May 21, 2017, Vesper environs
5/21/17
WA Cascades West Slopes Central
1989
1
Mtn Loop and Sunrise Mine roads are open, no access issues.
Easy hiking to upper basin below Headlee Pass despite creek crossing shenanigans.
TONS of avalanche debris from 3K up to the pass, but no movement or sluffing was observed throughout the day.
Snow from top of the pass to Vesper summit was free of debris and untracked except for a boot path from the party of 3 climbers ahead of us. A bit mushy, but ski penetration decreased as elevation increased.
Skied down after 3pm, setting off very minor slow moving non-entraining wet slides in a few of the steepest locations.
Route should be skiable for at least another month I would guess, but not sure if the avy debris will ever consolidate enough to make the lower section "fun".
Easy hiking to upper basin below Headlee Pass despite creek crossing shenanigans.
TONS of avalanche debris from 3K up to the pass, but no movement or sluffing was observed throughout the day.
Snow from top of the pass to Vesper summit was free of debris and untracked except for a boot path from the party of 3 climbers ahead of us. A bit mushy, but ski penetration decreased as elevation increased.
Skied down after 3pm, setting off very minor slow moving non-entraining wet slides in a few of the steepest locations.
Route should be skiable for at least another month I would guess, but not sure if the avy debris will ever consolidate enough to make the lower section "fun".
Went up on Monday the 22nd. As noted, it would have been a breeze up to the snow except for the missing log on last river crossing. It was a pretty narly bushwack upstream trying to find place to cross. Detour added about hour each way.
Booted up the couloir to climbers right to the pass. That one is starting to melt out a bit at top, so the one to climber’s left might be a better option, especially for the ski down.
Fun ski down in the spring mush. Photo of the slow-moving wet loose below. As Splitboardist said, there’s a lot of avy debris in the valley below the pass but we found a few relatively smooth spots on skier’s left side of the valley.
Booted up the couloir to climbers right to the pass. That one is starting to melt out a bit at top, so the one to climber’s left might be a better option, especially for the ski down.
Fun ski down in the spring mush. Photo of the slow-moving wet loose below. As Splitboardist said, there’s a lot of avy debris in the valley below the pass but we found a few relatively smooth spots on skier’s left side of the valley.
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