16 June Kendall Ridge

A partner and I made a evening ascent up Kendall Ridge, leaving the car at 4:15PM.  The weather was warm, and it was a pleasant ascent from Summit West up through the trees.  Once we broke free from the forest, the sun was beating down much harder on the snow, and I was having trouble not slipping down in the steep corn.  Still, we made it up to the top, bootpacking for about 100ft in the woods, and perhaps the last 200ft to the ridgetop.  We left our skis where the snow ended and scrambled to the ridge for a light snack and some photo opportunities.

The descent was delicious corn, firming up only as the set starting setting behind Denny Peak in the lower forest.  I might have enjoyed yo-yoing the open slopes, but we were running out of time, and returned to the car just after 9PM, for a five hour total trip.  One learns to appreciate the fact that Junetober means skiing all day and half the night!  There was plenty of light when we returned, but another fifteen minutes could have made the forest lighting hazardous.

Pictures below of the avalanche path on the west side of Kendall Ridge, myself making turns, and an overview of the great snow still hanging out in the Alpental valley.