Home > Trip Reports > April 4-5, 2015, Washington Pass environs

April 4-5, 2015, Washington Pass environs

4/4/15
WA Cascades East Slopes North
8107
12
Posted by radka on 4/6/15 12:30pm
What an awesome weekend at Washington Pass! Definitely the best skiing we have done this season.

Saturday

We had never done the Birthday tour so we needed to check it out. We never thought we would be doing the Birthday tour almost on Chris' birthday at the beginning of April.

We and several dozens of our best friends shared this fine day on the slopes leading to the Blue Pk Col and beyond. There were 1-2" of powder sitting on top of firm crust and ski crampons were very useful. We kept looking at the slopes across the highway that looked so nice, yet we never heard of anybody skiing there. Hm, why is that?



The cornice was looming large at the col:



Skiing on the other side was fantastic - smooth, creamy, soft, just super fun turns.





We decided to check out Copper Mountain:



Some booting required:



Really fun skiing down:



Exiting down to the Hairpin turn had some nice powder higher before we hit icy, chunky terrain below.

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Thanks to the splitboarders who gave Chris a ride back to the Blue Lake TH!

Sunday

Lazy bird catches the corn! After a leisurely start, we decided to check out those nice looking slopes around Cutthroat Peak. There sure must be a catch - these slopes look so good and are so obvious, if it was really that easy, everybody would be skiing here, right?

We waited for the "catch" to happen but it never materialized. Instead, we found ourselves going up beautiful, open basins with amazing ski potential. We were psyched!

Now I know why this peak is called Cutthroat! Because if you tell anybody how good the skiing is there, you will be dead  ;D



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http://radkaandchris.smugmug.com/Skiing/2015/Washington-Pass-April-4-5/i-5bMFVkb/0/XL/RAD_0354-Edit-XL.jpg" />

It was so good, we had to go back up for another run:









Ok, Winter, you may have just redeemed yourself.

Nice shots, spot, and turns!  We saw your tracks from the summit of Whistler Mountain, also puzzlingly devoid of humans.

Excellent. Always love your photos, Radka.

author=radka link=topic=34064.msg140605#msg140605 date=1428377410]
.. Definitely the best skiing we have done this season.


I thought you'd say the skiing on Wilson Gl or Mastiff was hard to beat  ;D

Awesome pics!  The north side of the highway is reserved for Methow locals only.  Didn't you see the signs?


Great photos! Took long enough for the snow gods to deliver.

Totally polished pics. Wicked~!

Thank you all for your kind comments!

hedonaut - we looked at Whistler and it looked interesting. How did you go up it? We are intrigued.

Kenji - ugh, I am still recovering from Post Traumatic Crust Disorder and the Ski-with-no-binding disorder.

Good2Go - We have the Good to Go Pass - is that going to work for skiing the N side of the Hwy?  ;) I am curious what other gems are on that side.

Looks like a nice kicker in the last photo of yours. Did you hit it?

No way, we like our knees! One set of screws in the knee is plenty  ;)

Nice pics! We call it the "Hall of the Mountain King" for all the big rocks the king has thrown down from Cutthroat.  (I doubt the king is really trying to keep it locals only, but watch out!)  That was us through it before you two.  It is good and solid over there this year, often deep mush or crust on a normal year.  Now back in December...........

"Now I know why this peak is called Cutthroat! Because if you tell anybody how good the skiing is there, you will be dead "

;D  ;D  ;D

I'm still jumpy... worried that someone might cut my throat after my last TR in this area!

HWY 20... I'm coming.

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april-4-5-2015-washington-pass-environs
radka
2015-04-06 19:30:10