June 11, 2014, Magic-S Loop, NCNP

A midweek day of high pressure called us to the end of the Cascade River Road on Tuesday night for 5:30a departure on 6/11/14. The snow pack froze hard overnight under clear skies & moderate E winds, providing fast & firm travel up/around Mix-up arm (caution: two deep, tubular runnels on mid traverse) and over Cache col through Fiat-sized, fresh cornice debris. Sun-softened corn goodness to Kool-Aid Lake was followed by another firm climb to Art€™s col by 11am. Here the view explodes with the huge view of Spider Mtn and silky skiing into upper W Fork Flat Ck. The full drop into the upper cirque tempted (worth an overnight tour on its own?) but we continued around the S flank of Hurry-up to crampon up the somewhat obvious €œPlan B€ couloir leading to the upper S Glacier shoulder and the true summit by ~1pm.

Hmm€¦ where to drop into the upper S glacier without prior scoping? This is the main event, and conditions were/are nearly ideal considering all variables. We descended a line slightly R of center, finding slightly over-ripe corn that slid easily w/ significant speed and volume by ski cutting. The glacier skied well with some minor 'schrund, crevasse and slab dodging to the ~5600€™ buttress toe. After careful viewing from the bottom, the ideal (current) line would likely descend hard right after descending the middle glacier, leading to a left-trending ramp (thus avoiding broken ice features) to the cirque floor. Here we had an enjoyable skin to the Yawning-Pelton col under the looming E flank of Magic Mtn.

Thanks to its northerly aspect, the Yawning Glacier yielded quality but locally dirty corn to Pelton Basin, even at the late hour of 3:30p. We watched a few folks descend Sahale Arm into Doubtful Lk, then shuffled back up to Cascade Pass and skied the smooth headwall (going fast; avoid waterfall areas to L) back to the road end by ~5p. We used the switchback exit (~200€™ lower than the parking lot) to avoid alder tramping now at TH elevation.

The Magic-S Loop had been on my list for a long time, thanks in part to earlier travelers (Lowell, Sky, JasonH, RyanL et al) & their generous TRs (see CC, TAY). We got lucky to find it in fine condition on almost all aspects. This adventure is wonderfully scenic and uniquely challenging given its alpine exposure, multiple transitions, travel distance and healthy vertical. We had the benefit of E winds & high clouds late in the day, which kept snow softening to a minimum. Crampons are a must, start early, and beware the lower S glacier disintegration. Feel the stoke!