Home > Trip Reports > June 17, 2017, Colchuck Glacier

June 17, 2017, Colchuck Glacier

6/17/17
WA Cascades East Slopes Central
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Posted by jakedouglas on 6/18/17 5:49am
IMO, it's a perfect time to hit this route. The trail is dry to precisely the bottom of the "glacier" at the lake shore where full snow coverage begins, making a perfectly logical and efficient transition point. No snow walking in shoes or dirt/boulder walking in boots. There is also running water from the snowpack here if you are hesitant about filling unfiltered from the lake. Then simply apply crampons and ascend straight up!

From the col to Colchuck's summit is roughly 2/3rds dry trail/scrambling now, so skis are best left at the col. The couloir up Dragontail appeared to be fully in still, and was quite tempting.

Ski conditions were killer, especially on the steeper pitches. In some places there were bumps from old boot packs or debris, but it was always easy to find a smooth line. Best run of the season for me.
Nice. I'll try to get there this week! The weather sure looks good.

heading up there this week. What was your timeline like? start at th? time to col? most importantly when did you start your ski? Thanks.

Left TH shortly after 8am. 4 hours to Colchuck col where we sat and ate for a while, just under 5 hours to summit. I guess we started skiing down from the col around 1:45pm.

The late start was planned around the overcast Saturday. I imagine optimal ski conditions could be at least several hours earlier this week with the warmer weather.

unfiltered dead body water?
you would think the fs would be embarrassed at this point...

author=jakedouglas link=topic=38644.msg156437#msg156437 date=1497926125]
Left TH shortly after 8am. 4 hours to Colchuck col where we sat and ate for a while, just under 5 hours to summit. I guess we started skiing down from the col around 1:45pm.

The late start was planned around the overcast Saturday. I imagine optimal ski conditions could be at least several hours earlier this week with the warmer weather.


yes, sunnier weather forecasted so I'll bump all that up by a fair amount. thanks though, still helpful!

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june-17-2017-colchuck-glacier
jakedouglas
2017-06-18 12:49:14