Oct 27, 2007, Boston Basin
10/27/07
3154
5
Preston and I left the parking lot at milepost 20 on Cascade River Road with the goal of climbing and skiing Sahale via the Quien Sabe glacier. We knew we were in for a long approach before we could even think about skinning, but hey, its October. The great fall weather had our spirits soaring, and we were just happy to be out in the mountains on such a great day, with no one else around.
The road walk went quickly, and then the dance with the alder ensued, forcing me to push through the remnants of jet lag. Patchy snow began around 5100 feet, just prior to leaving the woods, and continued up till around 5900 feet, when there was finally more snow than rocks and we were able to put the skis on.
The approach had taken longer than anticipated, and wanting to get out of the woods before dark, we decided to leave the summit for another day. Instead of heading for the Boston-Sahale col, we climbed to just below the ridge under Sharkfin Tower at 7600 feet on the northern lobe of the Quien Sabe. From here we retraced our uptrack, yielding about 1700 vertical of skiing. The snow was variable -- pockets of wind-blown, grabby styrofoam intermingled with some hard pack and the occasional sweet spot of light snow.
Decent skiing conspired with the spectacular environs for a very enjoyable run. It was a beautiful day to take it all in from the basin with crisp air and vibrant autumn colors in the valley below. Another incredible day in our backyard playground...
The road walk went quickly, and then the dance with the alder ensued, forcing me to push through the remnants of jet lag. Patchy snow began around 5100 feet, just prior to leaving the woods, and continued up till around 5900 feet, when there was finally more snow than rocks and we were able to put the skis on.
The approach had taken longer than anticipated, and wanting to get out of the woods before dark, we decided to leave the summit for another day. Instead of heading for the Boston-Sahale col, we climbed to just below the ridge under Sharkfin Tower at 7600 feet on the northern lobe of the Quien Sabe. From here we retraced our uptrack, yielding about 1700 vertical of skiing. The snow was variable -- pockets of wind-blown, grabby styrofoam intermingled with some hard pack and the occasional sweet spot of light snow.
Decent skiing conspired with the spectacular environs for a very enjoyable run. It was a beautiful day to take it all in from the basin with crisp air and vibrant autumn colors in the valley below. Another incredible day in our backyard playground...
That was an awesome day; having that whole basin to ourselves was incredible! It kinda made me look forward to this spring and a fat snowpack with a low snowline (and a filled in NW face).
I think we ran into you on our way up as you were on your way down (late in the afternoon on the 27th) around 3800'.
Glacier conditions were spectacular on Sunday! Pretty sure we were the only ones up there. In some places, we walked through about a 0.5' to a foot of snow on our way up.
We made it to about 30 ft of the summit. But it turned icy and snow became pretty hard after the ridge traverse. Couldn't get a good arrest on the snow near the final summit block, 2000 foot run off and no ice screws..oh well the mountain isn't going anywhere.
Thought I'd add a picture of the summit!
Glacier conditions were spectacular on Sunday! Pretty sure we were the only ones up there. In some places, we walked through about a 0.5' to a foot of snow on our way up.
We made it to about 30 ft of the summit. But it turned icy and snow became pretty hard after the ridge traverse. Couldn't get a good arrest on the snow near the final summit block, 2000 foot run off and no ice screws..oh well the mountain isn't going anywhere.
Thought I'd add a picture of the summit!
author=jessicaj link=topic=8036.msg32197#msg32197 date=1193769645]
I think we ran into you on our way up as you were on your way down (late in the afternoon on the 27th) around 3800'.
Yep, that was you. We also saw two others earlier in the afternoon on their way up to the basin. They had tentative plans to do the West Ridge of Forbidden, so they probably headed off in that direction.
Glad you had a good climb Sunday!
Jessicaj: Which summit is that? I can't tell from the report. Good effort and way to stay cautious....
author=jessicaj link=topic=8036.msg32197#msg32197 date=1193769645]
I think we ran into you on our way up as you were on your way down (late in the afternoon on the 27th) around 3800'.
Glacier conditions were spectacular on Sunday! Pretty sure we were the only ones up there. In some places, we walked through about a 0.5' to a foot of snow on our way up.
We made it to about 30 ft of the summit. But it turned icy and snow became pretty hard after the ridge traverse. Couldn't get a good arrest on the snow near the final summit block, 2000 foot run off and no ice screws..oh well the mountain isn't going anywhere.
Thought I'd add a picture of the summit!
Sahale Peak...Pretty awesome place. Should have brought ice screws...next year!
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