February 20, 2005, Heather Ridge

Went for a short tour up to Skyline Ridge today with Hayes and Ryan.  We weren't altogether sure what we would find for snow.  But seeing as Stevens just reopened, chances seemed good we'd get at least a few turns.  We skinned up the road and across Skyline Lake to the saddle north of the lake.  Snow cover on the south facing slope that the road climbs was minimal and melting in the sun, maybe up to a foot with a lot of bushes showing.  Given the current weather forecast, it will probably be bare by next weekend.  

We skiied down into the bowl to the north and found generally soft unconsolidated snow in the trees and in north to northeast facing open areas.  We stopped our descent after about 500 feet because the snowpack seemed too shallow to commit to the trees lower down - lots of saplings.  Coverage in the top 500 feet was quite good, though, with only a few large boulders showing.  We skinned up a wide gully to the northwest and continued to the top of Peak 5472 (my altimeter was apparently miscalibrated at this point).  The run back down the south ridge of this peak was enjoyable on a mix of shaded powder and sun-softened crust (not bad with my new 114mm wide ski tips!).  Here is a picture of Hayes showing both the shaded powder (skiier's right) and the sun-softened crust.



We continued back down our ascent path where I dug a hasty pit with my hand on a 30+ degree northeast aspect at about 5000 feet.  There was about 16 inches of relatively unconsolidated sugary snow overlying a rough crust.  It took several whacks with my pole to get the snow to move, and even then it was not cohesive.  There was probably some buried hoar frost on the crust, but the overall stability and lack of slab formation was such that I didn't spend too much time examining this.  The bond to the crust was good enough to inspire a sense of security for the remaining 300 feet of our descent.  

We skinned back up for lunch in the sun with a spectacular 360 degree view of Daniel, Glacier, Stuart, etc - plenty of snow out there but not as easy access as Heather Ridge.  After another fun run down a steep tree-sheltered east aspect into the same bowl, we skinned back up toward Skyline Lake and headed for home.  Overall a very satisfying day (2000 feet or so of good turns in soft, unconsolidated powder plus a harrowing ride back down the boot-backed road to the parking lot) considering the general lack of snow and the fact we had to be back to Seattle by 5pm.