 Turns-All-Year backcountry skiing in the Pacific NorthwestBackcountry Skiing and Snowboarding Trip Reports |
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| This old version of Trip Reports is no longer being updated. It is being kept as an archive of ~340 backcountry skiing trip reports posted from April 2001 through August 2002. The new version Trip Reports is where new trip reports are currently being posted; it also has copies of the ~340 older trip reports and is searchable. |
| June 2002 Trip Reports |
Fri.-Tues., June 21-25, 2002 Goat Rocks Wilderness, Washington: "For our annual June ski trip, Andy and I accessed the Goat Rocks from the west; the road was melted out to within half a mile of the Snowgrass Flats trailhead, and the trail was easy to follow through snow patches to the bridge (damaged by snow) over Goat Creek. Continuous snow on the flats across the bridge, but the trail was mostly melted out as it started up toward Snowgrass Flats. We lost it for good at 5000', started skiing at 5400', and found a great spot for base camp at 6200' just above Snowgrass Flats. Bands of trees provided shelter, running water was close by at the top of a waterfall which plunged down toward Snowgrass Flats, and we had an unobstructed view of Mt. Adams. Other than fog which moved in the second night, we had sun most of the time, which provided for great corn skiing and easy climbing with our waxless skis, but was very detrimental to the snowpack. When we arrived, most snow in the open around camp was runneled up to about 6500', and each day the runnels seemed to get deeper and be evident at higher elevation. Snow on the E side of the Crest, getting less intense sun exposure, didn't seem to deteriorate so rapidly. After setting up camp the first day, we skied up to a saddle just S of Ives Peak and then traversed over to the Crest, to try to answer the question of where we might find the best runs. The answer was "everywhere". The W slopes of the Old Snowy-Ives ridge were considerably melted out, especially on the steeper upper slopes, but still had a number of 1200-1500' runs back toward camp. The bowls on the E side of the ridge were still mostly snow, with 1500-2000' runs, and plenty of connections to allow easy travel between them. A nice run back down led to camp and dinner. The snow was slow in refreezing in the evening, and the waxing moon provided plenty of light for a 500' moonlight run. On the second day, we wanted to do the long run from the top of Old Snowy down into McCall Basin, so we skied up to a saddle just S of Old Snowy (100' bare on the W side), crossed the Crest to the E side, then skied N into upper McCall Basin and to the top of Old Snowy (last 20' bare). A steep wind-sculpted ridge led from the top down to the main run into the basin, which had several nice rolls and beautiful corn, with 2-4" soft and minimal suncups/runnels; we started skiing back up at about 5800' where the terrain became more gentle, but the snow continued down to at least 5200'. We crossed the Crest back to the W side just N of Old Snowy, where the bare Crest Trail led a couple of hundred feet down to snow and some shorter runs. Heading toward camp, a nice looking slope on the W side of Old Snowy begged to be skied, so more skiing up lead to another run, but then another slope closer to Ives appeared, this one demanding to be skied. This slope, on which we ended up doing a total of about 10 runs during our trip, had the best snow and line of all the runs on the W side, and was convienently located right below a saddle, just N of Ives, which we used to cross back from E of the Crest on the next two days. The moonlight ski in the evening was especially exciting because the snow was really refreezing and very fast. The third day dawned foggy, allowing a lazy morning in camp, but the cloud deck retreated to the west about 11am. We skied up to the saddle just S of Ives, then up a little S-facing bowl to the top of the snow, about 100' below the top of Ives. A scramble brought us to within 50' of Ives' summit, but plastic tele boots are not good rock shoes so we stopped there. We did two short steep runs in the bowl, then traversed over to the Crest to do a run on the E side of Ives. A very steep top section (steepest I have ever skied) led into a steep 800' section, then a couple of rolls down to about 6000'. We skied back up to the saddle just N of Ives and did another run into the same drainage (not as steep), then back up to the same saddle, over the Crest, and down our favorite W-side run to camp. After dinner, one more ski up for a sunset run on our favorite slope, making a 6000'+ day of skiing. On the morning of the fourth day, the snowpack was much more solidly refrozen than previous nights, but the sun was again shining from the outset, so we headed back to Old Snowy and the long McCall Basin run, crossing the Crest just N of Old Snowy. Morning sun had softened the snow, but not as much as on the previous run, so turns were not quite as good and we didn't descend as far. We skied back up McCall Basin and then traversed over to the saddle just N of Ives, doing a couple of shorter runs along the way before crossing the Crest and taking our favorite run back to camp. One more sunset run on our favorite slope completed the day. The fifth day consisted of one more run on our favorite W-side slope, then heading down; we were able to ski down to about 5200', and shortly found the trail, now much more melted out. We skied across the valley flats, picking up meltwater-swollen Goat Creek above the bridge, but we were shocked to find the bridge...gone! Foundations were present on both banks, but no sign of the bridge. It hadn't appeared that damaged on the way in, but could it have collapsed? Wait, those foundation logs look kind of old...oh, there's the new bridge a couple of bends downstream. No fording required after all, looks like our problems are over! Nope...Ranger Rick and his crew appeared, having just cleared all the trees from the trail ahead of us (thanks!), but he was on a mission to punish any and all who might dare to try to get away with anything, including not filling out the wilderness permit at the trailhead. I explained to him that my practice was to fill out the permit at the end of the trip, so as to not let thieves know how long they had to break into my car or house. Although he admitted that there had been cases of this happening, he said he had no choice but to fine us $100. As he was trying to figure out how to fill out the form, I decided I had nothing to lose in pursuing my point of view, and eventually he began to waver, then admitted that he could understand my concerns, and finally abandoned the fine for a warning. From now on, I think I will fill out the permit on the way in, but not deposit the FS copy until the end of the trip. There are photos from days 1+2 of this trip here and from days 3+4 of this trip here." Charles (tay@turns-all-year.com) Sunday, June 23, 2002 Sauk Mountain: "Snow has melted out on the road to less than .5 miles from the trailhead. The trail itself is mostly clear except for occasional short sections of snow. There is a lot a very impressive avalanche debris, including a couple of large trees blocking the trailhead parking lot. Chris and I skied from near the east summit (5550') to the lake (4200'?) on great corn snow with minimal sun cups. At a band on trees 200' above the lake we took the skis off to cross the melted out 'cliff' section. Then skied down to the lake which is mostly frozen, but getting a ring of beautiful aqua water around the edges. After basking in the sun for a few minutes we booted back up to within a couple of hundred feet below the west summit then did another lap. As we head back to our starting point (where we'd left the approach shoes and a pack), we passed a 30-35 degree headwall that caused us to do another short lap ;-). Great easy access trip that should be good for a few more weeks." Russ Schwartz Sunday, June 23, 2002 Denman Chutes - Tatoosh Backcountry, Mt. Rainier NP: "Two old timers showed with designs on the Paradise Glacier. but cloud cover made that destination seem a less that optimum choice. In that we knew the Pinnacle, Plummer and Denman chutes were in fine form, having skied the area the previous Sunday, we headed back there. Snow was stable with anywhere from 3 to 8 inches of corn on top. Cupping still quite bearable with the soft surface snow. We were tempted to go to boot crampons in the steeper chute sections of climbing as much of the time we only got a 2 to 4 inch purchase while booting up. Still skiable coverage in all three chutes but Plummer (the center one) is getting pretty narrow, for us non-hotdogs. We were surprised with the amount of snow loss in just one week. If you've been meaning to do these chutes this year, better nail them pretty soon or you'll need to wait 'til next spring. Pics available for review here." Ron Jarvis Fri.-Sat., June 21-22, 2002 Mt. Adams South West Chutes: "Walked in about 3 miles of road, and camped just below timberline @ 6,000'. Woke at 4:30 and left at 5. Summited via the South Slog at 11:00. Dropped off the summit on skiable wind affected snow, crossed the summit plateau, and began the S.W. Chutes on PERFECT corn. We couldn't of timed it better on this very pleasing ski route. Sustained pitch and long length. Snow turned a bit down at the moraine, so we turned up the speed and spewed creamed corn on everything. Made the traverse back to camp with 2 dismounts and a slight uphill contouring a basin. Dropped in for more turns off the low corniced ridge above timberline, and back to camp...A 6,300' ski!! Personally, I'll be back to ski this area again, possibly gaining timberline directly from Morrison Cr." toby tortorelli Thursday, June 20, 2002 Mt. St. Helens: "Beautiful day, slightly windy. Camped at Climber's Bivouac, left at 7 a.m. and was back at 2:30. Didn't spend much time on the windy rim. Skied far to the west of Monitor Ridge. Absolutely prime corn for 4,000 vf w/o removing skis (w/o a break either); 1 mile traverse back to climber's trail across the Lava flow, using GPS and Ron Jarvis' MSH waypoints to BV5. abc" Andy Carey (careyab@yahoo.com) Fri.-Wed., June 14-19, 2002 Ptarmigan Traverse: "The Ptarmigan is in great shape for skiing right now. Not alot of turns, but it is definitely faster and more efficient than hiking. The snow was surprisingly consolidated given the streak of hot weather last week and some dry camp spots are opening up along the way. There is however lots of goop? on the snow (pollen, worm guts, who know?), that caused some difficulty sliding and made skins unusable (they just wouldn't stick). Lots of avalanche debris along the way, so make sure the weather is cool. Including an enormous avalanche in upper Bachelor cr. (class 4+!)" Daddy-O Sunday, June 16, 2002 Mt. Adams: "Party of three telemarkers made the trip down to Mt. Adams on Saturday for an early start on Sunday. With the fair weather report there were 30 parties registered to climb. Road was gated at the 500 spur at Morrison Cr. (el 4600') CG leaving an extra 3 mile approach. A clear 5 a.m. start via Suksdorf Ridge got us to 10600' just below Piker's Peak at 12:30. One of us continued on with boot crampons to the summit. The other two beat a slow retreat to 9200' with clouds and wind. Snow was icy crust, unbreakable to 9000'. Below, snow and weather improved markedly. Buttery corn on the Crescent Glacier descent route down to ~5800 and getting a little sloppy-grabby below. Coverage was good to the road end and beyond. Overall a very good (and tiring) day. There is enough (discontinuous) snow and debris on the gated section of road to keep it closed for a while yet. Call the RS for access updates." T. Moate Sunday, June 16, 2002 Steamboat Prow/Interglacier: "Continuous snow from where the trail leaves the river at around 5400'. Clouds blowing through at the surface all day. We started down around 2:30pm, a little soft with funky melt patterns up high, then better corn on the lower half. Snow very dirty everywhere. Pictures." Freshie Sunday, June 16, 2002 Plummer Peak - Tatoosh Backcountry, Mt. Rainier NP: "After such a great trip to Foss Peak last weekend we figured to stick with the Tattoosh again and have our way with Plummer and the Pinnacle Chute. Overcast skies prevented the slush from becoming a factor so we just had sweet corn with minimal cupping. Saw 3 skiers the entire day, about a mile away doing the backside of Castle. Pics available for review here." Ron Jarvis Sunday, June 15, 2002 Coleman-Deming, Mount Baker, WA: "After a quick bivy in the road, three of us headed up the gullies to the right of the Heliotrope Ridge Trail around 5am and traversed onto the Coleman Glacier at around 6500 feet. The snow was surprisingly easy to access from the back of the parking lot and the bushwacking, and movement from patch of snow to patch of snow, very minimal for mid-June. We stuck to skier's right of the main creek until the top of the first climb where we ramped off left towards the glacier. Ski crampons were helpful in the lower part of the climb and on the steeper parts of the glacier which transitioned from firm spring corn to mush depending on aspect. The route seemed well bridged, although we stuck close to the boot track and kept our skis on. Two of our party remained at the col and only one solo member continued to the top of the Roman Wall switching to crampons and axe for the top 200 feet or so. The upper part of the wall made for very firm skiing(huge kudos to the Coleman Headwall skiers - I could have mixed a margarita in my pack with the shaking I got) quickly changing to soft sluffy snow as the aspect changed to the west about 400 feet down. A small schrund guarded the bottom of the headwall heading on to the Easton so it seemed advisable to traverse off and hop crusties down the small rib used as the primary ascent route for folks on the Coleman-Deming instead of continuing down the steepening slope aiming for the bridge at the centre of the slot. After re-grouping, our party happily skied mush down the balance of the Coleman until on the final slopes below the camp spot at 7000 feet. Here the snow developed a firmer base under a thin layer of corn, and this made for easy turns all the way to the strip of trees near the parking lot. The exit gully made for a very pleasant exit avoiding the boot-pack down the main hiking trail. We lengthened our trip by getting lost in the forest for 15 minutes and popped out near the outhouses around 3:40pm. The trailhead road will be fully melted out by the time you read this.... " Jonathan Saturday, June 15, 2002 Heliotrope/Marmot Ridge, Mt. Baker: "Skied great soft snow (3000 vert.) from the intersection of Heliotrope/Marmot Ridges straight down, to within a 10 min. walk through the forest, of the outhouses at the trailhead. Only a few people here, but many on the main trail/route....Ben, (cascadeclassics.com) and friends skied the Coleman Headwall from the summit. An amazing ski! Check out his website....." toby tortorelli Saturday, June 15, 2002 Camp Muir, Mt. Rainier N.P.: "Beautiful day; climbed with Regine and Brancha towards Camp M. (B's 5th trip in 6 days; the 76 year old is going to summit this summer ...) but stopped at 7900 at 11 a.m. cuz the upper field was so postholed. Skied down 3,000 vft of perfect corn --1st to Pebble Creek, climbed out and across the ridge, then down to Golden Gate and thence to Paradise River/Road. Met Gary on the road. abc " Andy Carey Wednesday, June 12, 2002 Grand Park - 3rd Burroughs Mountain, Mt. Rainier N.P.: "Spectacular weather and snow conditions enabled me to make it all the way to 3rd Burroughs (and back), the longest day trip I have ever done. FS73 was melted out to within a quarter mile of the Eleanor Lake trailhead, and the snow was continuous to 3rd Burroughs, except for one 100' carry over the saddle out of Berkeley Park and a couple of spots of all-terrain skiing. All the snow in the open had frozen solid overnight, whereas in the forest it was firm but not frozen. A great thing about this tour is that virtually all the forested sections are heavily gladed, so it is possible to avoid most of the bumpy tree snow and have good runs coming back down. I skied the general route of the trail, past Lake Eleanor, over a small ridge to the first big meadow, here and there finding some old ski tracks. Then I started up along the unnamed creek which drains the NW side of Grand Park and climbed moderate glades to the plateau of Grand Park. From there it was about 1.5 miles of glorious XC skiing SW across the plateau on very fast snow (smoothest I have seen there), with the whole north face of Mt. Rainier looming ahead in a perfectly clear sky. Still on the route of the trail, I descended from the S tip of Grand Park to Cold Basin saddle through the sometimes tight trees on sun-softened snow, and then entered the dreaded Dark Forest section, where the route traverses into the valley of Lodi Creek near Affi Falls. Navigation-wise, this is the crux of the tour, because missing the route on the return would mean lots of unpleasant exploring to find it, and there are few good landmarks on the return, just a lot of similar-looking gladed forest. So, I marked the route. Not with fluorescent tape, but with ski scratches and mini-turns in the dirty snow to leave pure white markers. Skiing up Lodi Creek was great, smooth fast snow and ever-increasing vistas as glades turned into avalanche clearings and eventually the openness of Berkeley Park. I took an hour lunch break in the warm sun by the last clump of trees in Berkeley Park, then skied up to the saddle, carried across, and skied into Granite Creek Park. Once there, I had to decide whether to try for 3rd Burroughs from the 2nd-3rd saddle (the way I have always done it), or more directly by crossing Granite Creek Park and climbing up the little N-facing pocket glacier under 3rd Burroughs. Snow conditions had never encouraged me to try the latter before, but they seemed good this day so that's what I did. By this time on such a sunny day, snow on all aspects had softened, and the N-facing slopes were in good shape for climbing with my waxless skis. I took a little tour around double-topped 3rd Burroughs, skiing over to look down a nice slope which drops toward Glacier Basin, and watched little ants going up and down Interglacier before going to the true summit and finding a warm rock on which to have another lunch. And a nap. It was so pleasant (a big contrast to 5 days earlier) that I stayed for 2 hours, starting down at 4pm. The ski down into Granite Creek Park was pretty good; on the pocket glacier the snow was actually excellent (2-3'' softened), but I had chosen to bring my narrow skis (Karhu XCD) for their speed, not their ability to carve, and it showed a bit. Nice gliding traverse back around Granite Creek Park, up to saddle, and a great run down into Berkeley Park. Near the top of that run, on beautifully consolidated dusty snow, Andy's and my turns from 5 days earlier now stood a foot above the snowpack as pure white arcs. Going down Lodi Creek was mostly a glide on snow which was already cooling and firming up, with several sections of turning through glades, when doubt and uncertainty set in about the Dark Forest section. I know this section pretty well now, but if it hadn't been for my marks, I still wouldn't have been sure. But there they were, 4 parallel white lines in the dirty snow saying "here", a very welcome sight. A traversing climb led to Cold Basin saddle, where I decided to ski the short distance into the upper meadows of Cold Basin, and found complete tranquility. Pure blue sky, 6 o'clock sun on the dark green trees, a gentle breeze, and the only sound to be heard was bird song - I didn't want to leave. But I also didn't want to be skiing after dark, so I skied up to the S tip of Grand Park (somewhat unpleasant due to tight trees), then back across it. The snow had softened so it was not as fast as the frozen morning snow, but it still wasn't bad. Entering the forest fringe for the drop down to the unnamed creek, I scored a direct hit on the best run down - 400' of glades with the most perfect turning of the trip. To my surprise, the creek bed was so well filled with smooth, fast snow that it was possible to ski right down it as far as necessary, avoiding sections of bumpy forest snow. Even the last section of forest, from Lake Eleanor to the road, was largely skiable due to the smooth snow in glades. Got to the car at 8:45, which made it a 14 hour day. My measurements on a 7.5 min quad suggested about 9 miles and 4000' to 3rd Burroughs, with another 1000' or so on the way back. There are some photos from this trip here." Charles (tay@turns-all-year.com) Tuesday. June 11, 2002 Hidden Lakes: "Road open to within 1/2 mile of trailhead. Bad tree pollen problems in upper bowls." Bryan Scott Monday, June 10, 2002 Sahale: "Cascade river road open to mile post 20 (Eldorado trailhead). Nearly a 3 mile walk to trailheads at Boston Basin and Sahale. Road covered with mega avalanche debris. Not likely to open before end of July. Bad tree pollen problems on Sahale, and lower slopes." Bryan Scott Sunday, June 9, 2002 Mt. Shuksan: "11 hr car-to-car complete ski ascent/descent of the Sulphide. Had the summit to ourselves after about 50-60 others choked-up the summit gully. We skied from the tippy top! Quite a rarity, I think. Road open to 1/2 mile from TH. Excellent day trip!" Sam Avaiusini Sunday, June 9, 2002 Foss Peak - Tatoosh Backcountry, Mt. Rainier NP: "Morrison and I headed for Rainier with designs on Plummer peak in the Tatoosh, but world famous Rainier ski guide, Gary Vogt urged us the opposite direction towards Foss Peak. Turned out to be a great call. Smooth, stable snow from the summit on down to the road via Sunshine Creek drainage. Pics available for review here. A ranger was kind enough to pick us up on our hike back to our car at Reflection Lakes." Ron Jarvis Sunday June 9, 2002 Goat Mountain, Mt. Baker backcountry: "Having turned down one ski invite (Mt. Shuksan, 7000 vertical feet, way too arduous), I trundled myself an hour up the Mt. Baker Highway to Goat Mountain. I'd been watching the mountain pass webcams, seeing squally snow, so I figured maybe I'd find some north-facing powder and be the envy of my peers this sunny June day. With no one along to roust me out of bed I slept late, but departed the summer trailhead (2400 ft) at 8:00. Found patchy snow at 3900, steady snow at 4100 in the beginnings of the alder at the base of the old burn scar, an inch of fresh wet snow covering the pollen, insect parts and Gobi desert dust (or whatever) at 4500, deepening gradually to 4 to 8 inches up high. The recent snow must've been heavily wind affected as it fell, judging by the fairly portentous fresh cornices. I had the whole mountainside to myself, summiting (6700 ft) around noon. There were spectacular views to the Picket Range, Spickard and Redoubt, Sefrit, Shuksan, over the foothills and out to sea, and north into the Coast Range across the Fraser Valley. Nice. I had intended to drop down the nice north-facing couloir which separates the two summits of Goat, following its narrow, serpentine glacier down to the Twin Lakes road, but my escape route down the road looked almost entirely melted out-certainly not skiable-so I dropped south instead, playing with the sluffs for a couple of thousand feet into the next drainage, then climbed up to near the ridge and dropped down a lesser distance, then (with some misgivings) climbed to the summit once more, meeting a couple of postholing randonne skiers (who seemed to find my use of climbing skins perplexing). Finally, feeling somewhat worn out, I blasted down the bowl and snaked cautiously through the alder thickets, had my first fall of the day at 4200 feet before de-skiing at 4100. Too tired to change out of my ski boots, I tripped, stumbled and grumbled down the endless switchbacks to the car. My altimeter claimed 6900 vertical feet for the day, just shy of the amount involved in an ascent of Shuksan, and I felt every single one of them. I am not like some on this board who routinely put up superhuman numbers, and I spent a fair bit of time leaning on my poles or sprawled helplessly in the snow sucking down liquids and eating peanut butter sandwiches. The fact that virtually every bit of the day was spent on south facing terrain above treeline made a difference, too: I've got some interesting bits of sunburn, including a patch on the roof of my mouth (indicating that I was gasping desperately for breath much of the day). This made for an interesting time at the dentist's on Monday. The snow was, in a word, gluey, but good fun if you kept your speed up. Sluffs were limited to the fresh snow, although some of those new cornices gave me pause. Snowpack is holding up well, for mid-June: still good coverage down to about 3000 feet on north slopes, 4100 on south. My view up toward Hannegan Pass suggests snow intermittent on that trail, with steady coverage beginning several miles before the pass. All will be melting fast this week, with the first real hot spell of the year now upon us. Enjoy." Mark June 3-9, 2002 Washington, Thielson, Crater Lk., McLoughlin: "Started out skiing Crystal (done) to get used to the new "Mega Bangs" and then went down to Oregon. Nice weather throughout the trip, as we started north and traveled south.....Set out at 6 to ski the North Face of Mt. Washington under a thin high cloud with a sun halo. Snow from the trailhead at the PCT, and perfect corn from the top to the bottom of the face. 6 hrs. RT......Watched "Star Wars" in Bend, and then drove to Diamond Lk., where Bailey had more snow cover than Thielson, but we had already skied Bailey, so we decided on T.... Set out at 6 and went up to the North Col, very nice, and skied from the highest possible point.(South side was burnt out) Again, PERFECT corn. 6 hrs. RT.... Skied at Crater Lk. the next day. Short Runs, great scerenery, and a bit firm. Hard Freeze that night.....Then wen't down to Lk. Of The Woods for a ski on McLoughlin. Set out at 6, then skied from the summit on PERFECT corn snow. 7 hrs. RT. Needless to say, it was a PERFECT freeze/thaw cycle during our trip." tobytortorelli Fri.-Sun., June 7-9, 2002 Teanaway/Ingalls Lake area: "After sorting through a seemingly dozen or more options for a three day trip with weather being a moderator, we felt that heading to the eastern side would be a wise choice. This was however somewhat false hope.On Friday we packed up gear and skis at 1200 or so from the Teanaway trailhead, the road was dry and clear with 3 or four other cars in parking lot. Cool with scattered clouds spitting snow and ice. Trail clear for a half mile or less then booted up to Ingalls pass with snow crusty and well frozen, felt no need to bother with skins. Lots of rain? runnels and solid areas of ice/crust. Cool in mid 30's as we dropped packs for a break at Ingalls pass. Dropped over edge in hard crusty snow with too heavy of packs reminding me of why I prefer to day ski with packs that weigh less than I do or seem so at least. Snow obviously bombproof with scanty fresh powder blown about by the 20-25mph gusts blowing about. The clouds lowered and the snow and wind picked up. Having made grand plans to head over to the base of Stuart to climb and ski something beyond what our comon sense and wifes would want us to do, reality hit us as we made camp in darkening skys fairly steady wind and snow, we made camp in between some rock butresses overlooking Stuart pass near Ingalls lake. Sat morning looked no different except for the 2-4 inches of snow that had been whipped about. Below 6800 ft the snow surpisingly softened a bit and we had pretty fair sking in the bowl below S. Ingalls peak/face. Big cornices still hanging and a bit icey to skin above that 6800 foot level, but the snow had softened despite the wind and provided fairly pleasent turning so we played and yo-yoed a bit. Turned the corner to ski the ridge west and the cloud deck lowered winds picked up and it started to snow pretty darn heavy, along with vis down to 100 meters or less we headed back to tent, hot tea and the long twilight of a mid June camp. Sunday woke to life as it should be. Patches of blue a fresh 2 inches on top of a solid yet softening base. Skied aspects around upper Ingalls basin, the 7300 ft point east of Ingalls. No signs of snow instability, easy skinning on even the steeper climbs, No pinwheels or even surface hissers. No other skiers seen as we had our way with what ever one wanted to ski. Back over Ingalls pass the snow had softened nicely. Easy turning with still plenty of snow for choices. Dropped packs for a couple of short 600 ft Yo-yos on some steep sun sweetened corn shots off the skiers left ridge going down. Should be another week or so of easy shots on front side before needing to move over the ridge to find more snow. Take care" C. Wiley Sunday, June 9, 2002 Tatoosh Pinnacle saddle, Mt. Rainier N.P.: "Many people in the north bowl. A southside drop from the saddle showed that there has been consolidation since the last time I was out (2 weeks before); there were few surface slides A few pinwheels. It looked like there was maybe one-half to two inches of recent snow, enough to fill in most of the micro-gulleys." d koelle Saturday, June 8, 2002 Chinook Pass: "Morning ,Don't ask why I'm up at this hour on Sunday but I am.(Damn ski dreams !) Old gang DD ,Gary ,Bob,Maxine and Robie shamefully destroyed Chinook Pass . Snowing at 3500' as we drove up 4"to 6" new at top and snowing . Robie could not wait and cajoled everybody to ski imediately down the "Valley of no return" to the American river.Not a bad plan as snow would deteriate. We worked our way back up and down across west facing glades of Naches to Little Tipso bowl . We then decided to climb up high under cliff bands and do Gary's "Pack run " down to little Tipsoo. Note: the first time we did this years ago Gary wondering where the fall line was in flat light thew his brand new bright yellow pack down. A good fall line demo and a not so new pack..Any way back to the end as we skied up around to the south shoulder of Tipsoo bowl under a bit of sun here and there. Our last run was on heated spring snow down to the first road hairpin through "Maxine's Gulley". There I hitchiked back to get the car up at the top. We tore up most everything on West side visible from the road . It was a very nostalgic trip.Spitting snow as we left .Lots of coverage still . Our original intent was to Ski ROBO 6567 but because of reduced vis and wondering of the new snow stickiabilty we skied what we could right away. On the steepest parts our turns wiped away lots .underlying snow was not frozen hard as we guessed . I took one fall where I slid 20' on harder crust . Have a good ski day ." Robie Friday, June 7, 2002 Sunrise/3rd Burroughs Mountain, Mt. Rainier N.P.: "The forecast was for increasing cloudiness, 4000' freezing level, and chance of 2-4" of snow in the afternoon, and it turned out to be a pretty accurate prediction. Rain on the drive up 410, but dry as we drove in the White River Road, and the Rainier rain shadow seemed to be working its magic again as the morning became mostly sunny for us as we climbed up to Sunrise. Excellent coverage on the Sunrise meadows, which the plows had not yet reached, and solidly frozen - 4" walkable crust, with a dusting of new snow above 6500'. Skied up to Frozen Lake saddle, utilizing strands and patches of the new snow to enable our waxless skis to climb. Hiked to the top of 1st Burroughs (steep, hard snow), then skied down to 1st-2nd saddle and up toward 2nd - had to hike near the top because of firm snowpack when it became steeper. Skied down 2nd Burroughs to 2nd-3rd saddle and the up the 1000' climb to the top of 3rd Burroughs, with clouds drifting about and lots of great views of the Mountain. The snow on the whole route was so fast that we made 3rd Burroughs at 11:30. Very windy on top of 3rd, and lots of clouds and precipitation to the W and N of us. Skied down a few hundred feet from the top of 3rd to have lunch in the sun, but soon 20-minute blizzard #1 began pushing in so we skied back down to the 2nd-3rd saddle in the horizontal graupel, then down very firm slopes into Granite Creek Park (too much hiking to go back over 2nd and 1st Burroughs). Much less windy there, so we had a sun break on a friendly rock until the clouds returned. Skied up to the saddle to Berkeley Park as 20-minute blizzard #2 set in, but it had passed by the time we were ready to drop into Berkeley Park, and we had a great run on nicely softened snow there. As we climbed up Berkeley Park, heading for Frozen Lake saddle, 20-minute blizzard #3 came roaring in, with heavy snowfall, howling winds and intense drifting snow. This 20-minute blizzard ended up lasting about 4 hours and deposited about 4" of a powdery snow/graupel mix; the winds enabled any runnels and cups to be filled in and covered, so the entire trip back was on a very nice skiing surface. Climbed up the slopes above the Sunrise buildings for a last wintery run in the powder, then made our way back down to the car (2" of new snow on it) as the snow stopped and sunshine and blue sky reappeared. A great, long, isolated tour with relentless spectacular views of Mt. Rainier. There are some photos from this trip here." Charles (tay@turns-all-year.com) Tuesday, June 4 - Wednesday, June 5, 2002 Windy Pass, Snoqualmie Pass: "Time for my annual ski camping trip with my daughter, it seemed like there should be enough snow at Windy Pass to do some XC skiing. Found the Cold Creek Road blocked unexpectedly low (just past crossing of Mill Creek), about 3 miles short of Windy Pass. Recited the bad weather forecast and my bare road prediction, but Tahoma was determined to get to Windy Pass. About 2 of the 3 miles to Windy Pass were skiable (some was strips of snow connected by all-terrain skiing), with a long walk in the switchback section. Set up camp in the trees right at foggy Windy Pass, had a good evening ski over to Olallie Meadow and connecting trails. The formerly groomed trails were in good shape for XC skiing, but everything else was horribly runneled - the worst I have ever seen in that area. Great coverage up into Silver Peak bowl, but the turning looked to be bad due to the runnels. It rained quite a bit during the night, but stopped before we got up, and then sunbreaks appeared and enlarged during the day. The Snoqualmie scum (pollen?) was out in force, forcing a base cleaning session to restore glide to the skis - does anyone know how to prevent that stuff from building up on ski bases?" Charles (tay@turns-all-year.com) Friday, May 31 - Monday, June 3, 2002 Eldorado: "Our original plan was to ski the Isolation traverse from Elsorado Peak to Pyramid Peak. That plan changed quickly. Rick, Dwayne, Jeff and I packed our fifty pount loads (with skis atop)up the 5400 feet of elevation from Cascade River road to the Inspiration Glacier looking for fine snow (and inspiration). Instead we found some of the worst snow conditions we'd seen in years. Frozen crust in the morning with about an hour of firm corn snow by 10 AM, yeilding to deep, unconsolidated mush soon thereafter. On day two we found ourself attempting to access the col that is the key to crossing to Backbone ridge. Instead we found ourselves betwext and between. The early morning ice crust was on a slope steep enough that using even ski crampons was questionable, yet resulted in breaking through to thigh deep mush when attempting to boot step it. We retreated chastened, but not defeated. We spent the rest of the time exploring the Inspiration ice cap, making our way back to the car, clean clothes, a... [NOTE: incomplete report received]" gordon thomson Sunday, June 2, 2002 Peak 6567, Chinook Pass Backcountry: "Stable snow, except for the cornices. There's two chunks of snow as big as boxcars that fell off the Naches east side cornices. Nice Corn. Slippery on the side hills (of which there were many, getting from the highway over to the peak, AKA Robo Peak by some). Still lots of snow on the north side of the peak except of a short dirt patch near the 5700 ft saddle. There's also still some snow on the south side of the peak towards Dewey Lk, but it's the thinnest on that side... some dirt to get across here and there but a good line or two left. Careful on the summit, it's also heavily corniced in the east side and it's hard to tell from above. Dewey Lk still frozen over. Pics for coverage and stability input viewable here." Ron Jarvis Sunday, June 2, 2002 Mt. Baker - Squak Glacier Route: "Since our ascent of Baker via the Squak Glacier last year, my regular touring partner and I had discussed a 1 day ascent of Baker from the parking lot instead of an overnighter. With the high pressure system building in, we planned the trip about 1 week in advance. Not knowing what conditions were like, we really wanted the 3rd person for safety on the glacier so we contacted our other touring partner Scott to see if he was at all interested. He was, but not in doing a straight shot from the parking lot. Instead, he and Derek took off Saturday afternoon and camped just East of Crag View at 6,400 ft. Ben and I planned on meeting them at 5:30 or 6:00 am at their camp and continue on to the summit. Well, we got somewhat of a late start from Seattle. By the time we were 2.5 miles from the trailhead (due to snow coverage blocking access) it was 2:00 AM. We got our gear situated and left at 3:00 AM. Made it to the parking lot within 40 minutes and were at their camp at 6,400 ft. by 6:30 AM. " David Coleman (dcoleman29@yahoo.com) Sunday, June 2, 2002 Easton/Squak Glacier, Mt. Baker: "David and I thought it might be entertaining to summit Baker from the parking lot.Ê Yeah right.Ê The road off Baker Lake Road which leads to the Schreiber Meadows trailhead ... and lots of snowmobile traffic ...Ê is open to about 2 miles (400vf) of the parking lot.Ê We left the road at 3am.Ê There is some skinnable snow but really it's a gravel slog until about 2/3 of a mile from the parking lot.Ê From there we took the Railroad Grade up to Beacon Rock.Ê There we met up with two freinds who had camped the night before.Ê We left Beacon Rock on skis around 7am.Ê We did rope up about two rolls later before an area we knew would have crevaces. And sure enough around the top of the 4th roll we went climber's right around the first easily visible crevace.Ê Climbers left is the smarter route.Ê As we were crossing around 9:30 or 10am the snow was just beginning to soften and we did see some cracking as each person crossed one by one.Ê Otherwise we ran into no other serious cracks on the normal route.Ê The Roman Wall was still firm and made for great cramponing.Ê The shrund there is not an issue.Ê And truth be told ... the Park Glacier headwall off the summit down to Boulder Glacier looked to have good snow as well.Ê We summitted around 1:30pm and hung around till 2:30 then began down.Ê The snow was firm and somewhat icy at the top and on Roman Wall, athough with my extremely dull edges i was still able to dig in, and wet and slushy at the bottom.Ê In between was excellent spring skiing.Ê Enjoy!" Ben Kaufman (benjzk@hotmail.com) Sunday, 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 (tay@turns-all-year.com) Saturday, June 1, 2002 Mt. Shuksan, Sulfide Glacier: "Shuksan is in prime condition. We left the car at 0520 after spending the night where snow stopped car travel, about 1 mile from the trialhead. After that, there's about another mile or so of walking before there's enough snow for skiing (right before the road turns and starts to head up the old clear cut). There were two parties of two ahead of us (one on the mountain already, and one started at 0040). The weather was perfect, with firm/hard snow on the ski up and silky smooth corn for much of the ski down. We climbed the summit pyramid after seeing the two other parties climb up and down and arrived ca. 1130. It is steep, and I'm not sure why I took my skis all the way to the top.... I put the skis on about 100' down from the summit, but didn't manage to turn for another 100-200'. The skiing was excellent, and, surprisingly for a beautiful June day, we had the slopes all to ourselves. On the way down around the gap just below the glacier we saw at least 30+ climber in several groups heading up to spend the night. We did not feel that ropes were necessary on the glacier, but one might be nice if you want extra security for climbing the summit pyramid. Shuksan is a BEAUTIFUL mountain!" Phil Higuera (w/ Paul C.) (phiguera@u.washington.edu) Saturday, June 1, 2002 Snowking: "The road is blocked by a washout about 1.5 miles from the "trail"-head. Turns this from a big day trip into somewhat of an epic. The climber/fisherman trail is snow-free up to about 4,000 ft, where continuous snow starts with very little transition zone in-between. This is nice because this is where the forest gets a little less steep. A compass and altimeter were a big help in navigating the snowy forest up to the saddle. Skip and slogged upwards and upwards and upwards, and then upwards some more. We pretty much nailed the saddle with only a little elevation loss (looks tough to do it w/o dropping a little). At this point, the views started to open up. The ridge romp over to Cyclone lake is glorious, though very upsy-downsy. On the way back we found that we could easily skip some of the ups and downs, and on a return trip I'd try to bypass even a little more of it. We opted to climb clockwise around the lake, despite clear tracks coming down to the other side of the lake. Looked less committing and given our 6:30AM start we knew we'd be running into some soft and maybe sliding snow. This route went with no difficulty - plenty of room to avoid the very striking cornices on this ridge. Up up up and up some more. Skip was starting to slow down, but I had summit fever. But I tried to rest up and let him catch up often - seemed wise on such a remote trip. We made the summit a little over 8 hours after leaving the car, which included a few nice breaks to regroup a bit. In the future I'd leave the ice axe and crampons at home on a warm day this time of year. We hung on the summit for a little while and headed down at about 3:30. I set of a small wet pocket slab right below the summit on a little wind roll, but otherwise the snow seemed quite stable all the way down. Due the lateness of the day, the snow was a bit on the mushy side, but the turns were great nonetheless. No deep mush anywhere - we always had a very firm base. The skiing was fantastic right down to the wooded saddle, and passable from there to where we hung our lightweight hiking boots from a tree. It would suck to miss this critical point where the snow ends and the trail begins - altimeter and compass once again came in handy. We stumbled to the van at about 9PM, milking the day rather well with many strategic rest stops. We saw one skier heading down as we went up, and a group of three settling into camp at cyclone lake as we headed out. Otherwise it seemed like there was no one else in the world for this day." Jim Saturday, June 1, 2002 Mt. Ruth, Mt. Rainier NP: "5 of us headed up from White river Campground , sunny skies and snow on the trail. Skinable snow didn't last long as trail traversed along sunny slopes. Minor avalanche debris in 3 spots slowed us down a bit. We were able to skin up about 1/4 mile before entering the basin. Excellent coverage. A ranger we met said no crevasse was showing on interglacier yet and skiing was very good. We stuck to our plan and climbed up to Ridge and then east and up to Mt. Ruth (Take your camera). Roger and Ken summited the rest of us ran out of time /gas. Skiing on North aspects was very good soft corn but anything that had seen Morning sun was sweaty and deep slush. Skied back out and down to somewhat cleared trail - thanks to Ranger work party. " Robie Saturday, June 1, 2002 Sahale Mountain: "Sahale is one of the premier, daytrip-accessible viewpoints in the North Cascades, with views to the wildest mountain scenery I've seen in the lower forty-eight and a worthy ski tour whenever the Cascade River Road is open, the snow reasonably stable and the weather reliably good. There are a few drawbacks, of course: the 6500 ft. climb, for one, and the approach walk along the gated portion of the road, which together insure a long day. Last year I skied Sahale and Mt. St. Helens on successive days; this year, markedly older and more decrepit, I have turned the page on such foolishness. Within a couple of hours of making arrangements for the trip, I was hit with a sudden sledgehammer of a cold. Ah, misery. Three of us drove from Bellingham the night before, sleeping in the otherwise-deserted Mineral King campground. Another member of the party-one of those irritatingly upbeat early risers-drove out at some ungodly early hour of the morning, barely able to restrain his impatience as we stumbled blindly around shuffling gear and stuffing down various breakfasts. A fifth met us at the gate on the roadway, pickup truck impressively stuffed with climbing, skiing and biking gear. I guzzled coffee and sat hunched, blathering incoherently to myself, sniffling and coughing, until we got underway. The Cascade River Road remains gated at Eldorado Creek, an elevation of 2200 feet and a good three or four miles from the trailhead. The first mile or two is in good shape, with an occasional blowdown or bit of avalanche debris waiting for the appropriate public servants to do their thing. After the next gate-the usual closure this time of year-things deteriorated rapidly, with great swathes of mowed-down forest heaped high across the roadway and down into the valley. Soldier Boy Creek was particularly impressive, featuring a quarter mile scramble over giant piles of downed trees mixed with rock and snow. The skiing will be long gone before the park service opens the road to the trailhead this summer. We began skinning in the usual place, at 3400 feet just before the road's end, and made steady progress up onto Sahale Arm. Actually, the progress made by some of us was noticeably steadier than that made by others; I fell even further behind than normal, feeling unsteady and weak and having to stop at frequent intervals to dose myself with some sort of magical pharmacological concoction (entirely legal) which I'd brought along. At around 6000 feet we ran into a friend-another one of those early riser types-who'd set out before us, and was eschewing the summit in favor of skiing a couple of shorter laps before the snow softened too much. At 7000 feet two of our party opted to sit on a rock outcrop in the sun rather than continue climbing, but I have never acquired the requisite skills for sitting around in the sun, and so I continued on. At this point I timed myself at a half-hour behind the first two, who were clearly visible above, climbing over the mounded terminal moraine of Sahale Glacier. In the end, I stopped just below the summit rocks in increasingly rotten wet snow with slabby patches settling alarmingly every so often under my skis. The two ahead of me made motions at scrambling the summit pyramid, then skied down. The first thousand feet or so was fairly abysmal skiing-deep, soft, gluey, sloppy and wet-though the setting was truly spectacular, with a 180 degree panorama of sharp peaks and glaciers spread out in front of our ski tips to the horizons. After that first bit the skiing was much improved, with big open slopes of past-prime-but-perfectly-serviceable corn running thousands of feet down the Arm, then into the big bowl below Cascade Pass, across an endless sea of avalanche debris and back to the road. I was, of course, thoroughly thrashed, and kept up mumbled commentary to this effect between gasping helplessly for breath, but another of those magical pills and a handful of ibuprofens seemed to help. Three of us skied the valley down to 2800 feet, a run of almost 6000 vertical feet, before taking our skis off and clambering up to the road again. Several of the party claimed to be pleasantly, but not unduly, tired; I myself had by this time been reduced to quivering and whimpering wordlessly. There were fewer slides coming off the surrounding peaks than I've ever seen before on a warm spring day, and little real instability in the snowpack we skied, though large amounts of snow remain in precarious locations on most aspects. As mentioned, there is rotten snow and wet slab up high, though even my own 215 lbs. did not yield releases on ski cuts or crashing falls. Along Sahale Arm, shallow pockets of snow on the ridge and around rocks were also rotten. Lower down, wet snow sluffed predictably in the top few inches of the pack, but was well consolidated otherwise. The distance returning down the road to the Eldorado Creek parking lot was, at minimum, twice as long as it had been that very morning, and each of us had been ticketed for not displaying the appropriate Forest Service parking permit. Notwithstanding the apparent availability of Forest Service personnel to stuff tickets under wiper blades, the brand new outhouse (presumably purchased at great expense with permit fees) was so full of liquid as to represent a real danger in normal use. The roadway remains gated low, to no apparent purpose. Enjoy." Mark Saturday, June 1, 2002 Castle Saddle: "Sunny, hot, good corn till noon. abc" Andy Carey Back to top |