Goat Rocks Wilderness Area, south Cascades, Washington backcountry telemark skiing photos The Goat Rocks Wilderness Area in the south Washington Cascade Mountains encompasses a jagged crest of peaks reaching to around 8000 feet, remnants of an old volcanic complex. The west side of the Goat Rocks crest, also the Cascade Crest, experiences complete melting of the snowpack each summer, but the east side holds many glacial pockets which persist year-round. With adequate snowpack, however, both side of the crest have extensive backcountry skiing terrain. Possibly the best way to explore the Goat Rocks is to camp near treeline and spend several days sampling the varied backcountry skiing possibilities. The section of Goat Rocks crest between Old Snowy Mountain and Ives Peak has multiple passes which allow a skier to access backcountry skiing runs on both sides of the crest in a single day, and various loop tours are possible. The east side of this section holds the Ives Glacier and other small remnant glaciers which have some enjoyable ski runs. The north side of Old Snowy Mountain descends into McCall Basin, offering a 2500+ foot run from its summit. The Mt. Curtis Gilbert area of the crest is somewhat isolated to the south from the rest, but offers multiple possibilities for steep backcountry skiing. The Goat Rocks Wilderness Area can be accessed from the west, the north, or the east. The photos in this gallery are from a five day June backcountry skiing trip, in which we accessed the Goat Rocks from the west and set up camp near Snowgrass Flats. With telemark skiiing gear and waxless skis, we were able to easily tour-for-turns and enjoy superb telemark skiing conditions on east- and west-side runs from Old Snowy Mountain and Ives Peak, in McCall Basin, and on the Ives Glacier. < Sunrise-Burroughs Mountain Photos Snow Images Main Mt. Baker Photos > Click any of the photos to view the large version Andy at Goat Creek Goat Rocks crest from the west Mt. Curtis Gilbert First run, Goat Rocks west slopes Skinning with Mt. Adams Telemark skiing on Old Snowy Mountain Mt. Rainier from Old Snowy Mountain Skiing into McCall Basin Goat Rocks backcountry skiing McCall Basin backcountry Mt. Adams view from dinner bench Steep run in SE bowl of Ives Peak Backcountry skiing, east side of Ives Peak West side of Goat Rocks crest Skiing toward Snowgrass Flats Mt. Curtis Gilbert from east side Goat Rocks telemark skiing Charles catches some air Goat Rocks viewed from the north, with labels (1200x460) Follow this link for more galleries from South Cascades backcountry skiing trips. Follow this link for more galleries from June backcountry skiing trips. Follow this link for Goat Rocks and other panoramas. Photos ©2008 Turns All Year LLC, www.turns-all-year.com   Please read the full copyright details. To contact turns-all-year.com, use this link.