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Feb 26 - Enchantments traverse

2/26/16
WA Cascades East Slopes Central
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Posted by ErikT on 2/27/16 3:08pm
Took some faith in the nwac positive outlook for saturday weather - ethan and i skiied in snow lake, out colchuck. I'll add more notes and photos later. Great scenery, not best snow.

Skinnable from car. Followed trail 90% of time. Every kind of windboard you'd imagine in basin. Asgard was firm up high, 1" wind slab that moved without consequence at mid height, and creamy snow with a bit of a trap, or it could have been my legs fatigue down low. Cream cheese in trees below colchuck was fairly manageable.
Nice work. I've done several one day hike/runs thru but never a ski. Pretty committing. I've always wondered about Avalanche debris in those steep chutes coming off Wedge Mountain/Ridge. So many broken/transported trees... The basin must have been gorgeous. Can't wait to see the pictures.

Not a whole lot more to add to the conditions report, actually. Here is some eye candy:

Clear skies from the TH:


Working our way up the drainage:


Ethan skinning across the lake that is Nada Lake:


First glimpses of the alpine from Snow Lake... effort beginning to pay off:


Creek crossings were cruiser, being on trail and all:


Snow Lake


The goods!


Prussik - granite looked warm (probably just an illusion)


Sunshine for most of the day...


Ethan working up from Inspiration


Little Annapurna


Oh yeah, we made a few turns. they were exhilarating...

thanks for the report. any snaps of dragontail NF?

Best shot probably here:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153390737530770&set=a.471360550769.256922.667745769&type=3&theater&notif_t=mentions_comment

You know this isn't cascade climbers though, eh? That thing looks scary.

Nicely done - it's on my list

Fabulous photographs & a stout effort.

Forgot to ask - what was your time?

Car to car was just under 12 hours - I was dragging most of the way through the basin after the climb up, but especially with more consolidated snow, it would be a few hours better I would think. While we were able to skin to and ski back down to Icicle Creek, which was nice, I think hitting it just a little later would have provided better travel / ski conditions.

Erik covered most of it, but I thought I'd throw a link to the blahg, with a few more details and my own set of photos:

https://beyondtheranges.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/skiing-across-the-enchantments/

Reply to this TR

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feb-26-enchantments-traverse
ErikT
2016-02-27 23:08:00