Black Peak in the Harris Mountains offers some good touring, especially if accessed via helicopter. We landed in the chopper right on the summit of Black Peak one September. After taking in the great views we skied a line from the summit down the south face , then sidled around the peak. Like a corkscrew we circumnavigated the summit and headed from the south to west over to the North and then made a ski descent of the the northern bowls. These are great fun, full of natural half pipes and roll overs. The entrance however was steep, icy and with a little consequence.
Skins were put on and the touring began with a lovely scenic ascent of the NE ridge of Black Peak. Here some of us took a break (sleep off the previous night’s drinking) whilst others skied laps in the basin. Then we descended into Escapade Bowl (E and SE of Black Peak). There are some lovely steep lines in this bowl but it offers a nice easy ramp to ascend back out from on the East side of the bowl. Time to head home came about all too soon. It takes plenty of time to get back to Treble Cone as it is longer than one might expect. We took a direct ski line from high on the NE Ridge to cross over the S ridge and then sidle back towards TC. There are 2 options here,a) one is stay high, sidling and ascend peak 1920 before descending across the Goldrush Chutes and back up to TC (see map). b) The other option I have ski toured is to descend to the valley floor of Blue Creek, ski along the valley, then go for the big slog directly back to TC. Both routes take a fair bit of time. I find the Blue Creek route to be more fun personally. Note that both routes cover terrain that would not be suitable in higher avalanche hazard, there is no safe way back from Black peak in poor conditions.
Access – Aspiring Helicopters – (03)443-7152. The heli takes 6 plus gear and costs about $100 per person. They will pick up from the Treble Cone car park so that a car can be left there for the return trip (you will need it when touring back to TC- it is likely to be after the ski field is closed)
Another route between Black Peak and Treble Cone is via the Poolnoon Burn
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