Kendall BM - Kendall Mountain
Date: 04/17/2023
Partner: Solo
Start: Kendall Mountain Ski Area
End: CR2 Mayflower Mill
Distance: 10.1 miles
Elevation Gain: 5130ft
Duration: 7 hours
GPX
Kendall Benchmark 14ers Page
Kendall Mountain 14ers Page
This tour requires a shuttle or the willingness to hitch hike. Hitching worked great for me!
Point to point mountain traverses are one of my favorites and this day did not disappoint.
Good snow, great views and fun ski lines.
My line off of Kendall Benchmark was nothing to write home about and the snow was pretty awful. I would really like to come back and ski it's deserving north face into town.
My plan for Kendall Mountain was to ski it's north east face however large cornices off the summit stymied my plan. Instead I picked my way down the north west ridge to a fun little chute that was packed with cold powdery snow.
The basin below Kendall Mountain is an incredible place to be and is stacked with days of quality skiing.
I opted to traverse the basin and climb to the top of the classic Turkey Chute.
Turkey is a super asthetic line of fun skiing with big walls all around. Put this one on your list!
10.1m - 5130ft - 7 hours
This image shows most of my ascent route up Kendall BM (L) and Kendall Mountain's(right of Kendal BM) west ridges. Taken from Grand Turk
Weminuche views on ascent of Kendal BM
Breaking treeline on Kendall BM. Summit front and center
Grand Turk (L) and Sultan (R) from Kendall BM
Kendall Mountain from Kendall BM
Vestal and Pigeon groups from Kendall BM
Pigeon Group
L2R: Trinities, Vestal, Arrow
Looking north from Kendall BM
The route from Kendall BM to Kendall Mountain
en-route to Kendall Mountain
en-route to Kendall Mountain
en-route to Kendall Mountain. One of these cornices broke off as I was walking by it. The loud BOOM struck fear into my heart!
Can't get enough of these views
Climbing Kendall Mountain
Looking back to Kendall BM. The slide caused by the cornice break in view.
Kendall Mountain's north face was protected by massive cornices so I skied patches of snow down the north west ridge before dropping into the basin below.
Looking to the entrance of Turkey Chute across the basin below
The snow was cold and powdery and skied well
Next up... Turkey Chute!
Looking back to Kendall Mountain from the top of Turkey Chute. Note the cornices guarding the north face
Although Turkey Chute was tracked... the snow was soft, corny and skied well
The incredible basin below Turkey Chute
Back at the truck after hitching a ride. Kendall BM from Kendall Mountain Ski Area. This is the line to ski on Kendall BM