April 5, 2007, Slot Couloir, Snoqualmie Mt.

This year I have been focusing on Randonee Racing, and a lot of my training is done  on pretty uninspiring terrain, so I was pretty psyched to hit the Slot Couloir solo on Wednesday. It was my first time on Snoqualmie mountain and I misread the approach notes and wound up cliffed out  to the west of the Phantom. I found the Thunder Creek Basin, but entered much further down Snoqualmie's West Ridge than the notch that is the standard route.

I didn't see another person the whole day, and was blown away by the scenic Northwest side of Snoqualmie and the aesthetic Slot Couloir.

     At the top.


     The entrance to the slot


      skiing down


Snow conditions in the Slot were bad, lots of manky debris from Tuesday's high temps alternated with icy, crusty sections. It was fun in the sense that it made for a challenging ski down. The ski down the Phantom slide path on the way back was incredibly good though. Big GS turns down to the car.
It took 4:45 car to car with my ill-advised approach variation.

The Slot was one of the best descents I've done. Not too steep, but steep enough to make you pay attention. The massive rock walls and aesthetic line add a lot to the trip.

Scott