Diamond Peak Ski Chalet
Winter 2001-2002

Jim Frankenfield; snowman@csac.org; 1-877-604-0166

[Climbing and Mountain Recreation Page]
[To Photo Gallery Page]

Background - In the fall of 2001 my old VW bus became "stranded" on a logging road near Diamond Peak. Given that it was on its last legs it remained there that winter and served as the "Diamond Peak Ski Chalet". The winter was a low-snow one and the approach to the chalet was always short. On New Years eve day I skied to the summit ridge of Diamond Peak, and other adventures were had as well.

Dec 18 Upon Arrival	Dec 18 Diamond Peak	Dec 18 Diamond Peak
Dec 30 Chalet is Open!	Dec 31 Summit Ridge	Dec 31 Northern Summit
Feb 10 At the "Trailhead"	Feb 10 Upon Arrival	Feb 10 What a nice day!

The Fate of the Chalet - In the late fall of 2001 the chalet was still in place, ready for another winter. Kerry and I drove in just before the winter snows began with a fury and had it all prepared for the season. Then in December we skied in and it was gone! There had never been any notice left on it, and no notices were forthcoming, so it wasn't clear that the Forest Service had removed it. In the summer of 2002 I requested a duplicate title from Utah and received one, so it was still titled in my name. (Typically when a government agency takes a vehicle they release the title and auction it off after 30 days. And yes, I know this from other experiences!   )

In November of 2002 I received a notice from the Forest Service that it was being auctioned off as abandoned property. (Or had been, since this came after the fact. How nice of them to give me some notice!) So it was ultimately removed from the forest as abandoned, although given that a full year passed it seems likely that somebody else did steal or move it and that the FS found it somewhere else. To this day I just don't know.