March 17, 2002, Mt. Catherine, Snoqualmie Pass

We were blessed by the "Snow Gods" once again with lots of new snow and fantastic weather conditions!! Arrived at Hyak to 26 degrees, one to two feet of freshies, and conditions forecast for afternoon clearing. Took advantage of the two for one lift ride, skied off the backside and down the Nordic track to the cut off for our tour. Lucky for us that Robie and his gang had been there on Saturday and laid in a nice-up track to Nordic Pass where they continued on to Windy Pass, and towards Silver Basin. Fortunately for Ron and I, we were able to make our way up the south side ridge to the summit of Catherine in record time, where a great up-track had been laid in the day before by some unknown skiers (was it Phil and partner? Might have been. If so, Thanks, Phil!). Good snow stability ; only kicked loose one small slough even though we cut a couple of rolls that were pushing 50 degrees. Got lots of fresh tracks, some good powder face shots, and great tree skiing. Check out the pics here. Temps remained constant throughout the day, with only slight melt/freeze in the sun exposed areas. Caught up again with the Nordic track road and skied/skinned back to Hyak (tried out the kicker skins, which worked very well on the flats).

Jeanette Morrison