May 24-25, 2007, WA Pass

Jill and I decided to enjoy the good weather and beat the holiday crowd at WA Pass.  It has been 4 years since we have skied at the pass because most springs we are touring in the Sierra.  We spent Wednesday evening along Ruby Creek and the sounds of the stream caused us to sleep in.  Arrived at the Blue Lake trailhead at 10 am and there were 3 vehicles and plenty of room for the van.  I had forgotten about the dense tree slog for the first few hundred vertical.  Once up on the first bench the views reminded us why the North Cascades are sometimes called the American Alps.  As we were on the second bench, we heard a voice calling for "John" repeatedly.  I kept hoping that John didn't take a tumble near Liberty Bell.  Our plan was to tour to the col between Early Winter Spires and the cornice for the Birthday tour. Then descend about 2500' to the hairpin turn and hitch a ride back to the van at Blue Lake.  I downclimbed the upper col and saw lots of avy debris and a large smooth slope.  Seeing much of the descent slope was covered with avy debris we decided to return along our climbing route.  I skinned just below the cornice and enjoyed perfect corn conditions.  The past few weeks we have experienced unconsolidated snow in the backcountry.  Finally , it was time to carve turns in ideal spring conditions.  Once back at the van, we saw two climbers chilling with a beer.  I looked at them and said " Are you John ?"  One of the guys smiled and explained how they became separated on Liberty Bell and took the wrong route and had to back-off.    We spent the dinner hour near Swamp Creek admiring the alpenglow and the numerous RV's heading east over the Pass.

Friday morning, we slept in again.  We wanted to make sure the slopes softened.  We parked at the hairpin turn on the east side of WA Pass.  We looked up towards the col of Early Winter Spire. We made the right decision yesterday.  The route certainly has plenty of snow but the upper and lower sections have lots of avy debris.  The middle section on climbers left is in excellent shape and is protected from any avy debris.  We headed SE up towards Kangaroo Pass.  It was another perfect day and the snow was consolidated yet easy skinning. We stopped for lunch at the small lake below the pass. There were a couple of tracks from yesterdays Birthday tour skiers.  I skinned to the top of the pass and looked down to the headwaters of the Twisp River.  The slopes were only marked by avy debris - no snow machines or skier tracks. A pleasant descent on corn without another skier around.  Our return west along highway 20 was remarkable when we saw almost an endless stream of RV's, cars, trailers and motorcycles all heading east along hwy 20.  Finally, corn skiing in the Cascades.