April 15, 2007, The Slot Couloir, Snoqualmie Mtn
4/15/07
WA Snoqualmie Pass
2029
0
Rob and I left the Alpental lot shortly after 8 am with the general objective of Snoqualmie Mtn, but the Slot was in the back of my mind as a daydream. Neither of us had ever skied it, and not knowing what sort of conditions we'd be dealing with, we didn't write it into the day's expectations. Maneuvering around the waterfall was the worst route finding of the day, with a few dead ends into the stream and other melted out sections. This area is losing coverage quickly.
Once out into the open areas above the waterfall, progress was steady but with a few slips on the 3-4 inches of new snow on top of a fairly firm crust. After lunch on the summit where we met a Mountaineers group and a couple other folks, we headed to the Slot's entrance, arriving just as a skier/boarder duo was booting the last bit up through the couloir. The entrance held a sizeable chunk of lightly wind-packed snow that was relatively easy to deal with, and the remainder of the couloir looked like it held good snow. It looked reasonable enough, much better conditions that we'd expected. Being in the shade, the new snow remained cold and unscathed by the sun. The descent was more than I hoped it would be -- 4-5 inches of fairly light snow on top of a firm base that was a bit scratchy but soft enough to edge without issue. A couple of small sloughs ran, but were easily avoided with attention paid.
The run back down the Phantom was pleasant, albeit a slurpy-like consistency. Here, slow moving wet slides were prevalent, but not problematic. We were both pleasantly surprised at the conditions for one April 15th, having left the car just hoping to just get some exercise making the summit and enjoy some slush turns on the way down. We got far more than we'd hoped for. Our first Slot trip was certainly one to remember.
Once out into the open areas above the waterfall, progress was steady but with a few slips on the 3-4 inches of new snow on top of a fairly firm crust. After lunch on the summit where we met a Mountaineers group and a couple other folks, we headed to the Slot's entrance, arriving just as a skier/boarder duo was booting the last bit up through the couloir. The entrance held a sizeable chunk of lightly wind-packed snow that was relatively easy to deal with, and the remainder of the couloir looked like it held good snow. It looked reasonable enough, much better conditions that we'd expected. Being in the shade, the new snow remained cold and unscathed by the sun. The descent was more than I hoped it would be -- 4-5 inches of fairly light snow on top of a firm base that was a bit scratchy but soft enough to edge without issue. A couple of small sloughs ran, but were easily avoided with attention paid.
The run back down the Phantom was pleasant, albeit a slurpy-like consistency. Here, slow moving wet slides were prevalent, but not problematic. We were both pleasantly surprised at the conditions for one April 15th, having left the car just hoping to just get some exercise making the summit and enjoy some slush turns on the way down. We got far more than we'd hoped for. Our first Slot trip was certainly one to remember.
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