Home > Trip Reports > March 22, 2005, Big Kangaroo Ride (WaPass)

March 22, 2005, Big Kangaroo Ride (WaPass)

3/22/05
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Posted by skykilo on 3/22/05 7:29am
My friend Dr. Brown wanted some alpine adventure.  I intended to work all week, but with Tuesday's excellent forecast and the prospect of being sent into a long exile within the next couple of weeks, the prudent thing to do was take the good doctor's advice.  He suggested that we head to Washington Pass and left the choice of our precise destination with me.

We left Seattle shortly before daylight arrived.  I had red Fred but my decision was pretty much made.  Last Friday Dave Coleman and I saw some very interesting gullies off Kangaroo Ridge from south of the Liberty Bell group.  The doctor and I stopped in Darrington for caffeine and gasoline, discussing the interesting local features: White Horse, Mt Pugh, Whitechuck, Three Fingers et al.  Clear skies promised a beautiful day.

Much sightseeing, facility visiting, and small talk put us below the hairpin on Highway 20 around half past eight.  It was cold, and there were plenty clouds and snow flurries, but it looked like the weather would break.  We skinned up the road to the hairpin and crossed Early Winters Creek.  There was a skin track from the Birthday Tour.  I left it right away, thinking, 'I didn't come here to follow old tracks.'  I climbed through the forest, hoping we would emerge in the right mini-drainage.  I didn't have a map, but I had a good idea where I wanted to be.

After a few hundred vertical feet in the forest the trees dispersed.  There was a creek on the left, but it didn't look like good traveling there.  One of the aforementioned gullies of interest rose from the head of the creek.  Not too far above us to our right there was a conspicuous clearing.  Above the clearing stretched another gully, into great heights between craggy summits.  We chose the clearing.

It was wonderful to set a skin track through the clearing toward the craggy peaks.  Since the clearing was an obvious avalanche path runout, now seems like a good time for a word about snow conditions.  We generally found six inches to a foot of powder over a very solid, old crust.  In the bottom of the valley there had been a mild sun crust, but already where we were there was no trace of sun crust.  Nor was there any evidence of wind.  Given the moderate amounts of new snow and its pristine condition, we proceeded with caution.

A thousand feet higher on the skin track to heaven, evidence of wind became apparent.  The west-facing gully was wind-loaded in spots on the climber's right side.  I guess prevailing winds have been from the south.  At any rate I kept my kick turns more to the climber's left.  In a narrow spot where the wind deposit couldn't be avoided we traveled one at a time between safe zones.

The last several hundred feet to the top featured more prevalent wind deposits.  We put our skis on our backs and booted up a rock rib to get to the notch.  Oh yes, the notch!  The notch was approximately 8,100' in elevation, just to the south of Big Kangaroo.  Silver Star, Mt Goode, and a bunch of other big peaks impressed.

I began the descent on 40 degree-ish slopes.  I sidestepped down the rib for a bit and stomped little bits of windslab off it with my skis.  When I got to a good place to traverse to skier's right (the less loaded side), I traversed all the way across, noted no problems, and made a few turns.  It was an awfully soft windslab.  Honestly it felt more like powder on my TMX's.  I stopped below the shelter of a rock and gave the signal to the doctor.

Soon we were in Neverland, enjoying a few thousand feet of low density fluff.  No more windslab worries, just a couple dozen turns  at a time on 35+/- degree powder.  We were able to ski the creek we avoided on the climb to within a couple hundred yards of the car.  What is three thousand feet of powder directly to and from the car?  

That's just what the doctor ordered.
Nice.  I was just admiring those gullies the other day, wondering if they really held enough snow for skiing; they looked a bit bare along the ridge. I've only been up there once but there seem to be at least two notches from which you can ski east into the Cedar Creek drainage, where I'd expect pretty good snow, sheltered from wind and sun.

The thing that always gives me pause in that area is the faceting wherever the snowcover is thin along ridges and ribs.  The combination of softslab and facets gives me the willies, although I've had no real trouble in my limited time up there. Sounds like you took it cautiously until out of that section.    

I just love it when a plan comes together.
For me, as often as not, the plan turns into a torturous bushwack of proportions.  Way to pull one off for the regular bc crowd.
Nice TR, too.

Larry Goldie was nice enough to give me permission to use this photo I pirated off of the North Cascades Mountain Guides website until I get my slides, so here's a photo:



That gully definitely showed signs of being a generally scary place avy-wise, Mark.  But, you know, I just had to have a look...


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skykilo
2005-03-22 15:29:13