April 2, 2006, Piss Pass / Pineapple Pass
4/2/06
WA Snoqualmie Pass
3216
4
Spring has definitely come to Snoqualmie Pass. After a late start caused by a late Saturday and an unforeseen change of the clock, the Casshole and I ran a couple of laps through the Alpental backcountry this afternoon.
Round One found us exiting Alpental on the low traverse and following the well-beaten path to Piss Pass. Instead of taking the bootpack to the pass, however, we contoured below the pass toward the top of the small cleaver whose name I've apparently never learned. Our efforts were rewarded by interupting what appeared to be a very warm-spirited, well-attended funeral service at the top of the cleaver. Feeling sheepish for having barged into a clearly sensitive scene, we quickly altered our intended route and dropped into the drainage to the south.
The recent snowfall provided an obvious 6" soggy layer that easily released when ski cut on the top of rolls. While not too much of an issue on unskied patches, it was straight-up tiring to ski through the skied-out sections encountered as we worked our way down the Trash Can. In all honesty, it was not as much fun as one would hope for on such an outing.
For Round Two, we began on the same route, but took the bootpack over Piss Pass, then skied down to the basin below the Tooth. Whereas, everything south of Draft Dodger Ridge had been moderately-to-heavily tracked, only a few people appeared to have skied the basin. After a quick skin up to Pineapple Pass, we enjoyed fresh lines all the way to Source Lake. Albeit a bit grabby, the snow was considerably better than we had experienced on the first lap and was well worth the extra effort.
We concluded the day with a few runs inbounds. All in all, an easy but good day.
Round One found us exiting Alpental on the low traverse and following the well-beaten path to Piss Pass. Instead of taking the bootpack to the pass, however, we contoured below the pass toward the top of the small cleaver whose name I've apparently never learned. Our efforts were rewarded by interupting what appeared to be a very warm-spirited, well-attended funeral service at the top of the cleaver. Feeling sheepish for having barged into a clearly sensitive scene, we quickly altered our intended route and dropped into the drainage to the south.
The recent snowfall provided an obvious 6" soggy layer that easily released when ski cut on the top of rolls. While not too much of an issue on unskied patches, it was straight-up tiring to ski through the skied-out sections encountered as we worked our way down the Trash Can. In all honesty, it was not as much fun as one would hope for on such an outing.
For Round Two, we began on the same route, but took the bootpack over Piss Pass, then skied down to the basin below the Tooth. Whereas, everything south of Draft Dodger Ridge had been moderately-to-heavily tracked, only a few people appeared to have skied the basin. After a quick skin up to Pineapple Pass, we enjoyed fresh lines all the way to Source Lake. Albeit a bit grabby, the snow was considerably better than we had experienced on the first lap and was well worth the extra effort.
We concluded the day with a few runs inbounds. All in all, an easy but good day.
, it was straight-up tiring to ski through the skied-out sections encountered as we worked our way down the Trash Can. In all honesty, it was not as much fun as one would hope for on such an outing.I thought that was the most fun part of the day! ;)
Here's Skip skiin' down from Pineapple Pass (cliffs of "The Tooth" in background)
I think I saw you two, plus a solo guy as I was getting to the top of pineapple pass. I was following an existing skin path set by two before me. I ended up skiing F$#! Bowl then skinning/booting up Bryant Peak and descending via the couloir between Bryant and Hemlock. Had similar snow. Between 5800 and 4800 snow was 6-10" of fairly light/unconsolidated on most exposures. Some shallow windslabs near ridges. But below 4800 became variable, and below 4000 was pure mashed potatoes.
We were just a few miles down the road, and at least where we were, there was indeed some nice snow above 5K, though "fairly light/unconsolidated" would be a relative term. We found fairly good snow for making snowmen at that elevation. Below 5K we found a wet-ish new snow layer that liked to slide on anything over about 35 degrees, often forming big pinwheels. Still, some fun turns except below 3.5K (where things got pretty rotten), especially with a little "water skiing" technique...
my name is chris cass...i like to ski piss pass!! ;)
nice work, guys.
nice work, guys.
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