June 8 Wallaby--Shoot! Where did the Chute go?
6/15/07
4093
2
Jeff Hancock was looking for a support team to climb something on one of his many peak bagging lists, and I said, hey, how about something I can ski too. So we settled on one of the few peaks Jeff has yet to climb, and our teamJeff, another high-100 veteran Don Duncan, Brett Dyson and I left Seattle at 6 am Friday for the long drive to Washington Pass.
Wallaby Peak (7,995) is at the S end of Kangaroo Ridge and immediately NE of Kangaroo Pass. Looked like the only good weather of the week, and I was looking forward to at least getting in a few turns in soft snow from the Pass back to the car. Turns out it was a lot better than that. From Kangaroo Pass it was not possible to fully see the slopes on the South side of Wallaby, but I decided to carry the skis up anyway. Wallaby is a relatively easy class 2 and 3 scramble and I had no trouble on the rocky sections in my ski boots. Could not tell from above whether any of the gullies were continuous snow, and I figured, correctly that I may have to scramble on some rock to connect them up.
A few turns out of the gate I ended up scrambling down a loose dirt gully for about 10 minutes. It did not seem dangerously steep (visible high up on photo below). Earlier in the season you would have snow all the way Id think. Then skied a great continuous run to the bottom ending up about 400 vertical below and SE of Kangaroo Pass, and after skinning and hiking to the Pass, skied to the car. The others, walking and glissading were not far behind (I like to think it was due to the 400 hike, not my overall slow skiing). Snow was soft in the warm temps, but getting pretty lumpy due to sun. This was a nice ski and scramble in a gorgeous Alpine setting.
This MOVIE will give you the armchair experience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQoWga0kihI
Wallaby Peak (7,995) is at the S end of Kangaroo Ridge and immediately NE of Kangaroo Pass. Looked like the only good weather of the week, and I was looking forward to at least getting in a few turns in soft snow from the Pass back to the car. Turns out it was a lot better than that. From Kangaroo Pass it was not possible to fully see the slopes on the South side of Wallaby, but I decided to carry the skis up anyway. Wallaby is a relatively easy class 2 and 3 scramble and I had no trouble on the rocky sections in my ski boots. Could not tell from above whether any of the gullies were continuous snow, and I figured, correctly that I may have to scramble on some rock to connect them up.
A few turns out of the gate I ended up scrambling down a loose dirt gully for about 10 minutes. It did not seem dangerously steep (visible high up on photo below). Earlier in the season you would have snow all the way Id think. Then skied a great continuous run to the bottom ending up about 400 vertical below and SE of Kangaroo Pass, and after skinning and hiking to the Pass, skied to the car. The others, walking and glissading were not far behind (I like to think it was due to the 400 hike, not my overall slow skiing). Snow was soft in the warm temps, but getting pretty lumpy due to sun. This was a nice ski and scramble in a gorgeous Alpine setting.
This MOVIE will give you the armchair experience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQoWga0kihI
Art, Your ski line was beautiful. Last month, it was probably continuous. When I was at Kangaroo Pass a couple of weeks ago, there was considerable avy debris off the backside. What aspect is the descent route ?
Glad to hear about your switch to Dynafit, you'll be a happier and faster "trailbreaker".
I like the new helmet cam versus the chest cam. ;)
Zap
Glad to hear about your switch to Dynafit, you'll be a happier and faster "trailbreaker".
I like the new helmet cam versus the chest cam. ;)
Zap
The route is South to South-West, but there is some deep snow piled in there. No avy depris, but differential melting due to aglae and dirt on snow has caused cupping, and if the suface was hard it would not be fun to ski. I like the new helmet mount better than the chest mount too. The trick is to make a wedge of dense foam to fit behind it and create the correct angle, then just duct tape the heck out of it, shove off and hope for the best. Try not to hit anything with your head either.
Art
Art
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