February 19, 2005, Tatoosh- Castle Peak Area

The north facing aspects in the trees are filled with nice powder.  The bowl below the Castle is sun and wind affected, and not well covered.  We traversed the ridge east from the Castle, and then skied off the south side.  Here the snow was settled and softened by the afternoon sun, and we enjoyed some nice turns.  We put the skins back on and headed up towards Boundary peak and then skied down into north facing, fairly steep gully/bowl.  Snow on the north side, above the tree line, was crusty with marginal coverage in places.  We traversed back over to the bowl below the Castle and skied down through the trees to the road.  Skiing here was fun and it capped off a sunny day in the mountains.