May 27, 2017, Mt Pilchuck

Figured it was high time to share some info instead of just lurking here looking at other people's beta all the time! Partner and I did an easy half day on Pilchuck. We got to within about a quarter mile of the trailhead head parking lot on FS42 before hitting snow. There were a bunch of cars parked on the shoulder so we parked there as well and walked it the rest of the way. Turns out the snow patch is just 100 yards or so long and the trailhead lot is completely melted out. I'm pretty sure any AWD vehicle would make it through the snow (plus the patch will almost certainly be clear in a few more days).

Ten minutes of walking on the snow-free summer trail got us to continuous snow. We started skinning here, but I wish we'd booted for just a few more minutes. We hit a short steep pitch soon after we started on skins that would€™ve been much faster to boot. After that it was easy skinning along the summer trail. 

Dozens of hikers out, two other pairs of skiers/splitboarders sharing the mountain. Despite the lack of overnight freeze, the mush wasn€™t terrible. Maybe an inch or two of ski penetration. I didn€™t have any trouble with skins slipping. If I put too much weight on my lower ski while sidehilling on steeper pitches, the snow sometimes gave way. All in all, much better than expected.

After a quick break at the lookout, we dropped into Gunsight Couloir (though couloir seems like a generous term for a slope nearly as a wide as Upper International). The snow wasn€™t corn, but it was still fast and fun. Lots of slough running all the way down. At the bottom of the couloir, we booted back up the ridge to climbers left, per the Volken book, then continued to the right up to a little subpeak. Here we diverged from the guidebook, choosing instead to ski fall line down the gully a ways. The snow was definitely stickier in spots through this section, but still better than expected and pretty fun. We crossed one patch of old slide debris. Did not see signs of recent avalanche activity. Having dropped lower than the summer trail at this point, we had to boot back up a short steep pitch to get back on track. From there it was a short ride down the luge track dodging hikers and their glissade troughs back to the dirt.

All in all a super fun first experience with Pilchuck. I wish we€™d planned for a longer day so we€™d had time to explore some of the cool looking lines that head towards Heather Lake.