  We rode/pushed our bikes for about 5.5 miles to 5800’ before abandoning them along the trail.  We then hiked about ¾ mile (switchbacks area for those familiar with the trail) before converting to skis.  Had to link patches of snow for a very short distance but by 6200’ we were on total snow coverage.  We skinned up, paralleling the trail before just heading straight up the south ridge of Stuart to the summit.  Normal trail distance to summit is 9.4 miles- we shaved one mile off.  Arrived about 11:00am?  After a lunch break and taking in the views, we decided to ski the south face.  The snow wasn’t great- rather heavy top layer after having received sun all morning- but still enjoyable, particularly near the bottom of this approx. 900’ run.  We then skinned back up and cut back up to the track we had come in on.  Skied back down to our earlier transition area, hiked back to bikes, then a fun and easy cruise out.  Took about 7:45 at our unhurried pace.  Got back in plenty of time to head to the TRM Spring Fling BBQ!  Forest Dean