 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| This old version of Trip Reports is no longer being updated.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. |
| July-August 2002 Trip Reports |
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Saturday, August 31, 2002 Mt. Rainier, Lower Paradise Glacier: "After having said I would meet folks on Sunday I soon realized that a Sat. ski was necessary as it was the last day of August and I needed to get the month in. Todd and I left Seattle at 0'dark thirty for the drive, stop at the Bakery, to Rainier. The parking lot at Paradise was half full and we found no cars at the trailhead. A 1 1/2 hour carry brought us to the snow, the previous visit in June we skined almost from the car. Skis came off once and we then were at the top of the run.Three runs were enough, two were on firm sun cups while one was as close to smooth corn as you could get this day. A nice little stroll through wild flowers, Penstemon, Mimlus and Lupin to name a few, brought us back to car where the Paradise parking lot and Paradise vally road were choked with cars." Paul Smith (paul.smith@ci.seattle.wa.us) Wednesday, August 28, 2002 Black Tusk Area, Garibaldi Park, BC: "Weather and other commitments conspired to threaten our year round ski streak up here but, after much desperate phoning around, Richard from G3 sailed in to save the day. We headed up the 4WD Microwave Tower road, found the park gate open, and risked the wrath of the now rare (due to funding cutbacks) BC Parks Rangers by parking high up on the tower maintenance road in the alpine. It's currently possibly to drive right up to the Towers at 6000 feet but it's probably not a great idea on a weekend unless you like paying tickets(!) A Telus technician was hard at work inside the control buildings and there were a couple of other vehicles up there belonging to hikers. A 20 minute walk brought us to our first 20 turn descent and, from then on, were skinned our way to the big north side run on Black Tusk itself. We had to walk two or three patches of rock but they were short (less than 50 metres a piece). The snow was a little cupped (and had some mysterious volcanic rocks in the bottom of some bigger holes) but was pretty smooth and presented us with about 800 vertical feet of easy corn skiing on the football field width snowfield. All in all, we managed about 2000 vertical feet with a couple of minor interruptions." Jonathan Sunday, August 25, 2002 Mt. Rainier NP, Paradise Glacier: "Went in to the lower Paradise Gl. area again this last Sunday but failed to get any pics because we were "on instruments" the entire trip. We were nonetheless astounded at the snow loss in one week -- at least ten feet!! In addition, the downhill "ski tracks" from last week were at least a foot higher than the surrounding snow; they were actually high enough that you had to watch yourself skiing across them or they would trip you up. Charles and I are talking about going back again this coming Sunday for more torture points. Join us if you've a mind to." Ron J Sunday, August 18, 2002 MRNP, "Paradise Lost": "Clear skies and mild temps greeted us on our arrival at Paradise to work the slopes on and around the Paradise Glacier. Cupping was minimal; east facing aspects skied the smoothest but it was all great. There's still skiable snow up there, if you're willing to climb for it. Check out the pics here. Once more, it is beginning to look like, with a little luck it will last us until the snow flies again this year." Ron J Friday, August 16, 2002 Hadley Peak, Mt. Baker backcountry: "Stephanie Innis and I headed up to ski Hadley Peak on a beautiful sunny Friday.Ê We battled brutal mosquitoes for the first 1.5 hours.Ê I stopped to put on my ski clothes to fend the mosquitoes off.Ê Once we hit the snow, the bugs subsided and the maddening tensions eased.Ê We cramponed up on firm suncupped snow to the summit ridge at ~7400 feet; the last 200ft was steep enough and firm enough for front pointing.Ê After a lazy summit lunch hour, we headed down. The sun had warmed the snow on the Hadley glacier into some of the finest August corn I've ever skied.Ê The firm suncups had been transformed to a consistent layer of two inch corn from the just below the top steeps to almost the very bottom.Ê The few crevasses opening up were easy to avoid or jump.ÊÊ Details:Ê Expect 1.5-2 hrs to snow from Cougar Divide trail head; ~1900' ft skiing from 7400' to 5500';Ê smaller crevasses on Hadley glacier, rope optional; and solitude (we saw only one person on the way out)." Bill Frans Tues.-Wed., August 13-14, 2002 Spray Park/Flett Glacier, Mt. Rainier NP: "Danny and I hiked in over Knapsack Pass (very little snow left), through upper Spray Park, and up a ribbon of snow toward the eastern lobe of the Flett Glacier. I dropped off my overnight gear (no stove, no tent) at about 7000', where we could see Jaydee, with whom we hoped to hook up, on the western section of the Flett. By the time we climbed to the 7500' crossover (extensively melted out), Jaydee and Seabury had already disappeared into the meadows of Spray Park. The steepest section of the Flett, right next to Observation Rock, was completely isolated from the rest of the run by a rock band, and the top half was mostly old snow/ice. Danny booted about half way up that section and skied down to the rocks, and then we both skied down to Cat-eye Lake. The snow was very good between 7500' and 7000' on this hot sunny day, but dense old ski tracks for the next 500' to the lake made turning less enjoyable. These turns made for Danny's 106th consecutive month of skiing, surpassing Jaydee's 105 months and giving Danny the longest known consecutive month streak in Washington. Danny celebrated with a dip in Cat-eye Lake. Danny then headed down toward the Wonderland Trail, and I skied back up to 7500', crossed over to the east, and skied up to 8100' near the Russell Glacier (which was very extensively melted out). I hiked around the red cinders area a bit, then skied the 1000' run down the eastern Flett - excellent corn, continuous, with a small section of dirty old snow near the Russell. At camp I was treated to a balmy evening, a beautiful sunset, the twinkling lights of the Puget Sound metropolis, and a nice show from the Perseid meteor shower. The next day dawned clear and warm, and I lazed around camp until it got uncomfortably hot, then proceeded to do 5 runs on the eastern Flett. The steepest runs were the shortest, the longest runs were less steep, but all were on very nice snow. I picked up my overnight gear and then skied the ribbon of snow back to the Wonderland Trail at the top of Spray Park, where hoards of mosquitoes tried to suck me dry as I changed into hiking shoes." There are photos from this trip here. Charles (tay@turns-all-year.com) Sunday, August 4, 2002 Pinnacle Glacier, Tatoosh Range, Mt. Rainier N.P.: "Wandered by the trailhead for the lower Paradise Gl thinking maybe we might run into Charles and Silas, but we must have beat them there by a few minutes. Not being certain they were coming, and in as much as the ceiling was low and we'd had enough instrument travel on the Paradise Gl the week before, we headed over to see what the Tatoosh could serve up. Good corn (albeit a bit lumpy) was found and consumed by both of us until thoroughly sated. Pics of the feast can be found here." Ron Jarvis Sunday, August 4, 2002 Lower Paradise Glacier, Mt. Rainier N.P.: "Silas and I got in some August turns amid snow squalls and sun breaks. The snow was very good, as Andy reported for the day before, easing my fears that bad snow was going to be the norm until fall. Probably would have been even better on a warm day. Good snow coverage began at ~6200', and the lower Paradise Glacier area was well covered. Will it last 'till September?" There are photos from this trip here. Charles (tay@turns-all-year.com) Saturday, August 3, 2002 Cowlitz Rocks, MRNP: "Beautiful day: blu skis, light wind, not too hot. Snow: the best corn ever! Skis: Karhu Pavo/3pin/brown t3 (me) & Catamount/superloop/Merrell Ultra (Regine). Turns: many, linked, smooth, even, pretty.abc " Andy Carey (careyab@yahoo.com) Sunday, July 28, 2002 MRNP, South side of the big mountain in the fog: "Had designs of doing the Williwakas and lower Paradise Glaciers today, didn't know the road to Mowich had opened until to late for a destination change. Arrived at the lower Paradise Parking Lot with cloudy skies and some wind. Loaded up skis and started our climb, with intermitten patches of snow lining the trail to the Van Trump Monument . Entered the soup and mist at that point. Reached continuous snow at approx. 6300. Fortunately for our team of three, Ron had his GPS set with the various waypoints for both our destinations. Robie, Ron and myself were able to navigate in the soup via the GPS track to the lower flanks of the Paradise Glacier. Even though the visibility was terrible, the skiing was ok, we were able to get a few decent turns in before we were out of the clouds and back to the trail where we loaded up and headed back to the car. Never did get to have a look at the Willie." Jeanette "Jeanette,and my self were guided into as yet to be named slope by Ron Jarvis 's Gps .Slope remained not only unamed but un skied due to pea soup. Had a nice picnic and snooped around in a small ice cave. Skied under Gps directions.Kudos to Ron for directions.Wildflowers in Paradise valley were spectacular. " Robie Monday, July 22, 2002 SW Chutes, Mt. Adams: "Ditto Jeanette's report of two days previous. We managed 11 hours RT. I'd bet our oldest (67) against hers. On exit we traversed to base of Crescent Glacier to find S. Climb route." Brent H Saturday, July 20, 2002 Mt Adams, SW Chutes: "The "Old Timers" thought we should try Mt. Adams in a day. The weather forecast was for a perfect weather window for Saturday. We headed to Trout Lake late Friday via road 25 from Randle and arrived at the Trout Lake Ranger station at 9:30 p.m. If you purchase a climbing permit $15 Fri-Sun, $10 during the week, you do not need a Northwest Forest Pass, as there is a ticket on the bottom of the permit that you tear off and place on the dash for the parking permit. Arrived at Cold Springs Campground at 10:30 p.m. and were pleasantly surprised to see that the road to Cold Springs has been graded and topped with crushed gravel. Excellent condition. Car camped, and left Cold Springs at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday. When the sun came up, it was clear skies and great visibility for the rest of the day. We were able to average 1,000 vf of climbing an hour for the first four hours, then the "Old Timers" slowed to a geriatric pace once we were above the Crescent Glacier. The snow was very hard, and was slow to soften even though the temps were in the 60s. Ron skinned to the base of the "False Summit" while I donned the crampons. The false summit pitch was in great shape, and had softened enough that some were climbing it without crampons. There was a rather large deep glissade trench down the middle of the false summit pitch. Approx. 3 feet deep in some places. The snow at the top of the summit pitch was very sloppy, but stable slush. We were fortunate enough to be engulfed by a Monarch Butterfly migration starting at 10,000 feet and continuing to 11,500. There were 100s of thousands of butterflies catching a ride by the light breeze that was pushing them over the top of the mountain. An incredible site to be seen as they were fluttering by everywhere, on the snow, on the rocks, and in the air. It was a perfect day for a summit attempt, but since there was very little continuous snow at the summit and down to the top of the false summit pitch, we skied the SW Chutes which had the best conditions for skiing. The snow was very stable with about 6 inches of perfect summer corn over a very stable base. Temps were 60 degrees at 11,500, with a slight breeze. We skied from 11,400 to 8,000, where we were being watched by three curious mountain goats that were basking in the sun and snow, before we traversed around the top of the bowl and down to the saddle at 7,000 where we loaded up. Ron used his GPS way points, and we did a little bush whacking to catch the, "Round the Mountain Trail", back to Timberline and then to Cold Springs, arriving at the car at 7:00 p.m. The "Old Timers" didn't do bad, making the round trip in 14 hours. Trout Lake seems to button up the town around 6:00 p.m., be prepared of not finding any stores (which is one) or gas stations (also one) open after dusk. For those of you who are interested, we saw lots of four legged creatures on our travels to and from the mountain. Including, 2 porcupine, 8 deer, 2 owls, 1 coyote, the Monarch butterflies, 3 mountain goats, one large bat, 3 elk, and 1 frog, not to mention again, the best 3,000+ vf of skiing." Photos from this trip can be viewed here and also here. Jeanette Saturday, July 20, 2002 Heliotrope Ridge, Mt. Baker: "Go north young man! Thanks to advice from Joe, five of us headed to Baker yesterday, leaving Seattle at the reasonable hour of 7, delayed half an hour in Everett where I-5 narrowed to one lane for a sand truck accident. Greg, Matt, Mike, Phil, and Silas found some of the best July snow in their collective experiences. Smooth silk from 7180' to 6000', lots of climbers on the Coleman, avalanche debris on the route to the N Face. One skier came down as we headed up Heliotrope ridge, otherwise a total wilderness experience, cooled by cumulus rising out of the Middle Nooksack valley. A fine birthday tour." Silas Wednesday, July 17, 2002 Ptarmigan Ridge, Mt. Baker: "Andy and I wanted a long tour, so we headed for Ptarmigan Ridge to see what we could find. Bottom line: lots of snow, mostly bad, due to suncups and runnels. We still had to park at the ski area; although the road was clear to Austin Pass, plowing was in progress just beyond. Only patches of snow in the first 1/3 mile (before first switchback), then continuous snow up to Austin and beyond, with one short melt-out just before the S slopes of Table Mountain. At the saddle where Ptarmigan Ridge begins, we crossed to the N side and skied out to a saddle just W of Coleman Pinnacle, where we crossed back to the S side of the ridge. A short steep run on reasonable snow, then crossed back again to the N side and the Sholes Glacier through a broad saddle. We traversed the upper Sholes to a saddle labeled The Portals on our map, crossed to the S side of the ridge, and traversed W a bit to the edge of the Rainbow Glacier. Here we found the best turning, and did a couple of short runs. The return trip, over the same route, featured lots of gliding, a few short sections of turning, and some exciting traverses across steep, hard snow. As we returned across the south slopes of Table Mountain, a slab of winter snowpack cut loose from up high, releasing big icy chunks which tumbled down across our intended path. Overall, the snow was pretty bad, although it was fast. Steeper snow was generally less suncupped, gentler was generally both suncupped and runneled. North facing stayed very hard, other exposures receiving the sun's warmth softened acceptably, for the most part. We were not tempted to make lots of runs, although the coverage was there for it, but where we needed to lose some elevation we usually found OK turning snow. Traveling across the snow was hard work, whether ascending or traversing, due to its massive unevenness. Nonetheless, it was a good trip. Baker and Shuksan came out, we could see lots of North Cascades peaks, and we saw a bear very carefully traversing steep hard snow near Coleman Pinnacle. Next year, we'll go a little earlier in hope of finding smoother snow." There are photos from this trip here. Charles (tay@turns-all-year.com) Sunday, July 14, 2002 Skyline Divide, Mt. Baker: "Toby's report shows that he is a true optimist. Skip and I debated on Sunday morning whether to just go with hiking boots and an ice axe, or to carry the skis/boots up to the ridge in hopes of semi-continuous snow. We opted for skis and found that we were mostly carrying until fairly far out on the ridge, as the path was repeatedly interrupted by long dirt/rock stretches. We hoofed it back to the saddle near where the trail gains the ridge, and did a few laps of about 500 vf each. I think we saw Toby's tracks from the day before. Low turns-to-grunt ratio, but the views and flowers were great and the snow was suprisingly fun for turning." Jim Saturday, July 13, 2002 Paradise Valley, Mt. Rainier NP: "Todd and I left Seattle about 6, a stop for food and coffee, then we found ourselves at the trail head just before 9. Skinning from the car was possible except for one short section where skis were removed. About half way a snow sluff, with some large chunks, came down in front of, and between us off a 30 foot cliff and caught our attention. Lunch was had at the head of the valley with great views all around. One run down 'The Stash' skiers right , nice line, soft snow, about 8-900 ft worth of turns with a rock or two skipping silently down the run just as we exited. The climb back to our lunch spot through a few small crevasses added some interest, Todd was up for another run while I went for rest and food. Looks like some skiers had made the run down from Anvil Rock, from what we could see it still looked possible. The run out was sun cupped, sun bowled, some 3 foot or more across, 2 foot plus deep, and runneled badly. In the few stretches of ground where the snow had just melted, Anemone and Buttercup were the first flowers to show , with hundreds of Avalanche Lilies in the trees. Not paying attention to our return route we ended up at Reflection Lakes and not the truck, how did that happen? It was a long day, 12 hours door to door, but worth the effort. The trip should be good for some time to come." Paul Smith Saturday, July 13, 2002 Skyline Divide, Mt. Baker: "Skyline Divide trail is snow-free until around 5600'. Skyline Divide is still holding a fair amount of snow, albeit a bit cupped and runneled....The warmer the day the better.....I headed out to around the halfway point, then made my way back. The best snow i found was in the true north aspect of upper Cascade Creek.(Near where the trail pops up onto the ridge.) Here is was smooth enough to really enjoy and i made two laps. Snow isn't continuous down to the road anymore, so i turned the ridge and found the trail in the forest......Nearby Hadley Pk. looked good, as long as you have a chainsaw to clear the Wells Cr. road of blowdowns....Heliotrope is holding much better quality snow." toby tortorelli Tuesday, July 9, 2002 Vesper Peak: "In search of low elevation snow. After a moderately interesting creek crossing, we encountered continuous snow almost to the very lip of the basin below Headlee pass. The ascent up the Big Bowl and the gulley to the pass was pretty straightforward. "Crater Lake" or whatever it is called below Vesper was 100% frozen. 1 hour final uphill from lake to the summit, which was calm and pretty with unlimited views to in every direction. We could easily see downtown Seattle. We followed our ascent route on our descent on fairly good snow from 6200 to 5000 feet (summit to lake), with continuous snow. Dropping into the Sultan drainage, we undershot the pass on continuous snow and climbed a short step back up to the pass. The descending gulley from Headlee was in shadow, and firm. Florian side-slipped on semi-AT lock-down gear, while this concerned telemarker did a careful downclimb featuring a few self-arrests (ice axe recommended). Once down into Big Bowl, we descended entertainingly tree-debris covered snow. Descent on continuous snow was possible almost to the very lower lip of Big Bowl. At the bottom, the snow was green because it was totally covered by branches. Big Bowl was about 40% giant popcorn avalanche debris snow but there were pathways of better snow between this stuff. The creek was higher in the afternoon adding fun factor to the final crossing. Overall, this trip rates high in scenic beauty and variety, and the snow on Vepser itself was quite good. A few points require care and I should add that crampons also would have been appreciated in the couloir below Headlee pass. " david koelle Sunday, July 7, 2002 Sunrise, Sourdough Chutes/2nd Burroughs Chutes, Mt. Rainier N.P.: "Pete and I met 7 others at Sunrise for a day of skiing easy access north-facing chutes. Rainier's summit kept a cloud cap all day, and there were a few rain showers in the morning, but the day was otherwise dry and the sun's warmth came through enough to soften the snow nicely. Our group grew by one as we were joined by Dave from Lopez Island at the bottom of the first run. We all did 3 short chute runs from the ridge above Sunrise (fairly smooth where steep), then Pete, Dave and I hiked the trail out over 1st Burroughs and partly up 2nd to the top of a nice run which dropped into Berkeley Park. Some of the group had skied this steep, 800' run the day before and said it should be nice, and it was. Smoothest snow of the day, softened just right, straight down the fall line with just one rock to avoid in a narrow part about half way down. This was the first skiable north-facing chute off 2nd Burroughs, but there were at least a couple more father along to the west. We hiked back to Frozen Lake saddle, then climbed a few hundred feet up 1st Burroughs to get in one more run, which took us back to within 3/4 mile of the parking lot. On the drive back, it started raining near the Park boundary and continued the entire way back to Seattle, where it had apparently been raining most of the day. There are photos from this trip here." Charles (tay@turns-all-year.com) June 29-30 and July 6-7, 2002 Sourdough Chutefest - MRNP Backcountry: "With the road to Sunrise opening Friday, June 28th, "Mad Dog" Morrison and I, we had it to do. The year before the late winter storms had scoured all the snow out of the north facing chutes and bowls along Sourdough Ridge and Burroughs Mountain leaving local skiers nothing to ski when the road opened. Now, with people coming from near and far to ski some of our favorite summer stashes the next weekend we had to take one for the team and find out where Mother Nature left the goods this year. Beginning on Saturday, June 29, the forecast was for rain (didn't happen until the drive home) and the road was an hour late opening due to a mudslide, thus we were the sole skiers. We started at the east end of the ridge at Dege Peak and started working our way west along the ridge, skiing every line that still had enough snow for old people to ski. We continued the process on Sunday, skiing several chutes and circs along the ridge and climbing the 700 vf 40 - 50 degree chute we call "Fear Factor" but opting to postpone skiing it due to low visibility in the fog. Saturday, July 6 we met Andy, Regine and three other skier friends of theirs for breakfast at Buzzy's in Greenwater, to contemplate the day's gliss opportunities. Tim Place from Bellingham joined us at Sunrise. Heading for the Ridge, we knocked out Fear Factor and some other lines and then headed for the saddle between Burroughs 2 and 3 to nail the "Courage Classic", an 800 vf 40 degree line with a rocky gate in the middle. Sunday morning we found ourselves back at Buzzy's facing a whole new crew including Dana Dorsett from the east coast, Robie, our Matriarch, Dorothea Driggers, and Bob Nitzginger. At Sunrise more joined us, including the infamous Turns-All-Year Charles Eldridge and his sidekick Pete (see his TR for Sunday), Tim Place (animal - he spent the night there) and catching up with us before we bottomed out on the first run was Dave Wefferling from Lopez Island. We did Antler 1 and Fear Factor again (Dave poached an extra line closer to Antler while the rest of us climbed up). Then Charles, Dave and Pete headed for the Courage Classic on Bourroughs while the rest of us yoyo'd on Sourdough 1 and 2. And a Great Time was had by all. And so ends the 2002 Chutefest. Pics are available for your perusal here. See you all there next year." ron j Saturday, July 6, 2002 Heliotrope/Marmot Ridge, Mt. Baker: "Excellent corn from 7000' to 5500'. Getting a little cupped and runneled below this, but still great for such low elevation! Last new snow-fall has Heliotrope looking perfect! Dropped in the direction of the parking lot via Marmot Ridge. Skied to near 4500'. More light bushwacking and forest travel near Grouse Cr. than last trip, best to take the trail now....A couple crevasses opening up on Heliotrope....Not many posts lately, Keep Skiing!!! T." toby tortorelli Friday, July 5, 2002 Heliotrope Ridge/Coleman Glacier, Mt. Baker: "By prior arrangement, I met TOMSKI at the Heliotrope trailhead; Tom is on a 3 week PNW ski pilgrimage, and was spending several days skiing around Mt. Baker after several at Mt. Rainier. The trail had only small patches of snow before it disappeared at treeline at about 4900'. We followed a nice boot track up onto the Coleman under sunny skies, with a trace of new snow deepening to about 1/2" at 6500'. The underlying snow was very well frozen, and a climbing party said there was more new snow up higher, from squalls the previous day. We started skinning about 6500', and the new snow deepened to about 1" at 7000' and 4" above 8000'. We followed the boot track to the ridge between the Coleman and Deming Glaciers, stopping at about 9200'. Climbers coming down the Roman Wall were proceeding very cautiously, and it appeared that most of the new snow had not stuck on that slope, creating very firm conditions. After lunch we skied back down the up track in the best July ski conditions I think I have ever had. The new snow remained loose and powdery down to about 7000', and was fast and very smooth. Below 7000' the day's warmth had begun to melt the new snow and soften the underlying old snow, but the skiing stayed fast, smooth, and very enjoyable to the base of the last steeper drop off of the glacier. We skied down toward the trail just to skier's left of the up track, and were able to keep skis on all the way to the trail at 4900' with one short stretch of all-terrain skiing across some grass; the last 500' or so became fairly runneled in places, but was soft enough to still provide decent skiing. A fantastic day and a 4300' run. There are photos from this trip here." Charles (tay@turns-all-year.com) Sun.-Mon., June 30-July 1, 2002 Mt. Adams, WA: "4 Vancouverites headed for Mt. Adams over the Canada Day long weekend in order to summit and claim the peak in the name of the Queen and Country(!) After some deliberation as to the route, we decided to approach via the I-5, Portland and Hood River. Around 5 in the evening on the 30th, we finally left the truck which was stopped by deadfall at around 5500 feet on the Cold Springs road. It's quite possible that the road will become driveable to the trailhead as soon as more deadfall is removed - some had been cut and cleared by the time we returned. We headed up the trail and were on skis by 6200 feet. Given 30 mph gusts above treeline, we opted to camp at about 8000 feet instead of heading for the Lunch Counter and spent a pleasant evening tucked in behind some small trees and behind little rock walls. During the evening the large flying saucer cloud over Adams dissipated, although the winds continued unabated. We awoke to an incredible blue-bird sky on Canada Day. After making a slightly delayed alpine start, at 6:30, and, we bootpacked up about 500 feet, donned our skis around the Lunch Counter and headed up the South Climb. We quickly undonned them in favour of crampons when it became apparent that the snow was unforgivingly hard although one of our party had a minor adventure pushing the limits of his harscheisen a little too far. The crux of the climbing was the dietary issues that led two of our party to undertake the "leave no trace challenge" right in the middle of the headwall. (Don't worry - they succeeded.) Both the false and main summits were being blasted by strong winds (gusty enough to knock over a person with skis on their back) so, after summiting around 12:45, and humming a few bars of "O Canada" (not many Canadians know the words) we beat a hasty retreat. The snow directly below the main summit was rather unpleasant. It consisted of very rough, refrozen hardpack that wanted to shake us to death (good snow - you could turn and slow down on it) and large goldfish bowl size lumps of verglas (mysteriously bad snow - you could do very little with it). Two of us attached axes to our ski poles to make improvised self-arrest grips and Rich actually tried his out. He stopped after 25 feet or so but the goldfish bowls delivered a few bruises in return. After getting a little lost, we finally found the headwall we climbed up. Being cautious, introspective, Canadians, we cramponed down a few feet before finding that the whole headwall had miraculously turned to corn. Two of us immediately hopped on our boards and the remainder of the party joined in about 500 feet later. We skied uninterrupted down to 8000 feet, level with our camp, on deepening but good snow and picked up our bivy gear. We managed to ski down to about 6300 feet before putting skis on our backs (you could probably ski a little further if you had better directional ability than we did) and wandered out the trail to the truck around 4:30pm. All in all, Mt. Adams was a nice long ski, a reasonable longer climb, and a very, very long drive from Canada. After some deliberation, we decided to return the volcano to its original owners since we had done with it for the time being. " Jonathan Back to top |