This was an overnight ski tour of Ruth. I camped near Hannegan Camp at 4600'. The valley approach was patches of snow and loose-wet debris piles most of the way. Some of these piles are quite large but they didn't pose too much trouble, aside from needing to choose between wet trail-runners and hiking bare ground in ski boots. The skis didn't go on until about 0.25mi before camp and even then, the steep forest traversing means it isn't really worth it until camp.
The camp area is lovely with great views of Ruth and the surrounding valley. It is possible (slightly difficult) to access running water at the stream immediately before camp so I picked up 3 liters here and didn't need to melt snow.
The next morning I set out at 8am for a lazy start. I decided to go climbers' right via a direct route. This isn't a great option because you need to descend a bit to get around some icy loose-wet slide debris chutes and then there was a steep icy climb that required crampons in the morning. In hindsight I would instead choose the normal approach climbers' left around the back side of the ridge (and there were other skin tracks headed this way).
The upper mountain was great with a straightforward approach. I descended around 11am and the snow conditions were quite good. I particularly enjoyed the wide-open descent and the consistent slope angle and it made the valley approach all worth it.
More photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/f4vg4pkDamNjcWEq7
GPS track & map: https://caltopo.com/m/LTNMV3P
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