There hadn't been any substantial snow for several weeks. When great weather was predicted, I found a partner for Peak 9220 in the Sawtooths near Banner Summit.

Zach and I arrived at the trailhead, which is basically a plowed turnout, s bathroom with 5 feet of snow on the roof, and some avalanche gates that shut down ID 21 when the avalanche conditions get bad. The temparature was chilly, I would guess around 10 degrees. After getting gear ready and snowshoes on, we were off through the forest and heading up Bench Creek toward Peak 9220.

I was expecting well consolidated snow that we could cruise on. However, that wasn't the case. Idaho snow continues to perplex me. We were plowing through 6-8 inches of powder on top of a hard base. The other thing I wasn't expecting was clouds and wind, as the forecast mentioned neither. However, the peaks were shrouded in clouds that were racing because of a strong wind. Oh well, maybe that would clear off. Anyway, we had some work to do in Bench Creek in the mean time.

Speaking of Bench Creek, John Platt had told me the trick of getting to Peak 9220 was crossing Bench Creek and not going too far up the valley. Well, we got lucky and found a snow bridge right off that got us across the creek. With 5 foot snow banks and a meandering creek that is at least a foot deep with water, I can see why John would call that an obstacle. The next focus was to find the beginning of the west ridge of Peak 9220. We did well on this, but were a bit quick to leave Bench Creek. Instead of dropping some elevation to cross a fork of Bench Creek, we instead found a snow covered log that had fallen over the creek. It seemed stable and the drop was only about 10 feet, so I went for it. It was a stable crossing and got us heading up the ridge.

Looking up the ridge, we could still see clouds. I remarked to Zach that we should just take it slow and maybe the weather would work itself out. John and I had saw that on Cerro Ciento a few years back where we could see plumes of snow and clouds early, but clearing later. I had even seen that on Mount Hood, when we could see a lenticular cloud at midnight that gave way to clear skies later that morning. After the tree crossing we were at around 7300 feet and settled in to breaking trail up the ridge. I can't remember when, but soon after we hit some partially covered ski tracks. These tracks gave us some reprieve from trail breaking, as we could find them off and on all the way to around 9000.

The biggest obstacle IMO was a steep traverse below some rocks at around 8800 feet. There was a lot of air below us. The snow was very hard here, giving us great traction. However, a slip here would give a bit of a ride. We finished this section, taking a short break at 9000 feet. The weather, which had been improving the last hour, was now crystal clear. We were getting excited to finish the last 200 feet and finally get a look around. Within 20 minutes we were on top of the peak. The sun was warm, there was no wind, and the views were incredible. It was a great day to be in the mountains! We soaked in the sun and took hundreds of photos before finally deciding to head down. What great views in all directions!

There were 2 areas of concern on the way down to me. The first was the steep section between 9000 and 8800 feet. Looking down at a steep section like that is always worse than going up it. There really was only one tricky spot, of course it was right at the end of the steep 200 feet at a spot where a fall would suck. I took it slow and soon was cruising on easier terrain. The other area that I was worried about was a drifted and deep powdery section we encountered at around 8500 feet on the way up. I kept waiting for this section on descent and it never came. Evidently it wasn't that bad on the way down?!

After that it turned into a slog. With so little gain (approximately 2400 feet), we felt we shouldn't have been so tired, but the powder wore us out. Getting to the base of the ridge seemed to take forever. Then getting to the creek crossing seemed to take even longer. Then finding the road was an eternity! But we made it and found our buried beers in the snowbank. Zach didn't enjoy his coffee porter as much as I enjoyed my pale ale... it seems a porter freezes a bit easier. Good times on this trip. By the time we got to Lowman we were already feeling rejuventinated.

Make your way to Banner Summit. This is the border of Boise and Custer counties. It has a bathroom. It also has the big arms that close the road when avalanche danger is high. Hard to miss it!

From Banner Summit, we angled northeasterly to get into the Bench Creek drainage. Once in the Bench Creek drainage, we hiked until we reached the base of the west ridge of 9220 at around 7200 feet. Follow the ridge to the top.