February 16 Norse Peak / Bullion Basin

Headed out with Matt (freeheel4ever) to the Crystal mountain backcountry yesterday where we met up with Jon(graefjon) from Tacoma and, after making a wrong turn on the way up, Barrett (AlderB), also from Tacoma.

We headed up to Bullion Basin. We started by skiing the north facing slope in the basin hoping for some powder. We dug a 5 foot pit at the top and found some very solid snow. A layer sheared at about 8 inches down but only with a lot of effort on the shovel shear. No clear ice layers in that 5 feet of pit. The ski down from there was nice at top but quite variable down lower.

From there we headed up to the pass diving Bullion Basin from Union creek. We headed about 100 m south on the ridge and dropped off into what looked from above like a great slope to ski. Two nice turns up top followed by heinous mashed potatoes for the next 200 or so feet and that run was over.

We popped back over the pass and headed up to Norse Peak where we had been told by some other folks that they had found good conditions. Despite being a bit later in the day, it was still quite good. We skied the south facing aspect back down to the junction where people head up either to the pass or the north facing slope of Bullion Basin. Quite nice turns hear with a few inches of soft snow on top of a solid base all the way from top to bottom. No evidence of slides even late in the day as it warmed. So nice, it was worth a second lap before the ski back to the cars. By the end of the day, the slope was a bit skied out but overall not too bad. Rewarded as well at the top with some great views of Rainier over the clouds that had started to fill the valley below.

A nice day out there with a bunch of fellow TAYers.