June 8, 2014, Vesper Peak

We had a surprisingly pleasant climb and ski of Vesper.  Just under an hour of walking through very summery forest and meadows took us to a north-facing bowl with shallow slush on summer snow.  Atop the bowl we booted up to Headlee Pass - this was the only steep section, and it was pretty trivial without ice axes and crampons.  From there, a sun-baked skin took us quickly to the summit. 
Quite a few parties out there, mostly hikers.  Apparently a solo hiker claimed to have seen a huge avalanche 2/4 of the way to the summit at 8am, feeling the vibrations on the next slope and watching trees fall.  Maybe a glide crack failed?  In any case, we saw no evidence of any recent slides bigger than a small slough - can anyone else confirm or deny this odd sighting?
The ski down was entirely pleasant, enough so that we took a second lap on the upper slopes.  East faces got a little deep and gloppy, but north faces held enjoyable shallow slush over hardpack, definitely carveable (though uneven surfaces made jump turns the preferred option for much of the descent). 
Bottom line - it turns out skiing is fun.  Though we'll see how I feel about that once the sun cups really start to emerge. 
Vesper should be good for a little while yet.  The top of Headlee Pass is starting to melt out, with a little mud scrambling.  It'll be tricky in a week, but not undoable.