July 1, 2012, - ONP - Klahhane Ridge
7/1/12
WA Olympics
2281
1
Jeff and I headed up the Hurricane Ridge road last Sunday morning in a misty fog. We shared the road with about 100 Canadian cyclists who had made the trek over from Victoria to celebrate Canada day by riding to the Ridge. We werent sure if the moisture dripping off their chins was sweat or rain drops. In any event most of them didnt look like they were having much fun. Having been there myself, I couldnt blame them¦¦¦¦¦¦¦. :'( A quick check of the Ridge web cam before we left town promised sunny skies at higher elevation, so we remained optimistic. Shortly before arriving at the Switchback Trailhead we broke out of the clouds into the sunshine. 8)
The goal for the day was to ski a north facing line off of Klahhane Ridge we had climbed a few weeks ago. The hike to the top of the top of the ridge was on the mostly melted out Switchback Trail. Hard to believe just 3 weeks ago there was a continuous ski line down to the car.
We transitioned and skied the first mellow section referred to by local skiers as the Sugar Bowl for the good snow it consistently holds in the spring. Our exit from this was a steep narrow ramp which opened up into a wider gulley. I took off my skies at the top of the ramp and scrambled down through the adjacent rock band. After confirming the snow was continuous we skied the ramp and the gulley. At the bottom of the gulley we traversed right to the top of the next steep section. This was considerably wider and opened up into the broad ramp leading to the valley floor. The entire run was smooth, consistent edgable corn. Snow conditions and coverage for this time of year is as good as we have experienced. :D
We booted back to Victor pass, very satisfied with our day. On the way back down the trail we ran into Runcle headed up to enjoy some afternoon turns. Hope you had as much fun as we did! :D
Here are a few pictures
1. The line we skied (Photo taken in late July, 2011)
2. Jeff in the upper gulley
3. Gary skiing the lower steep section
Here is a link to a few more: https://picasaweb.google.com/GaryJanH/20120701KlahhaneRidgeASweetLine#
Gary
The goal for the day was to ski a north facing line off of Klahhane Ridge we had climbed a few weeks ago. The hike to the top of the top of the ridge was on the mostly melted out Switchback Trail. Hard to believe just 3 weeks ago there was a continuous ski line down to the car.
We transitioned and skied the first mellow section referred to by local skiers as the Sugar Bowl for the good snow it consistently holds in the spring. Our exit from this was a steep narrow ramp which opened up into a wider gulley. I took off my skies at the top of the ramp and scrambled down through the adjacent rock band. After confirming the snow was continuous we skied the ramp and the gulley. At the bottom of the gulley we traversed right to the top of the next steep section. This was considerably wider and opened up into the broad ramp leading to the valley floor. The entire run was smooth, consistent edgable corn. Snow conditions and coverage for this time of year is as good as we have experienced. :D
We booted back to Victor pass, very satisfied with our day. On the way back down the trail we ran into Runcle headed up to enjoy some afternoon turns. Hope you had as much fun as we did! :D
Here are a few pictures
1. The line we skied (Photo taken in late July, 2011)
2. Jeff in the upper gulley
3. Gary skiing the lower steep section
Here is a link to a few more: https://picasaweb.google.com/GaryJanH/20120701KlahhaneRidgeASweetLine#
Gary
Nice route!
Sure was nice to break out above the cloud cover!
Sure was nice to break out above the cloud cover!
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