Home > Trip Reports > March 21-24, Mount Maude Extravaganza

March 21-24, Mount Maude Extravaganza

3/21/04
WA Cascades West Slopes Central
3615
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Posted by TeleRoss on 3/24/04 7:33pm
Jason C. and myself climbed and skied the North Face and the NE Couloir (North Face Ice Couloir in Beckey vol. 2) on monday and tuesday.
 Sunday morning we drove to Chelan for the 2 hour boat ride to Lucern.  We were planning on approaching Holden on foot and or skis as the bus was not running on Sundays yet.  But much to our delight we found the bus sitting by the dock, and a generous guy from Holden gave us a lift. Saving us 12 miles of grueling road travel.
 We left Holden and skinned up Copper Creek.  Made camp Sunday night in Upper Copper Meadows, with high expectations for what lay over Copper Creek Pass.
 Monday awoke to crystal clear skies, and quickly ascended to Copper Creek Pass.  This was the view that greeted us...The NE Face of Mt Maude rising spectacularly over Entiat Meadows.
http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=8344697
 
 We sat at the pass and soaked up some sun and views before skiing down into Entiat Meadows to make camp.  
 Emptying all but essential climbing and skiing gear from our packs we left camp just after 10am for the North Face.  We skinned up through the lower gullies, and up to ~7,400' where we strapped skis to the packs and donned crampons. Climbing was a breeze, punchy semi firm powder, with some nice small runnels which were nice and firm for climbing. We brought rope and pro but didn't use any of it. When the route turns left a little bit the snow got a bit deeper and made for some steep postholing up the final several hundred feet.
http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=8344698

Made the summit ~2:30, and were greeted by strong winds at the summit. And although the day had been crystal clear for the entire climb, some major clouds were blowing in from the west. A quick look around and we strapped into the skis and dropped in. Man was it sweet. Steep pow all the way down. Here's a shot of Jason skiing the North Face: http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=8344758

 We made it into camp just in time for it to start raining and retreated to the tent for a long evening.
On Tuesday we didn't really have a plan set for what we were going to do. We eventually decided on the NE Couloir on Maude.
 After another leisurely morning we left camp at 9:30. It was nice to have our skin track in from the day before, and after leaving the track and traversing below the NE face we were below the couloir.http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=8344759

 Pretty much the same story as the day before, although the the NE Couloir is a little steeper than the North Face, and the snow was a little punchier. Again crampons and axe were all that was needed.http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=8344879
On the summit strong winds again limited our stay, and what looked like a fairly decent storm system was looming to the west. The ski down the couloir was spectacular, a direct line all the way down the couloir, through the lower gullies and into camp....absolutely awesome. http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=8345004
Here's a shot of Jason a little farther down the couloir:
http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=8345047
 That night it began snowing and blowing hard, and in the morning continued to worsen, so we abandoned any hope of more climbing and skiing that day. We had initially planned on staying until Thursady, but bailed on Wednesday due to the weather.
 An interesting skin back up to Copper Creek Pass, and it was all easy, but wet cruising back down to Holden. Somehow, we had managed to make it to Holden just as the bus was being loaded for the 12 mile trip down to Lucern, and the Lady Express back to Chelan.
~Ross

Here's the link to the pics....sorry they're not in any kind of order.

Very nice!  Ross, it sure seems like your timing was absolutely perfect, both with your weather window and especially getting to skip 24 miles of slogging.  Amazing and inspiring!

Sweet!  Way to get after it!  Nice job.

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march-21-24-mount-maude-extravaganza
TeleRoss
2004-03-25 03:33:35