Home > Trip Reports > May 12, 2012, Lundin Peak North Face descent

May 12, 2012, Lundin Peak North Face descent

5/12/12
WA Snoqualmie Pass
14492
17
Posted by Martin Volken on 5/14/12 4:27am
On May 12, Dave Jordan and I decided to go for an early morning tour up Lundin Peak. I had been thinking about skiing the North Face of Lundin for a while. I thought we might be a little late for it, but as it turned out, it was a perfect day. The Commonwealth Basin is still in great shape (at least a couple of days ago at 7am it was). We cramponed up the couloir to the summit saddle and climbed the easy, but exposed rock steps to the summit. This got us to the summit at around nine am and as it turns out, the North Face was not ready yet. Frozen hard.
We spent some time on the summit, and let things soften up for a little bit, while we checked conditions out a bit closer.
(Funny how quiet it gets generally during that phase before steep skiing descents, when everybody is really busy considering that this is really a stupid idea...)
Anyway, we were a bit concerned about the opposite problem on the south side of the mountain for our return trip (especially given the temperature forecast), so we tried to walk a fine line between a little too firm on the North Face descent and hopefully not too rotten yet once back on the south side.
The descent right of the top certainly got our attention. Definitively a "no errors allowed" zone. So we made those committing turns down the main face trending lightly left until the terrain eased up about 1000 below the summit. I would consider this descent short but serious due to the steepness of the terrain along with the fact that the face has a set of cliffs on the bottom.
All in all it was a great skimountaineering adventure where you actually used all the stuff you had in your pack; harness, crampons, rope etc. To top it off, upon our return back up on the crest just to the east of the East Summit of Snoqualmie Mountain, the south slopes were ready for us with silky corn all the way down to the forest. It was about 10:30am at that time.
Awesome day.

Nice - looks spicy!  (got my answer without even having asked the question...)  Rob and I have been eying that line... 

North/South is definitely a balancing act this time of year.  How far down did you ski on the North?

author=cumulus link=topic=24785.msg104700#msg104700 date=1337025957]
Nice - looks spicy!  (got my answer without even having asked the question...)  Rob and I have been eying that line... 

North/South is definitely a balancing act this time of year.  How far down did you ski on the North?

We skied down to that rib and then went back up to the Snoqualmie area. btw. there is still a ton of good snow to be had there right now.

Thank you for this inspiring trip report!  Impressive that it can be skied!

burly !  another beautiful descent.  thank you for continuing to inspire !

author=Martin Volken link=topic=24785.msg104696#msg104696 date=1337023669]

(Funny how quiet it gets generally during that phase before steep skiing descents, when everybody is really busy considering that this is really a stupid idea...)


:)
Sometime it does not even have to be steep...

author=Oyvind_Henningsen link=topic=24785.msg104705#msg104705 date=1337032426]
burly !  another beautiful descent.  thank you for continuing to inspire !
author=runningclouds link=topic=24785.msg104712#msg104712 date=1337038528]
:)
Sometime it does not even have to be steep...


You mean like the light drizzle in the parking lot...?

Nice work Martin, I have now added this to my local list of targets..

I didn't even know that mountain had a north face.


Great ski. I skied the main colouir on the S side back in early Feb. Agree that I had never heard of good skiing on the N side. Added to the list here as well.

Would it be fun on skate skis?

This whole TR reeks of Ruby Mountain-esque exposure. Martin, STOP SHOWING US THE GOODS!!!!

Beautiful line, great place. All the better that it's been right under our noses for so long. You should be a guide. Maybe even write a book.


sounds like the new slot.  expect moguls come february  ;)

Martin, Thanks for sharing!

author=ryanl link=topic=24785.msg104800#msg104800 date=1337184290]
This whole TR reeks of Ruby Mountain-esque exposure. Martin, STOP SHOWING US THE GOODS!!!!

Beautiful line, great place. All the better that it's been right under our noses for so long. You should be a guide. Maybe even write a book.



Snoqualmie Pass truly does stay good for an adventure. Uhm,, don't skate ski it (jk), and no - I don't expect moguls there...

Good one!

Thanks for sharing!

Gives me a tight stomach just reading the report and looking at the picture.

Very happy you didn't take us into scenes like the second photo when I took your intro to ski touring course back in the day.

Great to see your post here Martin. Thanks.

PS, I saw Ben H. sledding on N. 71st and Dayton this past winter. He was smiling and going for it like a kid in paradise.

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may-12-2012-lundin-peak-north-face-descent
Martin Volken
2012-05-14 11:27:49