Granite Mountain on
December 6, 2006 | 
Granite Mountain on
January 31, 2007 | 
Granite Mountain on
January 31, 2007 |
Trail through the forest | 
Looking up the combined gully,
south side of Granite Peak | 
Looking up the west gully |
Fog over the Cascade Crest
near Grand Junction | 
Granite Mountain
upper west gully | 
Summit cornice, with Kaleetan
Peak and Chair Peak |
Tuscohatchie Lake, Kaleetan
Peak, Chair Peak | 
Granite West bowl | 
Western summit slopes
of Granite Mountain |
Old turns on a south face rib | 
Plinko starts down
Granite Mountain | 
Plinko skiing south face
of Granite Mountain |
Nice January corn snow skiing | 
Skiing Granite Mountain
south face | 
Plinko skiing Granite
Mountain corn snow |
Granite Mountain south
side central gully | 
A bad place to be with
high avalanche hazard | 
Granite Mountain from the
top of Mount Catherine |
Photos by Plinko, David Koelle, and Charles Eldridge
|
Backcountry skiing trip report:
Granite Mountain skiing, south face winter corn snow, Snoqualmie Pass backcountry, Washington, January 31, 2007
With David's report from yesterday of still-corn I headed up, leaving the trailhead at a very reasonable 10:45. Very little breeze even on top, sunny and warm, had some lunch just below the top. I started down at 1:45 and skied the south face run that goes into the skier's right gulley. Still excellent skiing! In a few spots had to be careful of old tracks (icy), but overall great skiing on 1-2 inches of softened snow over a firm base. Stopped at 3900 feet and booted back up the rib between skier's right and central gullies. Too tired to go back to the top so stopped at 5100 feet. Started down around 3:30 and skied the skier's right side of the rib, still facing the westering sun (soft) and not very tracked. Down lower skied the "glades" of the central gulley as they were still in the sun, down to about 3400 feet. The trail on the way up had been incredibly icy so after crossing back to the west of the gully I just plunge stepped down through the firm forest snow and hit the trail around 2500 feet. I didn't fall at all skiing but nearly biffed about a dozen times hiking the last few hundred vertical of the trail - packed and frozen snow and some water ice. Instep crampons would have been helpful. Seems like tomorrow may be similar, so if you are one of the few bc skiers who has not skied Granite corn this week, don't delay!
Charles |
|
