5/31-6/01/08 Longs Pass - Ingalls Peak - Fortune Mountain
5/31/08
WA Cascades East Slopes Central
2048
1
Victor and I set out to ski up to Longs pass and camp with hopes to ski Ulrichs, or Cascadian couloir on Mt. Stuart Sunday. Aaron and Keegan were going to meet us around 7:00 Sunday morning.
When we arrived at the trailhead I was surprised at the lack of snow and wondered if there would still be sufficient snow in the couloirs.
We arrived at Longs Pass to find large patches of dry ground and thin lines of snow on Stuart.
My heart sank, a few weeks earlier before the road melted out would have been ideal.
Ominous clouds gathered in the distance and we could see the rain approaching as we began to make dinner. I was nearly certain Aaron and Keegan would not come seeing the weather from Ellensburg.
Through the night the wind howled and rain showers came and went. We awoke to the alarm at 5:30 and looked outside at the vaguely 50 feet of visibility and decided quickly it was not going to happen and went back to sleep.
At 6:45 Aaron and Keegan arrived which surprised both Victor and I. While packing up our gear the weather quickly improved though the wind was still howling.
We discussed our options and decided to make the most of the impartial weather and set off for south Ingalls Peak.
We skied 1100 ft down from Longs Pass in delightful spring corn. Toured up to Ingalls Lake for a lunch break in the sun and watched 2 other parties headed our direction. Which sounds like was MD2020 and Brenda.
In the basin beneath Ingalls we debated on which route to ski and elected to ski up and over north to south. Through a veil of lingering clouds we made our way along the north ramp of snow to the summit.
Once on top Victor scouted a route off the summit to the south. This required a sporty ski down a short exposed fin of snow above the east and south slope and a quick traverse to our right above large rock outcroppings.
A quick ski and then a short traverse to Fortune Mountain brought us to our final descent. We saw fresh ski turns which sounds like were John Morrows and others.
Again we delighted in corn snow and found ourselves finally in the sun as we skied into the basin below linking snow patches through brush until a final short walk to the cars and some cold cervezas.
Thanks Aaron, Keegan and Tippy for your great company! :)
More photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/victormesny/IngallsPeak
When we arrived at the trailhead I was surprised at the lack of snow and wondered if there would still be sufficient snow in the couloirs.
We arrived at Longs Pass to find large patches of dry ground and thin lines of snow on Stuart.
My heart sank, a few weeks earlier before the road melted out would have been ideal.
Ominous clouds gathered in the distance and we could see the rain approaching as we began to make dinner. I was nearly certain Aaron and Keegan would not come seeing the weather from Ellensburg.
Through the night the wind howled and rain showers came and went. We awoke to the alarm at 5:30 and looked outside at the vaguely 50 feet of visibility and decided quickly it was not going to happen and went back to sleep.
At 6:45 Aaron and Keegan arrived which surprised both Victor and I. While packing up our gear the weather quickly improved though the wind was still howling.
We discussed our options and decided to make the most of the impartial weather and set off for south Ingalls Peak.
We skied 1100 ft down from Longs Pass in delightful spring corn. Toured up to Ingalls Lake for a lunch break in the sun and watched 2 other parties headed our direction. Which sounds like was MD2020 and Brenda.
In the basin beneath Ingalls we debated on which route to ski and elected to ski up and over north to south. Through a veil of lingering clouds we made our way along the north ramp of snow to the summit.
Once on top Victor scouted a route off the summit to the south. This required a sporty ski down a short exposed fin of snow above the east and south slope and a quick traverse to our right above large rock outcroppings.
A quick ski and then a short traverse to Fortune Mountain brought us to our final descent. We saw fresh ski turns which sounds like were John Morrows and others.
Again we delighted in corn snow and found ourselves finally in the sun as we skied into the basin below linking snow patches through brush until a final short walk to the cars and some cold cervezas.
Thanks Aaron, Keegan and Tippy for your great company! :)
More photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/victormesny/IngallsPeak
Hi Lisa,
Sorry I took so long to reply but we had a great time that day. I slept very good that night. I hope to get to ski more corn like we had that day before the end of the touring season. Here is a map of our wanderings from Aaron's GPS.
Thanks again,
Keegan
Sorry I took so long to reply but we had a great time that day. I slept very good that night. I hope to get to ski more corn like we had that day before the end of the touring season. Here is a map of our wanderings from Aaron's GPS.
Thanks again,
Keegan
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