december 29-30, 2006, Silverstar

After more than a few bottomless pow days at stevens' pass, and decreasing avy danger, snoslut and I opted to go for a bigger line.  With its protected north facing slopes, we hoped that silverstar would harbor worthy conditions.  And so, we headed over to the east side.  We got about 6 miles east of silverstar creek on 20 when we discovered that the road is not plowed all the way...  On with the skins.  We were only passed by one group of snowmobiles, so the skin up the road wasn't that bad.  We got to the creek about one, and started breaking trail up the silverstar drainage.  Travel was slow with overnight packs and deep pow, so we arrived at the end of the valley (where we camped) around 5:30, finishing our skin by moonlight.  The next morning was very, very cold - my thermometer on the altimeter registered 10 degrees, which was right next to my body.  We got off to a late start under clear skies around 8:30, and started breaking trail up the mountain.  The snow was very good up to about 7,000 feet, at which point it became very wind affected.  We continued up to three gullies, and found a pretty safe way up - there was a lump on the side of one that was only 25 degrees or so.  About halfway up the gulley, we had reached our turn around time of 1pm.  We had enough food for another night, but even in the gulley, there was a wind crust, so down it was.  We dug a pit in the meanwhile, and conditions seemed stable - consolidated snow with a few inches of pow on top, with a inch or so windcrust on top.  The trip down was fantastic - we managed to stay out of the wind crust, and even got a few face shots.  The trip down to the road was also good - the snow was awesome in the woods.  I managed to slide about halfway down the road, but eric had some trouble due to the low aspect and had to skin.  At the car by 5:30 and home by 10!

My camera battery did not work at all in the cold, but I think eric has some pics, the weather was beautiful.