Lost River Range Ski Mountaineering Trip Reports

Featured Peaks (The 12’ers)

Borah Peak

The first ski descent of Borah is undocumented. Most descents from the summit use the SW gullies. There have been a handful of descents of the north face from the summit. I am aware of one descent. Wes Collins skied from the summit via the north face. He used a belay to negotiate the summit couloir. Wes described the “adventure” in this blog post. http://wes-mountainphotos.blogspot.com/2010/02/skiing-mt-borahs-north-face-7-23-09.html

TR documenting a team of 3 ski mountaineers successfully gain Borah’s summit and skiing the southwest gullies for their descent – https://backcountryfocus.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/4-19-10-skiing-mount-borah/
This TR by Dean Lords describes a partial ski descent, (non-summit), of Borah that still yielded ~3000 vertical – https://eastidahooffpiste.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/up-down-and-around-on-borah/

Mount Idaho

There are multiple potential ski descents on Mount Idaho. The north face offers an aesthetic, challenging descent. The west ridge/face also has possible options. My research has uncovered one TR for the north face.

An account of skiing Mount Idaho’s north face, as well as some other peaks in the range – http://mt-adventures.blogspot.com/2012_05_01_archive.html

Leatherman Peak

Leatherman Peak offers a fantastic, straight-forward descent on the NE face from the summit.

Here is a TR that I posted in Teton Gravity Research featuring an early June descent, (includes video footage of the descent)- http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/277994-Skiing-Leatherman-Peak-in-the-Lost-River-Range?highlight=leatherman+peak

Sawtooth Mountain Guides blog post of a trip to the Lost River Range. Includes a summit ski descent of Leatherman Peak – http://sawtoothguides.com/2016/05/04/lost-rivers-ski-safari/

Mount Church

Mount Church offers a number cool ski descents along the ramps of the NE face.

This TR features a climb/descent that I made with 2 partners in May, 2016. Technically not the summit, but we were above 12K on the summit ridge, (includes video footage of the descent)- https://hi-adventure.com/mashed-taters-in-the-lost-river-range/

Marc Hanselman recorded this trip report from early May in 2010. This descent is from the true summit of Church. http://scidaho.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html

Donaldson Peak

Donaldson offers two routes that appear to be great options:
1-The “Fish bone” couloirs on the east face, (Wes Collins thinks that this would be a possible first ascent).
2-The north couloir. I scouted this one on my Church trip and if the snow conditions had been better, I was set to give it a go.

Thanks to one of the Idaho Outdoor Forum members, they chased down a TR for Donaldson. The report is from Noah Howell and a group of 4, which included Griffin Post. The link also includes a summit of Church and Bad Rock. Pretty cool TR! One interesting note on this TR is that it is from the 2011 season in June. As I recall, that was another banner snow year in the area. http://www.noahhowell.com/2011/06/summer-camp-idaho/

Mount Breitenbach

Breitenbach is one of the more popular ski destinations in the range. The south, southwest face is wide open, and free of consequential terrain, (meaning there aren’t really any no-fall zones if you pick the right line).
This trip report is from John Platt from a few years back – http://www.splattski.com/2003/breitenbach/index.html

Lost River Peak

The Super Gully is the most popular ski descent of the “12’ers” in the LRR. Excellent vertical, at 3000+, sustained steeps, but limited exposure make this an excellent intro into LRR ski descents. As with all skiing in the range, it’s best to be patient and wait for spring conditions and consolidated snow pack.
This trip report is from my first ski descent in the range. Climbing partners were Deb R. and Tom C.- https://hi-adventure.com/skiing-lost-river-peak-super-gully/

Other Lost River Peaks

The following links refer to other ski mountaineering adventures in the range. These are not sorted in any particular order, but I have included these to offer some variety and historical perspectives of ski mountaineering in the range. (Please contact me if you have a trip report that you would like to share).

King Mountain: Rick Baugher gives a brief account of an early descent of this peak in the LRR. The date was May 3, 1986. http://www.network54.com/Forum/105717/message/1490019288/King+Mountain+el+10612%27%2C+early+ski+descent

Featured Trip Reports