Red(iculous) Mountain - 12.08.07

Still wondering why we went on this tour, but I decided I would not pass up any sunny days this year.  We needed a short drive, so Ben(jamin) and I decided to go check out what was up with the snow around Snoqualmie Pass.  We thought Red Mountain would at least be getting sun and have good views.  We didn't expect much else, and were rewarded with nothing more. 

We were able to skin from the parking lot to just before the typical boot pack up the last pitch.  There were creek crossings in Commonwealth, but nothing too bad, and we never took the skis off.  There is so little snow that we were able to follow the summer trail and switch backs most of the way.  Crampons were key up the face as most of the snow on red mountain is now at the bottom in the form of monster ice chunks and debris.  This left  an impressive rock garden and firm/slick snow pack.  We were skeptical of getting any skiing at all, but decided we could find a way down and there were a couple of less rocky pitches at the top and bottom. 

It was not a total bust - clear skies and a great view off the top made the trip worthwhile.  We even managed a dozen or more turns at a time between rock gardens.  The snow was firm, but there was 1-2" of snow on top that helped.  I would say most of the face right now is definitely a no fall zone, the exposed rocks were very nasty looking. 

When we got back down to commonwealth creek we skinned back up and kept them on all the way back to the Alpental road.   

We saw (3) climbers on top and a few snowshoers in the basin. 

Great exercise and it's always fun in the mountains, but I don't think I will be heading back to the pass until we get several more storms. 

More pictures here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/peter.spruance/20071208_RedMtn