May 8, 2016, Unicorn Peak, Winds aloft
5/8/16
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Super fun day out in the Tatoosh. Diana and I set our eyes on Unicorn, but between a late start and high winds we turned around and simply enjoyed the ski out from the basin NW of the peak.
Plenty of slushy snow down low and wet corn higher up. You can already start to see some of the scree fields from the snowpack melting out. Your choice if you wait for the road to open in a few weeks or take the 3 mile road walk for some nice turns.
More pictures at http://photos.mattkurjanowicz.com/Events/2016-05-09-Unicorn-Peak-Ski-Tour/
Plenty of slushy snow down low and wet corn higher up. You can already start to see some of the scree fields from the snowpack melting out. Your choice if you wait for the road to open in a few weeks or take the 3 mile road walk for some nice turns.
More pictures at http://photos.mattkurjanowicz.com/Events/2016-05-09-Unicorn-Peak-Ski-Tour/
Great report on a fun tour.
In years past that road would be opened to Snow/bench lake before the whole Stevens canyon road.
In years past that road would be opened to Snow/bench lake before the whole Stevens canyon road.
Thanks for the report - we've never skied there but were thinking of trying it out later this week. Did the chute above snow lake require crampons/ice axe for the ascent?
The chute was very easy traveling in boots. We were there around 1:30pm, so it was easy for kick steps. I felt comfortable without an ice axe, but if the snow was harder or if more rocks melted out I could see an ice axe adding a comfort factor.
I dunno, as with all things it's up to you I guess :)
Oh, I wouldn't follow our skin tracks out of the gate. Don't ascend unnecessarily getting to bench lake - stay further climbers left.
I dunno, as with all things it's up to you I guess :)
Oh, I wouldn't follow our skin tracks out of the gate. Don't ascend unnecessarily getting to bench lake - stay further climbers left.
Thanks for the reply - we're looking forward to checking it out!
The Stevens canyon road is now open to the drainage below unicorn peak, and snow coverage is great from the road. We ended up doing a short tour up to the saddle of Castle Peak on Thursday. It was neat to finally ski in the Tatoosh, and a nice combination with the trek up to Muir yesterday.
Road open, hey that's good!
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