January 15-16, 2012, Nason Creek

Three of us headed up Nason Creek and spent the night on the backside of Heather Ridge. On Sunday we skinned through the cool little development below Heather, then up the valley next to the Lichtenshoulder, and on up Nason. Weather was bluebird until we set up camp, and then it snowed for the next day and a half. The first day we skied slopes near camp finding interesting stability up near the ridge - deep pow with some noticeable mid storm layers on top of a firm crust. Once we started getting 6 foot cracks, we decided to rip skins and head for the trees. Sunday night temps dropped to the teens and we all enjoyed some whiskey followed by 12 hours of sleep. Monday we skied more trees and also dropped over on to the Tye Lake side. The snow was even deeper, with forward progress possible only on steeper slopes. Lots of faceshots. The ski back to the car involved some downhill trail breaking but soon enough we were at the car, ready for our 3 hour drive down US2 with a 30 minute full-stop for an accident below the pass. Still totally worth it for some of the deepest skiing of the year so far!


Bluebird on the approach


Alex getting deep on the skinny sticks


Andrew gets into the powder


Last run, even deeper!