The Beast Chute

Type: Backcountry or Sidecountry

The crux is a small cliff band with an island of thick trees. The video shows that you can go left or right - just not through the middle. :-)

This is a little, unnamed peak in the Lick Creek Range that we dubbed "The Beast," due to the misguided climb that we endured to summit it. We should have gone further around to the ridge-line to do the climb.

The chute is a dogleg left, with the aforementioned crux in the middle. It starts out in scattered trees, but the route is obvious from the start. There are other adjacent chutes, but in the winter of 2015, these would have led to cliff-outs and/or ugly terrain.

As you start out heading north, look for the obvious slight left and the island of trees that appears to block the chute. Take your pick, left or right, we did both. If you go skiers right and don't hug the trees, you can get a little air off of the cliff band.

Below the tree island, it gets narrow for a turn or two, but then widens comfortably. Straight-lining it is an easy option, except for on lower snow years you would need to be cautious of some "shark fins" lower in the chute. (The Lick Creek Video shows full details, starting at 00:30 and running through 1:25).