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Monte Crusto, 12-16

12/16/13
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Posted by alecapone on 12/17/13 2:27am
I heard whispers from skyko that a four wheeler was in the valley on the index galena, so I had to have a peek. Drove 2 to beckler river road, blasted through the plow bank, and was greeted by four jeepers, and a dog sled team gearing up. Crossing jack pass did not seem like it was happening.

Road was icy and slushy, but 4x4 with bald tires worked. I think a prius and chains could get it done.

Rolled up on 3 or 4 inches at the th, but only in the clearings. Pretty spotty in the trees. Put on the trail runners for the first 1,000', then skins from there on out. There was a good 3 feet of snow pack a virgin lake (4,600'). Trail to blanca was still slightly readable.

At blanca I wa sunsure of crossing. Looked well frozen, but I opted for crossing the log jam, and sticking to the shore. Eventually I ended up on the lake anyways after unsuccessfully trying to bash through with an ax in several spots. Minnisotians would drive a truck on this stuff.

From the lake on, snow was a mixture of breakable and nonbreakable crust, with occasional pockets of powder. And when I say pockets, I mean that little useless one levis puts inside your front right pocket.

My first idea was nixed due to obvious wind loading and recent slabbing on columbia. Idea two was a a no go, the west face of kyes was getting wind stripped... decided the most pleasant looking place was the kmc col. It looked like some nice snow was settling in on the south side of monte.

Fun climbing. I stayed on crust to the side of what I hoped would be decent snow for the down. Monte was constantly shedding it's icy face. The sound was like a wind chime made of crystal and china.

At the col, the wind was stout. Upper east slopes where getting actively loaded. While they loooked great, they also looked ready to pop. I worked my way left, up along the ridge to monte's east face.  The upper face was covered in thin water ice on rock, with much evidence on the ground of the ices terrible grip. I transitioned here.

From the col to the glacier, the riding was somewhat challenging, but also fun. 0 to 4 inches on a VERY solid base. Even a touch of ice marble. The fun part was that all the ice being shed was gathering in the gut of the run. Each turn sounding like it belong in the ice fall symphany from earlier.

Once on the colombia glacier, all the joy was sucked from the turns. First unbreakable, then the worst breakable crust you could imagine. Once again at the lake, I made a b-line across for the exit.

At the outlet it was cool to watch the sunset, alpine glow, and the moon rise over glacier.

Exit.... yuck.
Mr. Capone:

Can you give me a better idea of where you went? I'd love to know of another tour route! I'm familiar with the Monte Cristo Area, but not well enough to understand where you went.

Thanks for the report!

No problem, I think getting to the th is the crux. Blanca lake th.

Hwy2, to just east of skykomish. Turn left on beckler river rd.  Stay on this until jack pass.
At the pass 5 roads join. You want the one to the left that goes down hill. At the bottum you cross the north fork skykomish, and then take the first right turn (63)? 2 OR 3 more miles from here. Staying on the left road at any forks. 22 miles from hwy 2 in Total?

From the th, follow the summer trail(or close to it)for a stout 2.5 k. Then drop 600'(still trail) To blanca.

Pretty obvious from here. Cross (or go around) the lake and go up. Multiple routes and things to ski in the area, though most are fairly comitting. Columbia glacier is also largly created by avi's, so be aware.

Nice day out Scott! Did you have to navigate by headlamp at all? Just wondering...

Hey John,

Did you really ask this of scott... "Did you have to navigate by headlamp at all?"

Scott… Sounds like you had an adventure… I'd definitely love to join you next time.  Sorry I didn't have the time to devote to the epic, but I have to say Crystal BC dished out the goods for Ed and me  ;D

http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=30017.0

Not to rub it in… Just wanted to point out that there are two different kinds of adventure. 

author=lrudholm link=topic=30023.msg125806#msg125806 date=1387334670]
Hey John,

Did you really ask this of scott... "Did you have to navigate by headlamp at all?"


Good point.  It was in inside joke actually.


Heh.
Of course. I need all the handicap I can get.
I did take your back up for a back up john. Im kinda head lamp rich right now! Ill get it back to you some day soon... with fresh batteries even.

Cool sounding day Dan. Glad you found some goods to get into.

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2013-12-17 10:27:52