Home > Trip Reports > march 26, 2006, yodelin

march 26, 2006, yodelin

3/26/06
WA Stevens Pass
3850
10
Posted by allyson on 3/26/06 5:11pm
kelvin, bryan, and i headed up to yodelin with kelvin's dog kona under snowy skies for a quick tour.  we parked at a parking lot just down the hill from stevens pass, i believe it's an overfill lot?  the hike was quick, following a service road up the hill, discovering remnants of the old ski resort along the way.  though it was snowing, accumulation varied on the hike, between 2-6 inches in spots.  we reached the saddle at about 4900', and only saw one other party of 3 up there yo-yoing the bowl.  after lunch, we dug a couple pits and found five very obvious crust layers.  compression and shovel shear tests revealed that the snow wasn't going anywhere easily, so we decided to do what we came there for.  

the ski down was smooth, but a little slick, since there was only about 2 inches on top of the first crust layer.  we lapped the slope about 3 times, making our own tracks each time.  it continued to snow in the mountains all around us, however, we managed to stay in the sun a lot of the time.  on the way down to the base, we had to traverse a bit of a flat area, and i was reminded of what it was like to do this part on a snowboard.  (i hadn't been up to yodelin in couple years, and that was back when i was on a snowboard).  bryan, an ex-backcountry snowboarder himself who now teles, agreed that life was much easier on skis...but that's another debate, for another day.   ;)

we returned to the car, skipping a couple switchbacks on the service road by skiing a steeper chute near the bottom.  it was an awesome day!  and i'll always have a special place in my heart for yodelin, as it was the first place in washington that i ever backcountry skiied (or, snowboarded).   ;D  
Allyson - backcountry touring is a lot easier on skis than a board.  I'm glad that you are WA sliding on whatever is on your feet.

Sounds fun Ally,glad you got back to your roots 8)

We were up skiing at a hut in the Selkirks a few weeks back (awesome trip, by the way!!) and a guide mentioned that they'd seen a peak of splitboarding maybe 4-5 years ago, and pretty much aren't seeing them any more as folks have tired of suffering across the flats and sidehill traverses.

Sounds like a great trip, Ally.
Good call... you found the goods again! :-)

Thanks for sharing your adventure.  We had a great outing ourselves on Sunday, and talk of yet one more boarder in our group with the thought of a possible switch.    

nice report, Ally.  it's crazy to think last year this time you were snowboarding the backcountry.  now you've joined Dark Evil and his gang of two-plankers.  nice.

How did Kona do? She was looking pretty sad with her allergies last time I saw her, I bet that fresh mountain air did her some good!

now you've joined Dark Evil and his gang of two-plankers.  nice.

i'm hearing skeletor's cackle in the background when i read that.  yikes.  but i guess it's true.  ;)

How did Kona do?

kona did great!  she was a little cautious on the descent, and at the very end kelvin had to carry her because she was post-holing like crazy, but she did well.  i did get some videos, it's funny to watch her plod down the hillside--but i have yet to figure out how to get my computer to accept my videos (jw, help!).   ;)

I've got the goods for ya ;) See ya tonight at the Mountaineers

Yodelin is sweet, though lower than the Pass so heavy at times.  I have a soft heart for it too, cuz my wife and I skied there in '90 on an anniversary in December.  the clearings only had little bitty saplings.  Since we were staying at The Bush House in Index, we returened to the Lower Town Wall and I got to BC ski and climb granite in the same day....

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march-26-2006-yodelin
allyson
2006-03-27 01:11:54