February 4, 2012, Alta Mountain, West Couloir Gnar

As two basketball sized rocks rocketed through the choke where I was about to begin the second rappel; a rappel which Matt had just decreed was too far for our ropes, the sun was setting on the Snoqualmie peaks, sealing the fate of an artificially lit slog out the gold creek drainage and a ruined set of dinner plans with my father visiting from out of town.  Perhaps, I thought to myself, this wasn€™t such a good idea.

Matt Henry and I opted to start our day early, meeting at 4am in North Bend.  After some shenanigans around the snow park situation we left the car on foot from Hyak a little before 5.  We made good time through the roads and woods leading to Rocky Run and the climb to Lake Lillian.  The climb through the forest up to Lake Lillian was steep but short with good traction.  From Lillian we climbed to the low saddle above the lake and made our way to the moonlands above Rampart Lakes.  All the while the wind howled. 

We broke for lunch around 10:30 after a quick ski down to Rampart lakes and decided that despite the hammering wind, we€™d at least start on our way up the south ridge of Alta and see how far Mother Nature would allow us to go.  Gradually and fortunately, although the wind did not subside on the ridge (quite the opposite), the snow continued to become more stable due to both the warming from the sun and the wind slabs becoming supportable crust.

The summit ridge afforded some gymnastic climbing through wind fins and alpine trees, but eventually yielded a quick bootpack and an extremely aesthetic summit.  Much to our unexpected pleasure, the wind mellowed at this point, and the entrance to the West Couloir provided a safe and well protected route on the skier€™s right side. 

Time was no longer on our side.  The wind had dampened our enthusiasm and slowed our pace immensely at a number of points in the ascent.  On the other hand, conditions had improved and the parts of the West Couloir that we could see looked manageable and even pleasant.  After some vacillating between the conservative but disappointing prospect of retracing our ascent and the exciting, time-consuming unknown of dropping into the couloir, we opted for the latter. 

The upper reaches of the couloir are major features which turn two or three corners.  The snow varied from carvable sun effected soft snow to stable protected powder.  The descent was aesthetic, big and enjoyable.  And then it choked.

The first rappel was over a 20€™ ice bulge.  The kind of thing that could be managed in the air in a pinch except for what followed; a 90€™ waterfall of vertical ice.  We used a piton and a small nut to protect the first rap.  Matt constructed a pair of v-threads for the second rap and slid to the edge of the cliff.  We brought 60 meters of rope.  If you have any intent of visiting this route any time soon, we€™d strongly recommend 70.  That last 15 feet was...exciting.

Getting skis back on the ground and getting out of the center of a giant garbage chute were both gratifying experiences.  The lower reaches of the couloir had two more constrictions that offered technical challenges, but were managed by working fins and ridges on the edges of the chute.  The snow remained quite good all the way to Gold creek. 

At the creek we transitioned to skins, refilled our bottles, donned our headlamps and prepared mentally for the long slog back to Hyak.  At the time I was a bit overwhelmed.  The crux of the descent had been a gripping experience to say the least.  But as we skied out in the dark, the scale, beauty and challenge of the day created a genuine sense of accomplishment.  Maybe it wasn€™t such a bad idea after all. 

By the way, whoever made the skin track all the way out of Gold Creek before last Saturday evening, your next beer is on me.