Home > Trip Reports > April 19, 2017, Armchair couloir, Chair Peak West

April 19, 2017, Armchair couloir, Chair Peak West

4/19/17
WA Snoqualmie Pass
6699
11
Posted by cumulus on 4/20/17 7:25am
Skied a new line on Chair Peak yesterday. Been eyeing this one for a while.
Improbable looking from above and hidden from most angles,
once you find yourself in it it's quite stunning. And really fun.



We took advantage of a small weather window Wednesday morning and approached it with no big expectations--especially given that the skin there was a bit of a chore early yesterday morning: crusty and slippery, one of those days where it's easier not to skin in the old refrozen skin track. Rob broke out his skinny sticks for this tour... I was jealous at first... but then later in the day, while surfing bottomless isotherm, not so much.

Conditions in the Armchair couloir turned out quite nice. Cut deeply into a W/SW face and starting just below 6K the line managed to mostly preserve some semblance of pow from 4-5 days ago--and this in mid April Snoqualmie! Not too shabby. It was pretty ideal for steep skiing with plenty of hold once in the gut and relatively sparse sluff that was easy to ski through, so no need to wait for it to pass. Just keep that line flowing.

I think it's about as fat as it'll get this season; receding from here on out until the next cycle.

Rob contemplating his next move (right before the choke there was a section of low ski penetration--very firm snow--as can be seen by the tracks in the photo)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rj_wUrRYWqC0xX6BlY2AolXIr01xgfuc_iQh1ND_4RUh6lW3xQq3QwvV3ExS3SwQtnqvlahAQaRfoFuh6n2oN7FvyIlI74e1IG7jYk3vt5YggtdXJ9hLyfld9fAq74b7jSF8t9EGNRuKiMKyMIao3Pn6L9H7ZmtuGwPjq6W8CKnUd4_dTbTqfbnHcXU97gX6A7Byvkn4SmiBfXyuTO2ZKp3Ko1xV6iTxWQuOFiP-vDVZTiEL1j7_pWnZc2pNk1pyk6ogwBCf0GYcM8rrtusFnzpcq21PBMUxHqusx1za21tioe_IkqzYnLqLsqxaZRWboBvKJhdE_L3BP71Pk-Bir8dRaB3mRvQSxr-u46twpb_9pqAr5YZqlrLpFGzlU9ESyEmbA1cN-2DHj65hRKvpMlVoakqYjlt7Xu14hwLM6hJ6i36XZojeWkN5QfRolAYkBVleVqSoZwezIknFWmpirofM2-T3wbIwQQMFzsDXP4rIYTLwtWDqJKAl03C2QlI-hI2NZbAaQU0DBBtXwI5S6Vn3yAOMeWQFZt1d6B_d4hvKeVugJjscz9AfyPf8Zf_7jAp6mf7-R3Ae-b5gq3ayYtn3o4qrlQvcuyB6U0B3U99LgEdaAJUf=w620-h860-no" />

...and letting 'er rip










a couple of Rob's photos -










There was a sudden snow flurry with big fat flakes as we exited onto the lower fan. Nicely timed and rather magical.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6CRwD5P2fJfcjGGL3WhZfxi9HbKa4O9ujdBElPw0bHMfDyFRrSfuJR3cR9iITqcvtApkA8qr4c_BTiP1OIVfAP0Jgn5_iE7jmJwQ1uNKvdP8Vhlrmha6ej7AgWTvflBEKpyhSlXytb3QGtN3yOhgwQ-K6CYJrgY6E5ev_-xPEIWBxB5eUurnsUl_vbjZSiYJlXttLrbMxJMDHbH6mALbr80UzwbeABLnJOM9WwfaivRNnHm0hAz-I5NdJh1ZjgdLz49ZH1z6sBZeWtIN5iNdQkdw21s99d1r7M67HcGdj0Khm6r_xcGydjxQ6MCSbDv5YepjXl43Tay75Er2olXyRMWQyqh-bATAIsWKp3U9YQ4arDA2_P0f8bm5-bf2IWuXrgHrzvhggaLvzK2oXohwIk49DGgK0Unn3_Y_wO_w04P7XS3aRPJdjHVRoO-t98gmQWFMx408n1Ged0b_p128eMRHry179R2ADnEyvbdSKlJSThWYKeUotqUQUITkf03aTKztqkFpmaoti1MC47EwEQ17AYq4gs1V-0cmoJZH_GVxw07_r28QSKHWzYy_HVAVtyMeeUlZO2NNdujA0T9MD9d30srt4QcP26vTBy4s439u32I8GKf2=w650-h860-no" />





Took a little break on Melakwa Pass


Rob hanging with the trees



There were hundreds, maybe thousands of these crawling around in the snow by Chair Peak Lake, about the size of a fingernail, sort of wasp like in shape. Anybody know what these are?


Down at Chair peak Lake we realized it was only 10:30am so we headed up over Roosevelt way and took a look around, decided to head up to the Roosevelt shoulder.


found an ottoman to go with my armchair


Skied down the East shoulder, which ended up skiing much better than expected and in our humble opinion, a funner run than the Holy Diver (though that's definitely worth it if you've never been).

Snow got super sticky the closer down to Snow Lake we got. Trudged across the lake in a light drizzle. Classic NW skiing... The skin track across Snow Lake was raised for the first time that I can recall this season... sign of seasons changing.
Rain turned back into snow on the divide.




We brought rope and harness but didn't use them.



Care to mark the entrance on a map for us punters?

Very Nice TR! Thank You For Sharing

Nice work!

Hey, great TR.  So nice to see a properly named and formatted entry!  You wouldn't believe the sad excuse for a subject name some people choose to use...... ;) 8)

fantastic. winged migration.

No entomologists out there?


I appreciate the comments, thanks!
Putting a message in a bottle just for you Kam.

April's been sweet this year, so good out there!    Friday:


Andrew's first time ever. Dropping into all time conditions.


working it like a pro


So good we had to go do it again. Checked but passed on the Snot; more debris filled, several overhanging cornices, not so good for a second run.


Rob racing into sunshine on numero dos.



Did you skin around the North slope to the Melakwa Point saddle?

author=BCSchonwald link=topic=38347.msg155380#msg155380 date=1492902662]
Did you skin around the North slope to the Melakwa Point saddle?



We skinned up Melakwa drainage to Melakwa Pass.

author=cumulus link=topic=38347.msg155372#msg155372 date=1492896745]

Putting a message in a bottle just for you Kam.



Please clue me in too.

Thanks for the report, so many appealing lines off Chair and its satellite peak(s)! Though I've skied several, still need to hit several more...and looks like you've added one to the list

Nice.  I'm an East Coast guy and my trips out Seattle way have included Crystal and the surrounding backcountry, as well as Baker and Table Mtn/Ptarmigan ridge.  Been meaning to add Alpy and the Snoqualmie backcountry to the list.  Chair Peak looks like a great objective!

author=Kiddch link=topic=38347.msg155388#msg155388 date=1492964604]
Nice.  I'm an East Coast guy and my trips out Seattle way have included Crystal and the surrounding backcountry, as well as Baker and Table Mtn/Ptarmigan ridge.  Been meaning to add Alpy and the Snoqualmie backcountry to the list.  Chair Peak looks like a great objective!


It is but (uh oh here comes the qualifier---) I should add that any objective we have ALWAYS takes second seat to conditions. And conditions are an ever changing thing, year to year, day to day, hour to hour. You may already know this so sorry if I'm being repetitive here.
Also, Fridays pics are from Snoqualmie Mt.  I just didn't want to start a whole new thread... It's a popular run--and rare to get untracked in such good conditions. Guess most folks didn't think it'd be that good... including us. It is full on springtime afterall... but temps felt a whole lot more frigid than forecast as we went up which got us pretty excited, and good it was!

It's tough traveling in for a limited window so...  hope you get lucky!

I like the mystery in this thread oh yes I do. I think I've looked down your line wondering "does it go?" but I'm not sure.

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april-19-2017-armchair-couloir-chair-peak-west
cumulus
2017-04-20 14:25:27