Carson City High Point Trip Report

Snow Valley Peak

Date: March 21, 2002
Author: William Everett

snowshoe ascent

During the winter, Spooner Lake is a cross-country skiing area. It is open 9-5 (8:30 on weekends). It costs $17.50 to use the area (although the woman said there was some sort of deal on Tuesdays). Groomed trails get you most of the way there (3-4 miles) and you don't really need snowshoes for the groomed trails. You can get a trail map at the lodge (where you buy your pass).

I followed North Canyon north all the way until it reaches Super "G". At this point I was about a mile southwest of the peak. I left the trail and headed straight east and up the ridge. It gets very steep, had it been much steeper it would have been crampons and ice-axe territory. This takes you from 7,000-something feet up to 9,000.

I stopped at the knob on the south end of the ridge. The view from here is great, you can see the Carson Valley as well as Lake Tahoe. Snow Valley Peak is clearly recognizable to the north along the ridge by the antenna installation. It's fairly easy to make your way along the east side of the ridge to Snow Valley Peak, it's a little over a half a mile from the southernmost part of the ridge.

At the top, I could recognize traces of a road that heads north before switching west back into North Canyon. I followed the road, although it was almost entirely covered with snow, I could pick it out for the most part based on fences and marker poles. Heading back down the steep slope was difficult, switchbacking meant that my ankles were at a constant angle. At the bottom of the slope it was easy to find the Super "G" trail, and then I just followed that south back the way I came.