Took it for Granite

28 Mar 1999 - by Aaron Schuman

On March 28, 1999, Charles Schafer and I climbed Granite Chief. We left our car at the Squaw Valley parking lot, walked across the street, found the trail behind the fire station, and headed up. We quickly left the trail and hugged the boundary line of the ski resort. Wandering skiers swooshed past us all day. Four times we were visited by ski patrollers who were worried that we were lost, and didn't understand why we were on snowshoes and walking uphill. It wasn't exactly a wilderness experience, but it was a climb nonetheless. When we attained the ridge, we enjoyed a splendid view of Lake Tahoe. We thrashed our way up the soft powder of the summit block and, at 4:00 pm, stood on top in a chilly wind. Because the lifts were closed, we took a short cut back to my car though the downhill ski trails. Six hours up (not setting any records) and two hours down.


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