March 18, 2007, SE Gully on Lichtenburg
3/18/07
WA Stevens Pass
1945
0
I'd been eyeing that gully, the big obvious one facing the highway, from Steven's Pass all season. Finally went up there Sunday. I followed the Smith Brook Road approach, although I wonder if it would be faster to approach this line from the Yodelin lot? The mushy snow made for easy skinning, especially on steeper aspects. I was surprised at how solid things felt underfoot. The roller balls were only going a short distance. I opted to go South from Lichtenwasser Lake, as that's where the gully line starts. I suppose you could ski it from the true summit, but that would involve some up and down across the ridge to get to where you'd want to ski from.
I hung out on top for a few minutes, dug a pit, waited for my weather window, and weighed my options for egress. The Yodelin road was tempting, but would necessitate a crossing of Nason Creek which is a small river right now. The presence of the creek also prevents a bee-line to the highway to catch a ride back down. As I was thinking about it the sun came out so I took my opportunity and started the descent.
The skiing was great! I couldn't believe it. I think the cold rain helped because skiing in the ski area the day before was suuper mungy. This stuff was consistent and smooth. A wet slide from the previous few days had carved a trench down the middle of the gully, but the open glades to the side of the main gully provided excellent turns.
I tried to traverse high to get back to Smith Brook Road, but was eventually forced into dense timber and multiple small creek crossings. I decided to ski down to Nason Creek and more or less followed it back to the bridge of Smith Brook Road and the car.
Mediocre weather was mitigated by surprisingly decent skiing, fun exploring, and the feeling of getting away with something on a "blah" kind of day. Although next time I would take a snowmobile taxi from the bottom of the gully up the powerline cut to the Yodelin lot. ;)
P.S. None of my pictures out very well in the poor lighting, otherwise I would've included some.
[Edited title - Charles]
I hung out on top for a few minutes, dug a pit, waited for my weather window, and weighed my options for egress. The Yodelin road was tempting, but would necessitate a crossing of Nason Creek which is a small river right now. The presence of the creek also prevents a bee-line to the highway to catch a ride back down. As I was thinking about it the sun came out so I took my opportunity and started the descent.
The skiing was great! I couldn't believe it. I think the cold rain helped because skiing in the ski area the day before was suuper mungy. This stuff was consistent and smooth. A wet slide from the previous few days had carved a trench down the middle of the gully, but the open glades to the side of the main gully provided excellent turns.
I tried to traverse high to get back to Smith Brook Road, but was eventually forced into dense timber and multiple small creek crossings. I decided to ski down to Nason Creek and more or less followed it back to the bridge of Smith Brook Road and the car.
Mediocre weather was mitigated by surprisingly decent skiing, fun exploring, and the feeling of getting away with something on a "blah" kind of day. Although next time I would take a snowmobile taxi from the bottom of the gully up the powerline cut to the Yodelin lot. ;)
P.S. None of my pictures out very well in the poor lighting, otherwise I would've included some.
[Edited title - Charles]
Reply to this TR
Please login first: