Home > Trip Reports > April 29, 2014, Copper Basin from Holden Village

April 29, 2014, Copper Basin from Holden Village

4/29/14
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Posted by Skinorthstar on 5/4/14 6:11am
After working at Holden Village for almost two years, I thought I could post some info. Last week it was announced that access to the south side of railroad creek would end on April 30th so after work last Tuesday I headed up to Copper Basin via the Diversion Damn road.

I skied to the back of the lower basin and up the Copper Peak side of the water fall, skinning up the ramps toward tree line at a little over 6000 ft. Made it to tree line by 5:30 PM. After a long break in the evening light, I made a slow decent, savoring my last trip to the area for the season. Snow conditions up high yielded cold corn for fun turns. It helped that those slopes had been sun free for a number of hours. Below 5000 ft the snow turned to mush, but I was able to ski all the way to the old mine mill buildings at 3300 ft before walking ten minutes back into the Village.

A note on Mine Remediation: Due to the federally mandated mine clean up, the south side of Railroad Creek is off limits as of May 1st. Transportation from Lake Chelan and Holden will also be limited to Saturdays and Sundays this summer. Sorry about the inconvenience, its also disappointing for all who work and visit Holden. However, it was good to see two groups of skiers head for the Glacier Peak wilderness this week taking advantage of the last week of daily bus service.

Photos: 1.Copper Peak from near tree line 2. Martin Ridge and Riddle Peaks with the Mine Tailings below 3. Halfway down

Gotta love those ski track selfies!

Thank you for the news from Holden.  We've been there many times, and it has to be one of the friendliest  most charming places on earth!  And, I've never skied there, so next year for sure (mine clean up  willing, I guess).  Where else do you ski out of there as a day trip? Northstar seems like a pretty long day.

Thanks for the update and photos. It has been a few years since Jill and I skied the Copper Peak area. Nice folks. ;)

Northstar is a a long day. I have only done it with a night out (more skiing), but I know folks who have done it in a day from the village.

This past winter I mostly stayed close to the village, Copper Basin and some glades on Martin Ridge. There are not many skiers so I am often alone. However the operations manager/medic couple are always up for a good tour if they can get away. Upper Big creek, Hart Lake, Holden Lake, etc. In the spring, Upper Lyman, Cloudy Pass areas.

Two winters ago there was a couple of folks in the village with a lot of alpine skiing experience. As someone who grew up on 3 pin xcd gear, they pushed me a lot as telemark skier. This past winter I had a few groups of friends visit. Highlights included laps on Buckskin to tree line and up to Holden Pass with one of my former college profs.

You got me inspired to take a look at the map.  There is so much good skiing within striking distance with Holden as your base.  One time we went up Tenmile Creek (abandoned trail easy to follow) to Tenmile Pass and down into Fourth of July Basin then over to Flora.  The top of Flora was melted out, but it would have been great.  Skied pk 7734 SW of Flora.  Highly recommended!

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Skinorthstar
2014-05-04 13:11:22