Feburary 13, 2010, Spiral Butte, White Pass WA
2/15/10
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2407
1
Two of us set out to ski Spiral Butte (east of the ski area on Highway 12) on Saturday morning. This mountain is worth a look see on Google earth or a topo if you are unfamiliar. It features a crazy spiralling valley from the summit north and around to the east. It is a cinder cone volcano that dates from the ice age. We crossed the inlet for dog lake, and climbed through the forest onto the west facing slope of Spiral Butte. the travel was slow and tedious due to chunky snow and downed trees that were not covered due to the poor snowpack. Conditions improved as we climbed higher, although there was a definate slab for the first 5-7 inches from the previous week's accumulation. We reached the top of the west ridge at 1:30 pm and decided against climbine the extra 150 feet or so to the summit because there was no view due to fog and snow, it was late, and we were not going to ski the steep south faces that you see from the highway due to the potential for slab avalanches.
We dropped into an open slope on the west side that had a relatively safe angle. We made a few nice open turns in snow that was a tad heavy but still really pretty good. We dropped into the Northwest slope through nicely spaced trees, but coverage became a problem and it prevented us from making nice turns through the woods. We ended up in the woods at the bottom of the Butte by some other smaller lakes around 3:30. Unfortunately we still had 4-5 miles to go to get back to the car. We became slightly disoriented in the dense forest with a lot of downed trees, multiple drainages, and relatively low visibility. After getting turned around a few times we followed a compass bearing and used altimeter readings to figure out where we were roughly.
As darkness set in, the snow turned to rain and the headlamps came out. One of our skins decided to give up on its glue and needed to be ducttaped on. We tested our resolve and plodded on, checking our bearing on a regular basis. We reached the car tired and wet but otherwise no worse for the wear around 7:30 pm.
I will not ski this route again, but I look forward to skiing on Spiral Butte again on the South and west faces.
We dropped into an open slope on the west side that had a relatively safe angle. We made a few nice open turns in snow that was a tad heavy but still really pretty good. We dropped into the Northwest slope through nicely spaced trees, but coverage became a problem and it prevented us from making nice turns through the woods. We ended up in the woods at the bottom of the Butte by some other smaller lakes around 3:30. Unfortunately we still had 4-5 miles to go to get back to the car. We became slightly disoriented in the dense forest with a lot of downed trees, multiple drainages, and relatively low visibility. After getting turned around a few times we followed a compass bearing and used altimeter readings to figure out where we were roughly.
As darkness set in, the snow turned to rain and the headlamps came out. One of our skins decided to give up on its glue and needed to be ducttaped on. We tested our resolve and plodded on, checking our bearing on a regular basis. We reached the car tired and wet but otherwise no worse for the wear around 7:30 pm.
I will not ski this route again, but I look forward to skiing on Spiral Butte again on the South and west faces.
Welcome to the group. Thanks for sharing your adventure to a new location for many of us.
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