January 28, 2017, Mt. Pilchuck via Heather Lake
1/28/17
WA Cascades West Slopes Central
2565
3
With clear skis and good snow on random Aspects, Elevation, and Location, We figured a good adventure could be had on the flanks of good Ole' close in Pilchuck. Louie, Jameson, Tim and I left the car at Heather Lake trailhead at 9:00a.m. and made short work of the walk into Heather Lake.
Booting up the Heather Lake Couloir "Bob's gully"(as we dubbed it many moons back) was perfect boot packing.
We ran into a 65-70 degree water ice pitch at about 2/3rds of the way up. Not wanting to burn a bunch of time wrestling around with more ice higher up in the gully, We opted to exit on the hanging gullies to the left. Good thing, because on our descent, the upper gully was choked with ice runnels. A stark contrast from the last time Jim Dockery and I had skied the upper entrance one late spring.
Larrison ridge had 2" of soft butter cream.
West facing Barrel chute was survival skiing on wind blown rain crust.
The Gunsight was also rain crust and required front pointing with pons to scale up to the lookout.
It appears that some vandals got bored and decided to kick the lower panel and upper glass pane out of the lookout entry door. We built a snow block wall to encapsulate the opening and prevent spindrift from entering the interior, until reconstruction can be facilitated. So if you are headed up to shred, please do not remove the wall. Thanks.
With the Gunsight harder than a whore's heart, We pointed our skis further down the ridge to the Choke chute, which was protected and held some decent skiing.
On the exit, Bob's gully skied better than I had ever had it! Unfortunately my POV battery died so you don't have to watch a bunch of hooting and hollering down a fun gully ski. :)
Back at the car for Apres at 5:00 with a tally of 5200vf of fun and exciting skiing.
Here's a little clippy of the fun having:
https://vimeo.com/201580621
Booting up the Heather Lake Couloir "Bob's gully"(as we dubbed it many moons back) was perfect boot packing.
We ran into a 65-70 degree water ice pitch at about 2/3rds of the way up. Not wanting to burn a bunch of time wrestling around with more ice higher up in the gully, We opted to exit on the hanging gullies to the left. Good thing, because on our descent, the upper gully was choked with ice runnels. A stark contrast from the last time Jim Dockery and I had skied the upper entrance one late spring.
Larrison ridge had 2" of soft butter cream.
West facing Barrel chute was survival skiing on wind blown rain crust.
The Gunsight was also rain crust and required front pointing with pons to scale up to the lookout.
It appears that some vandals got bored and decided to kick the lower panel and upper glass pane out of the lookout entry door. We built a snow block wall to encapsulate the opening and prevent spindrift from entering the interior, until reconstruction can be facilitated. So if you are headed up to shred, please do not remove the wall. Thanks.
With the Gunsight harder than a whore's heart, We pointed our skis further down the ridge to the Choke chute, which was protected and held some decent skiing.
On the exit, Bob's gully skied better than I had ever had it! Unfortunately my POV battery died so you don't have to watch a bunch of hooting and hollering down a fun gully ski. :)
Back at the car for Apres at 5:00 with a tally of 5200vf of fun and exciting skiing.
Here's a little clippy of the fun having:
https://vimeo.com/201580621
Fun video- looks like it was a great day out!
Nice work, guys! We debated between the Heather Lake Couloir and McClellan Butte's N Couloir on Saturday, and opted for McClellan. In retrospect, that was a poor choice, as the freezing rain event turned out to be poorly buried there, and we encountered what could charitably called "mixed" conditions that led to some bruised egos, broken gear, and 1000 ft of front point downclimbing. Glad to see you found better snow!
GREAT VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
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