May 6, 2006, Mt. Benzarino, Wa Pass
5/6/06
WA Cascades East Slopes North
2775
2
A late trip report, but thought it might be of general interest if not for conditions.
Had attempted this tour last year, but due to poor coverage and uncertain route founding, only made it to Black Peak. This year, with better coverage and more certainty of the route, Monika and I returned on the opening weekend of Wa Pass to give it a try. This year weather was more of a concern with low clouds, some limited visibility and threat of precip. Fortunately, all held off sufficiently with clouds moving in and out, but mostly above the 9000' level to allow enough vis to continue on and complete the trip.
We car camped Fri night at Rainy Pass and departed around 6:30am on Sat, heading to Lake Ann, Heather Pass and on to Black Peak. Freezing levels were around 6000' so the conditions were pretty firm and icy.
Lake Ann / Maple Pass
We climbed to the col above Wing Lake by 11:30 and decided not to ascend higher on the S side of Black Peak due to the weather and conditions. Last year, we had gone to near the summit and skied down. It is an awesome descent in the right conditions. Visibility at this point was becoming more limited, but we decided to head on. We descended about 2000' from the col to Woody Creek with conditions softening for the last few hundred feet. From there, we climbed and traversed to Benzarino near the summit to descend the big SE face to Maple Creek. Along this route, we had great views of Fisher Peak and Mt Arriva, and up the N Fork Bridge Cr to Goode and Logan which were partially visible. By now visibility had improved and the snow had softened for a great run down Benzarino for about 2000' around 3pm. Here we decided to extend the tour and headed to the col near Frisco Peak, rather than taking the more direct route to Maple Pass.
Mt. Benzarino
We found tracks from a group who had descended from Frisco earlier in the day, so followed their route and climbed about 2000' to the col. Visibility had deteriorated, but was enough to see our descent route to Rainy Lake. The Lyall gl can be a great ski, but was mostly hard snow this day with a NE aspect. I was pretty familar with the route and found our ramp to Rainy Lake and back to the car before 7pm. Altogether, a great tour albeit in less than ideal conditions. Roughly 13.5 miles, 8800' gain, crossing 4 cols/passes in about 12 hours.
Frisco / Lyall Gl
Had attempted this tour last year, but due to poor coverage and uncertain route founding, only made it to Black Peak. This year, with better coverage and more certainty of the route, Monika and I returned on the opening weekend of Wa Pass to give it a try. This year weather was more of a concern with low clouds, some limited visibility and threat of precip. Fortunately, all held off sufficiently with clouds moving in and out, but mostly above the 9000' level to allow enough vis to continue on and complete the trip.
We car camped Fri night at Rainy Pass and departed around 6:30am on Sat, heading to Lake Ann, Heather Pass and on to Black Peak. Freezing levels were around 6000' so the conditions were pretty firm and icy.
Lake Ann / Maple Pass
We climbed to the col above Wing Lake by 11:30 and decided not to ascend higher on the S side of Black Peak due to the weather and conditions. Last year, we had gone to near the summit and skied down. It is an awesome descent in the right conditions. Visibility at this point was becoming more limited, but we decided to head on. We descended about 2000' from the col to Woody Creek with conditions softening for the last few hundred feet. From there, we climbed and traversed to Benzarino near the summit to descend the big SE face to Maple Creek. Along this route, we had great views of Fisher Peak and Mt Arriva, and up the N Fork Bridge Cr to Goode and Logan which were partially visible. By now visibility had improved and the snow had softened for a great run down Benzarino for about 2000' around 3pm. Here we decided to extend the tour and headed to the col near Frisco Peak, rather than taking the more direct route to Maple Pass.
Mt. Benzarino
We found tracks from a group who had descended from Frisco earlier in the day, so followed their route and climbed about 2000' to the col. Visibility had deteriorated, but was enough to see our descent route to Rainy Lake. The Lyall gl can be a great ski, but was mostly hard snow this day with a NE aspect. I was pretty familar with the route and found our ramp to Rainy Lake and back to the car before 7pm. Altogether, a great tour albeit in less than ideal conditions. Roughly 13.5 miles, 8800' gain, crossing 4 cols/passes in about 12 hours.
Frisco / Lyall Gl
Certainly covered a lot of distance, up and over that many long cols, almost made me dizzy :)
Would definitely like to ski Benzarino again.
Thank you Paul for another great trip in new terrain.
Would definitely like to ski Benzarino again.
Thank you Paul for another great trip in new terrain.
nice photos, paul! way to take advantage of that great weather we had... 8)
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