Home > Trip Reports > April 28-30, 2004, Mounts Spickard and Rahm

April 28-30, 2004, Mounts Spickard and Rahm

4/28/04
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Posted by Lowell_Skoog on 4/30/04 10:49pm
On April 29, my brother Carl and I climbed and skied from the summits of Mt Spickard and Mt Rahm by the north glacier and SW couloir, respectively.  I won't have slides back for a while, so here are photos from a 1999 trip with another friend.  The left photo shows Mt Spickard from Silver Lake.  The right photo shows Mt Rahm, just left of center.



On Wednesday, April 28, we coaxed my car 1.9 miles up the Depot Creek road, where we were stopped by a washout, probably from last autumn's floods.  There were some big blow-downs over the trail near the border, and climbing the Depot Creek headwall was unpleasant due to thin snow over the talus and brush.  We camped when we reached upper Depot Basin.

On Thursday, we skied to Ouzel Lake and up to Silver Lake pass.  We descended to Silver Lake and packed our skis up the narrow SW couloir of Mt Rahm.  I left my skis at the base of the summit rocks, but Carl managed to ski up and down through the rocks on just a few inches of snow dumped by a thunderstorm on Tuesday.  We both skied down the narrow couloir back to the lake, with Carl starting from the actual summit.

We skinned up the north glacier of Mt Spickard, then carried our skis up the final slope to the NW shoulder and the summit.  We put on our skis at the summit and skied a 50-degree slope down to the bergshrund.  The snow was wind-affected powder, offering a good edge, but uneven footing.  Lower, the slopes became more gentle and we enjoyed a range of snow conditions, from dense powder to windboard to corn on the 4000-foot descent back to our camp in Depot Basin.  We hiked out Friday morning.

Help me get the record straight

People have been skiing on Mt Spickard for over twenty years.  However, every ski party I know of (including my 1999 party) has left their skis below the bergshrund and walked up and down the final steep slopes.  I don't know of previous ski descents from the true summit.

On Mt Rahm, I found a record of a May 14, 1992, ski of the north glacier by Lorne Stevens and Richard Suddas.  I don't know if there were earlier ski ascents than that and I don't know if anybody has skied the south side of the peak before.

If you know of earlier ski descents of these routes, let me know, either by posting here, sending me a private message, or e-mailing me through my history project website: http://alpenglow.org/ski-history/project/about-frame.html
Lowell: I forwarded the link to your TR to Kay Spickard in Gstaad, Switzerland - she or someone in her family might know.

Lowell, while you and Carl were going up the south side of the Chilliwack massif Steve Hindman and I were trying to ascend the north side from Maselpanik Creek.  Steve has already gone up there via Depot Creek (I'll forward your question to him) and he didn't want to do it again.  We had tried a few days earlier and were stopped by the sudden decomposition of Mike Lee's car's clutch.  This time we got just a little bit farther to find a big tree fallen over the road with attendant rocks and debris (There was a severe windstorm, tornado even in Sumas, the day before). We pulled out a hand pruning saw and took a few hours to cut the tree into 4 and roll the pieces out of the way.  Then we went up a little farther and were stopped by snow.  

Skis on (not continuously) we crossed the bridge and tried to ascend the east branch of the road. We were eventually stopped by impassible slide alder, grown up since the guidebook's publication.  We went back and tried the other side.  This went better (it still is probably impassible once the snow melts) but at times slowly.  By the next morning it was obvious we didn't have enough time left to do the job.

That said, the north wall of Custer Ridge including Mt. Rahm, Maselpanik Glacier, and  Custer Glacier provides one of the more spectacular views in the North Cascades and the ski routes look fantastic (This should be national park material, not a logging sacrifice zone as it appears to be).  I'm looking for another route.  Maselpanik Creek will not be good once the snow melts and the slide alder on both sides is released (which is about now).


Thanks for two great trip reports: one describes heroic skiing (50 degree slope above a bershrund), the other an equally heroic approach (two hours cutting a large deadfall with a small handsaw).  I hope there are photos forthcoming.

Matt Perkins and friends skied Mt Rahm from the north last spring. Here is his report from cc.com:

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/186306/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

Jos Van der Burg pointed out that the Paleface Creek Road, off from the Chilliwak Lake Road, usually offers a reasonable alternative for entrance to the Maselpanik area. Unfortunately, my road explorations last Wednesday found that the Paleface Creek Road is blocked by a rock slide at .7 miles.

Lowell, I saw your tracks on the Depot Creek Road, but my humble Toyota was turned back at .8 mi.  I wondered who was in there. Congrats on another one!

Thanks for the Paleface suggestion.  If that road is cleared it would be good. Maselpanik still would be useful early season, though too early and the Skagit road will still have snow on it.  Perhaps a snow machine makes sense for a trip in March (3 years ago it was plowed to about 10k from Maselpanik Cr).  The Galene Lakes trail from the top of Ross Lake might be useful.  Combine it with a Depot Creek approach and do a spectacular high level traverse. Also, a helicopter trip from Hope is legal and sensible.  I figure about $225 (US) a person each way.  3 people needed.

The Galene Lakes trail from the top of Ross Lake might be useful.  Combine it with a Depot Creek approach and do a spectacular high level traverse.


That could be a good one. John Dittli and Scott Croll skied that route in May 1991 "on patrol" as NCNP backcountry rangers. I have neglected to include that in my ski history chronology (John told me about it in an email) but your post reminded me. Thanks!

I got a note from Steve Hindman indicating that he skied from the summit of Mt Spickard in April of about 2001. Excellent! If anybody can push the date back farther, let me know...

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Lowell_Skoog
2004-05-01 05:49:50