December 31, 2012, Snoqualmie, Kaleetan Peak

Ryan and I celebrated the last day of 2012 by skiing Kaleetan peak.  We approached from Melakwa basin, up the gully and then ridge lookers left of the deeper, more obvious couloir heading up to the north-trending slopes that lead to the summit of Kaleetan.  A nasty sun-crust and some exposed rocks made the ski from the summit undesirable, so we descended on skis approximately 100 feet below the summit.  South aspects suffered from a terrible melt-freeze crust and made for challenging skiing, but sheltered east through north aspects held some cold, fun powder.  We noted isolated wind slab on steep (40+ degree) east through north facing slopes within the top foot of the pack.  Winds were minimal this day, and the inversion prevailed.