May 18, 2006, Denny Mtn (5,400'), Hoadley's Hollow

Day 61
5-18-06
Denny Mountain (5,400'), Hoadley's Hollow
Base 63" - 73"
VF skied: 2,300

Following a week long hiatus from the snow due to the flu, I return to Alpental to find the snow pack has turned from spring to summer.  Wonderful, corn-drenched summer.  The third week in May and the base of Alpental is just starting to show the dead vegetation of last fall.  Reluctantly.  Drifts of 4-5 feet are still prevalent in sheltered areas, but where sun and water have eroded with time, the edges of the pack recedes with each day and the brown spots swell in size.  The race is on, how long will top-to-bottom skiing last this year?  Memorial Day weekend?  Perhaps.  We may even €“ gasp €“ see June.  But probably only on the €œC€ board for Sessel.

At 6:20 am the temp at the pass is near 45 degrees, a warm breeze from the deserts of Eastern Washington wafts over the crest and makes for t-shirt climbing right from the car.  Not quite shorts weather (yet) and I keep a long sleeve shirt handy, just in case, but this is summer skiing at its finest, and the early hours are the golden ones for snow sports at these low elevations.

I hack away on the climb up, trying to cough up all the illness of the last week, but I fight a losing battle, and the climb is slow and painstaking, the previous week€™s meager diet of Saltines and juice taking its toll on conditioned muscle.  I finally enter the sun at the top of the quad and the snow turns from semi-firm corn to two inches of soft delightful mashies.  I walk unencumbered in my hiking boots, the snow a perfect softness for travel.

I dropped the pack and enjoyed refreshments and chocolate at the base of the couloir, marveling at the amount of snow still left in the chute.  I donned my crampons and switched ski pole for ice axe, adding a whole new level of comfort as I enter the business of the route.  The fat conditions of the couloir and the warm, sun-splashed corn snow mellow the climb as I pass the huge 50 foot rock walls forming the left gate entrance to the chute.  Cobalt blue morning skies are accentuated by the clean white of the couloir€™s snow.  Thankfully, while the lower ski runs of Alpental are pitted and dirty with uneven melt patterns and trash, the snow in this out-of-bounds area fairs better as the steepness sheds impurities and remains smoother.

I reach the top of the first pitch of the couloir, now a 40 degree climb, where the route changes directions, turning slightly right and following a steep gully up past a rock slab on the left and a tree studded ridge on the right.  The crux lies just ahead.  The walls of the chute are 15 feet apart and menacing, as the moats along the snow pack are dark and deep. 

As I rise, the couloir narrows and steepens and I reach the technical crux.  The steepest section of the chute is just above a narrow two foot wide snow bridge, the right margin of which is a 15 foot deep moat and then the rock wall. The left side is a more manageable 5 feet deep and then an exposed tree.  The technical part isn€™t that the bridge is small, but that it has a slight double fall line.  Anything falling above the snowbridge had a nasty habit of sliding into the moat on the right side.  It would not be good to fall in this upper section of the couloir €“ noted.

I rammed my ice axe up to the head and used the handrail to pull myself up.  After a couple of kick steps and axe manuevers, I reach the narrow entrance to the top of the couloir.  Above, there is a broad snowfield dropping from the summit ridge.  I cruise to the top, enjoying the exposure on the upper face. 

I ski off the summit ridge and pop a few jump turns to get the blood flowing.  The snowfield is a good practice slope before the steeps of the couloir.  The sun drenched slope skis very nicely, not having enough water content to slough off, and warm enough to even out the ride on the relatively uneven snow surface. 

Jump turns flow easily and I quickly am scanning down the top of the couloir.  The upper section is a jig saw puzzle of jump turns to ensure I approach the snow bridge on the correct side.  After a couple stops to judge the outcomes, I decide to approach on the toe side, and ease my way down the bridge, the end of the board sticking out into space. 

Gulp. 

I decide to point it down the slope €“ and lickety-split! - I ski out to the right in a tight arc. 

Yeee-haw! Made it.  A couple more celebratory jump turns in the lower couloir and I pull to a stop. 

After a few last views of the surrounding vistas, I ski off, not stopping until I pull up next to my truck, parked at the edge of the ski run.