Home > Trip Reports > feb 23, 2013, Smithbrook

feb 23, 2013, Smithbrook

2/23/13
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Posted by Rowan Stewart on 2/24/13 4:26am
After braving the traffic of highway 2, we finally got over the pass and to the pull off for smithbrook road. We were skinning by 9:20, Just five and a half hours into the day for us Vashon Islanders. It was the first time going in smithbrook for all four of us, and the bottomless snow on either side of the trench of a skintrack put us in a giddy state of wonder for the trip up the road.



I think this picture speaks for itself; pillows!

We followed a fresh skintrack for a few hundred vertical feet. "Maybe we won't have to break trail today..." That luxury was short lived. We caught up with the party above us, who were heading the opposite direction. Now the wallowing started. Breaking trail through 2 feet or fresh snow made for slow going.

I was sinking to my knees with every step, but the stoke was high, and the terrain just kept getting better. We were caught up by a dog and his skier, who had abandoned the  long lift lines in the pass. The dog and he were nice enough to offer routefinding advice and break trail for a while.
On the way up we had be bragging that the words too deep were not in our vocabulary. The ensuing skiing would test that .The riding was a dream - turns were bouncy, and the little pillow features were a joy. The snow was so deep it left us wanting for some steeper terrain, but low angle trees alleviated all stability concerns, and let us indulge our powder lust without worry. After one long run of whooping and laughing, we went back up for another. Repeat bottomless turns, laughing and whooping.
The temperature started to rise towards the end of the day, and trees began to shed their snow, releasing small slides and sluff. It was a great day out in the snowy wonderland with good friends.

videos:
https://vimeo.com/60394703
https://vimeo.com/60422273
Great day, and we appreciated the skin track immensely :). We were the two guys that caught up to your group then stopped below the ridge and did three sweet laps. The larger open areas has an easily found crust and also sluffed easily. Trees were where is was at. Fun zone.

Awesome day at Smithbrook.  Great pillows, we are also grateful for the skin track that was laid.  We winter camped in the area, and skied the trees below Lichtenberg Lake.  The pillows were awesome!

wow.. five and a half hours? talk about an approach!

Nice effort in the deep snow. love the pillow lines in that area. 

Well written man! (this is jack fyi) It was definitely a great trip and i was excited to ski that new area(for me) with some good friends. Turns were amazing and the stoke was high throughout the trip. Nice seeing all you other gentlemen on the trail! Glad you all had a good day too!

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10742
feb-23-2013-smithbrook
Rowan Stewart
2013-02-24 12:26:48