June 2, 2002, W. Cady Ridge, Benchmark Mountain

The road was snow-free until the last 1/4 mile, blocked by a tree 1/4 mile before that (cleared by the time we returned). Pretty much continuous snow all the way, but too thin and bumpy to ski in the forest until openings above 4000'. The day started sunny, giving us great views of the Monte Cristos, Sloan, and Glacier Peak once we reached the top of the ridge; marine air was pushing in all day, though, so we eventually lost the higher peaks, but we kept mostly sun. The long tour out the ridge was on generally well-consolidated snow, refrozen overnight and softening nicely. On the return down the ridge from Benchmark, we did a run down toward W. Cady Creek, but the snow was unusually runneled (telemetry showed lots of rain 5 days earlier) and just mediocre to ski. The little runs down the bumps on the ridge were fun, however, on better snow. One of us was on waxless skis, the other on traditional skis with boots and skins as options for ascending; for this trip, with its many ups and downs and only moderate steepness, the waxless skis seemed to be the better choice.

Charles