May 21, 2006, Chair Peak - North Face Notch
5/21/06
WA Snoqualmie Pass
2155
0
Chair Peak - North Face Notch
Started out 9:15 am with Mark and I in skins form the upper parking lot at Alpental. Noted several climbing groups and some smaller skiing groups all appeared to be heading to the tooth. Blue ski with the odd cloud didnt take the temp but it must have been about 60f, a great day. Snow was great very solid with about 3 of nice corn. About 1/3 the way to Source Lake the off-camber skinning was getting a bit tiresome so we decided the snow was consolidated enough to toss the skis on the packs a boot for a while. We ended up booting the entire way to the top and made much better time. As we entered the Chair Peak snow field from Source Lake the weather started turning, not bad just heavy high cloud cover. Ran into two hikers near the snow lake divide and stopped for a snack. Had great views of the several groups totaling 20 or more people climbing Pineapple Basin which made me glad we picked our route. At 12:15 we Made it to the north face notch where we had spectacular view of Snow Lake. Some day I need to make this decent into Snow Lake, would love to see a trip report from some one who has. Started lightly raining as we were preparing to descend back into the bowl making the corn a bit more Slurpee like but it was still worth the climb. Saw several groups descending Pineapple Basin so by the time we got into Source Lake drainage it was like Alpental was still running lifts. I must say I really do love to see all the people out, the snow and weather conditions are so great I just whish it would stop raining on the weekends. Back to the car by 1:00
Check out the Trip Pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/57664434@N00/sets/72057594142173642/
Started out 9:15 am with Mark and I in skins form the upper parking lot at Alpental. Noted several climbing groups and some smaller skiing groups all appeared to be heading to the tooth. Blue ski with the odd cloud didnt take the temp but it must have been about 60f, a great day. Snow was great very solid with about 3 of nice corn. About 1/3 the way to Source Lake the off-camber skinning was getting a bit tiresome so we decided the snow was consolidated enough to toss the skis on the packs a boot for a while. We ended up booting the entire way to the top and made much better time. As we entered the Chair Peak snow field from Source Lake the weather started turning, not bad just heavy high cloud cover. Ran into two hikers near the snow lake divide and stopped for a snack. Had great views of the several groups totaling 20 or more people climbing Pineapple Basin which made me glad we picked our route. At 12:15 we Made it to the north face notch where we had spectacular view of Snow Lake. Some day I need to make this decent into Snow Lake, would love to see a trip report from some one who has. Started lightly raining as we were preparing to descend back into the bowl making the corn a bit more Slurpee like but it was still worth the climb. Saw several groups descending Pineapple Basin so by the time we got into Source Lake drainage it was like Alpental was still running lifts. I must say I really do love to see all the people out, the snow and weather conditions are so great I just whish it would stop raining on the weekends. Back to the car by 1:00
Check out the Trip Pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/57664434@N00/sets/72057594142173642/
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