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Topic: June 19, 2007, Hurry Up Peak, Magic SLoop (Read 2393 times)
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skykilo
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I had the great pleasure to ski with the illustrious Dan Helmstadter for the last two days. He was ready and willing to undertake whatever I suggested, so I made a plan. Clearly, he already had ideas about the volcanos. An introduction to some of Washington's other alpine treasures seemed in order. It was easy to choose Cascade River Road.
Late last November, with the onset of the monsoons and incredible powder runs on Mt Snoqualmie stoking my fire for skiing, I meditated over Green Fred and hatched a plan. Here it is:
Cascade Pass -> Cache Col -> Art's Knoll -> Hurry Up Peak -> S Glacier -> Yawning Glacier -> Cascade Pass.
It's a beautiful little jaunt around Magic Mountain along with a wonderful descent of the S Glacier; it's a Magic S Loop; Hurry Up: It's da Magic SLoop.
Dan and I left the Eldorado Trailhead at 5 am and hiked Cascade River Road. Thank you, NPS, for the foot bridges over the washouts. We booted continuous snow from the end of the road to Cascade Pass with two very short intermissions. Above Cascade Pass, there was clearly fresh snow on Mixup Arm. Hopefully not too much - or, hopefully it got zapped a little on Monday above the clouds while Seattle was still gray.
Climbing the roll after the traverse on the arm, the snow had been zapped, but there was still a lot of fresh under there. It felt as deep as two feet in places. I was really glad that the suface had such a great freeze after the clear night.
We skied some good corn and a little breakable crust to Kool Aid Lake. Then we skinned to Art's Knoll. Below Plan B Couloir by 11 am, we were actually ahead of my schedule. How did that happen? 
Jason and Sam's couloir looked great. Too bad that we didn't have time to yoyo Hurry Up, still concerned about a possible slurpee death. Plan B Couloir is sweet but short. Dan really liked the views. We failed to notice anything near 55 degrees en route to the summit ridge.
The question of the day and the crux of Da SLoop: How is the snow on the S Glacier? Dan absolutely shredded the first roll and made it look like great corn. I seemed to break through the crust with every turn, but not too badly. I might have to try a pair of these fatter skis. We played things a bit conservatively since the snow was about two feet deep under the crust, but the crust seemed strong.
S Glacier is a beautiful descent and the views with Trapper Lake are stunning. Nice pick, Skoogs and Andreas.
We skied a gully on skier's right to gain access to the lower cirque. There was still fresh down to that elevation. While traversing a roll, I noticed that the crust was no longer strong, so I gave it a good stomp and watched a big wet slide roar over the cirque cliffs below me. Then Dan and I had sweet corn turns on the older snow left in the slide's wake.
Over Alliteration Col (betwixt Pelton Peak and Magic Mountain) to the Yawning Glacier: no problem. A mixed bag of breakable and old down the YG, a very nice slowly rising traverse without skins to Cascade Pass, and a descent on very sweet corn from Cascade Pass: what a way to end the day.
We traversed far skier's left from Cascade Pass. I thought we were in a continuous snow finger that would get us through the cliffs. "All right Dan, let's rip." We both hammered the steep corn until - Hit the brakes! - we were right above a moat and a waterfall. Sidestep up, one finger over, and we hammer the corn to the road.
How do you like the Cascades, Dan? 
We had another epic day with a bigger, steeper descent yesterday. Maybe Dan can share about that.
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« Last Edit: 06/21/07, 01:43 PM by skykilo »
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danhelmstadter
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the cascades are awsome mtns,,, taller than the rockies!! the snow is crappy though 
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curmudgeon
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... the snow is crappy though
It's better before the middle of June.
(A little bit better, anyways!!)
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skykilo
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I don't know, Tim. June is probably my favorite.
Here are a few pics (clickable for biguns):
Dan enjoys good snow from Cache Col.
Dan skis the first roll on the S Glacier; Trapper Lake and Mt Goode decorate the background.
Dan skins toward Alliteration Col, our tracks on the S Glacier visible. You can see where I got super-gnar and hucked a 'schrund.
There are more pictures in the directory, which you are temporarily free to browse.
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Charlie Hagedorn
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Great job on a beautiful pair of routes!
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Lisa
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As usual, superb alluring photos and great choice for an introduction to the Cascades!
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