June 25, 2006, :: Slate Peak

6/25/06

2486

4

Posted by ultragrrl on 6/26/06 5:00am

Josh had been wanting to check out Slate Peak and after last weekends report we decided to give it a go. We left Seattle Saturday evening and drove into Winthrop for some tasty vittles. After having our fill we headed out to Ballard camp ground and had a nice sleep in the car. We awoke around 7am and after breakfast headed up the final 10 or so miles to the end of the road. There are patches of snow on the final two switchbacks on the road to Hart's Pass. These might melt out this week as they were only a couple of feet deep tops. So, we had to walk the remaining 2-300 vertical feet to the drop in point. Anyways, the bowl provides 500ish vertical feet of snow that is mildly suncupped and without runnels. So, the snow was nice and fast and not too bumpy. I figured we'd have the snow to ourselves but a lone skier and his dog left the road end 15 minutes ahead of us. After a few runs we headed back down hill and back to Seattle.

In the end this would be a great area to return to earlier in the season when there is a bit more snow left on the ground. But, probably wasn't worth the drive this time around although it was fun to explore some new terrain and get in much needed June turns.

*zoom*

6/27/06 6:21am

summitseeker

Thanks ultragrrl. So you parked below Harts Pass. Did you then ski the road all the way to slate pass? I'm hoping to get in to the Buckskin Ridge TH which is at slate pass. Any additional info you could provide would be great.

Thanks,
Scott

6/27/06 7:09am

ultragrrl

Yeah, we parked below slate peak, which I believe is beyond hart's pass. But, it maybe melted out my now. The only snow on the road was at the two hairpins. The first is where we parked and then there was one other hairpin that also had snow. The snow at the hairpins was maybe 3 feet deep tops. The rest of the road was snow free.

On the way up we cut the hairpins and scrambled directly up hill to join the road. On the way back down we decided to just walk the road...So, unfortunately the only skiing to be had was actually in the bowl on the northeast side of slate peak. No road skiing :(

6/27/06 8:34am

markharf

I've found similar conditions during a few previous trips up that way. Earlier in the year, the roadway is blocked by snow and the area is overrun (by my standards) by snowmachines; by the time you can drive up close, the only obvious skiing is on relatively short, mellow runs in sheltered bowls. I've heard that there is better skiing available earlier in the year in slide paths above the road (surely Mazama folks have scouted these thoroughly), but I've been far too easily distracted by the spectacular goods available around Washington Pass once the North Cascades Highway opens in the spring.

Of course, I'm always interested in hearing what others might have discovered that I've missed.

Mark

June 25, 2006, :: Slate Peak

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