BC powder turns

I don't even know the name of this run, but Aaron knew about it from previous snomobile trips out of Salmon la Sac. We headed past the van Epps turnoff on the road and stopped near the top. We skinned up about 1000' to the top, and got three great runs in. Aaron provided the eye-candy I was camera boy. The third shot here is looking down the first chute from the top of the ridge.

This last one is looking North (or NE) up the valley.

Cabin Run pics

Here's the less steep line in the middle of the run.

Here's the view of Cathedral Rock, and you can see Mt. Daniel in the background.

This is the skin track up through the woods.

Cabin Run

You can cover the 13 miles from the Salmon La Sac snopark to the end of the groomed road in about 20 minutes on a fast snowmobile! The SkiDoo Summit with an 800cc Rotax engine gets that sled to 70 mph in about 5 seconds - they're really incredible machines.

Aaron and I headed out under partly cloudy skies and were skinning up the ridgeline by 10am. The first 1000' were through the trees before you break out into some steeper and more open terrain. By about 1:00 we made the top and took a pretty steep line down. There was about 8 inches of unconsolidated snow on top of the rain crust from last weekend. It was about 25 degrees, so light snow for Washington. We managed to get two great runs in before heading back to the bottom.

Image posting doesn't seem to be working on Blogger, I'll try again tomorrow.

Rainy Pass - North Cascades

Best day of skiing I've had in years. 2 feet of fresh powder that had fallen in temperatures of between 20 and 25 degrees, low avalanche danger because of the early season snowpack and a group of 5 friends to enjoy it with.

We headed out from Seattle at 6am and were surprised to see it snowing hard on the North Cascades Highway, as the forecast was for snow to come in the afternoon. From the parking area, we skinned up a well-worn track to the pass, and started with a run down the back. Wow. You don't get face shots and cold-smoke powder very often in Washington, but we had it in spades on Sunday. Ian and Seth took turns setting the skin track out (I helped a little, but only slowed them down). We skied another run there, then one on the front before heading down to the lake and out (in the dark, by the way).

The weather did turn cold as expected at about 2pm - first time ever I've been able to skin up with a coat on and heavy gloves and not sweat. It was about 15 degrees when we left.

Tweener season

That time of year between warm sun and skiing - too much yardwork and dare I say it - family time.

Devil's Gulch - in October?

When your place of worship is the great outdoors, it doesn't get much better than a fall ride at Devil's Gulch in Cashmere. Loern and I headed out early from Seattle on the 3rd, as it was forecast to be in the 70s east of the Cascades. We started from the lot at 10am, and it was cold and cloudy; we weren't sure what we would run into on top - 3000' above our starting elevation.

All worry was for nothing, as we had perhaps the most pristine day I've experienced out there. The fall colors were if full effect, with yellow and orange stands of maple and larch (?) greeting us throughout the ride. And not a whisper of wind was blowing - almost unheard of for that area. When we stopped near the top you could hear every bird, chipmunk and mouse conducting their business - and with the temperature reaching the forecasted high, it was absolutely perfect.

The trail was in great shape- not too dusty and only a little mud here and there. It was Loern's first time at the gulch and he did a fantastic job cleaning each river crossing and even finishing with the Red Devil trail back to the car (although that last 1000' of climbing about did him in).

Onward to ski season!!

Chikamin Creek

An overcast, misty sky greeted us as we drove over Steven's Pass toward Leavenworth early on a recent Saturday. Close to Lake Wenatchee is the Chikamin creek trail system that boasts many miles of great singletrack. Kendall and I parked at the trailhead off the Chiwawa River Road and rode the gravel road up 8 miles to the intersection of the Chikamin trail and the trail that leads left up to the Mad Lake area (the name escapes me). The bit of rain that had come down created perfect trail conditions, so the grunty little sections as we climbed up had perfect traction. It's only 4 miles to the intersection of the other trails but it climbs 1500'.

We turned around at the intersection and enjoyed some of the fastest, smoothest downhill in the state. Then after crossing the road we continued down the Chikamin creek trail, before branching left to Chikamin ridge. The ridge provides that little extra, several steep sections where you really have to dig deep at the end of the day. About 3 miles from the cutoff we headed back across the creek (and up one more steep section - which I made with a herculean effort) and back to the car. A fantastic 2.5 hour ride.

Mt. Adams

"Forget Rainier, let's go do Adams - we can even get a ride in on the way down." That was Aaron's comment Saturday morning as we looked at the forecast for Mt. Rainier: 40 mile an hour average wind speed on the summit. That, combined with the general unpleasantness of a long slog in with a heavy pack made the decision quite easy.


Mt. Adams is the much more accessible peak to the south, coming in at 12,200'. The west face provides two excellent skiing lines: the popular SW Chutes and the less travelled Avalanche Glacier.



The "ride" was a 3-hour mountain bike ride at Little Baldy in the Naches, which we did Saturday before driving to Hood River for dinner - finally making it to the Cold Springs campground at about 11:3o pm.

We started out from camp at a leisurely 8am, and made the summit by 3pm. We were able to skin almost the entire way - starting just after we reached snow about 2 miles from camp.

This is the view of the mountain as you hit the snowline on the South Summit trail.



It was a gorgeous day for skinning; bright sun and t-shirts only required. We went left of the main trail, and were able to stay on snow and take a more direct route than we would have otherwise.






Once at the summit the wind had picked up to about 20mph, and while not bad, it was enough to keep us moving. We dropped into the gap between the summit and the northern peak, and had about 2,000' of perfect corn at a nice 35-40 degree slope.














Once off the steeper section we ended beneath the SW chutes, found the Around the Mountain trail at 6,200', and walked out by 6pm. All in all a fantastic day.

The first photo below shows the route, the second is a close-up of the main ski run.

Devil's Gulch and Little Bald Mountain

Devil's Gulch, the best mountain bike ride in Washington, continues to deliver the goods this summer. The road to the main parking area is still washed out, so you have to go to the base of the Red Devil trail (past the crazy guy's collection of cars, dogs and garbage). We started on the Red Devil trail for a little 1000' warm up, then up the road 13 miles to the start of the trail proper. It was a perfect 75 degree Saturday and although we didn't start until about 3:00, there was plenty of light and it cooled as we climbed up. The trail has been well maintained and improved in the lower section, where it was deteriorating on the steep hillside.

Sunday we drove to Naches and the Little Bald Mountain ride. We parked near the Sawmill Flat campground (Hwy 410, Milepost 91), and rode up road 7106 to the trail (196?). A bit rocky to start, then some ridge riding, but some of the fastest, smoothest downhill rewards you at sections near the top and bottom. A cloudy day with the temp about 70, but dry and fast. Great views as you descend the ridge on the trail.

North Fork Taneum Creek - Mountain Biking

Summer is coming late in Seattle this year, but we had a glorious Saturday at Taneum on June 5. We parked where the Cle Elum Ridge Trail crosses the road, started down that trail then hooked up with the N Fork Taneum Creek Trail. This is an undulating single track that snakes for miles along Taneum creek, with fun downhills and and some good grunts uphill. The recent rain made for a very muddy trail, so much so that when we popped out at our turnaround spot we decided to take the road back. After much debate between Kendall and Aaron about the proper direction, we set off thinking we were taking a short cut but not sure.
Of course it wasn't a short cut, and in fact after another hour on the road we were forced to get back on the Cle Elum Ridge Trail for a final 5 miles of pain before reaching our car. My buddies are some of the fittest people I know, but after 5 hours in the saddle we were pretty worked.

The views on this ride are great - you snake along the river and because you're going so slow, you have a chance to see the scenery a bit. A few creek crossings make it interesting, and there are so many miles of trails that you can go all day if you want.

Washington Pass, North Cascades, May 9 2010

My first tour at Washington Pass was some of the best I've ever experienced. Incredible scenery with jagged peaks all around, a blue-sky day with no wind and demanding yet sane touring. We started at the hairpin and did the Birthday Tour - Here's Aaron looking fresh prior to the exertion...

The first climb took us past Blue Lake to the top of the ridge

Then around a large cornice to reach the top

Here's looking back at what was waiting for us on the other side - the first ski - Madison Ave. Great corn snow on top, a little thick at the bottom.





After climbing out of this basin we hit the next run that takes you back toward the hairpin. This is Kendall showing how it's done...

But we were not finished yet. I think the Birthday tour is about 4ooo', and we needed just a little more - so we headed up to the top of the couloir (I forget the name) you see here, approximately another 2500'. That was about it for me.

Here's the view from the top - you can just see the hairpin at the bottom. A little squall came in as we reached the top, but we never lost visibility and had a good run back to the car.

North Cascades Plan

Highway 20 is open and we're planning to tour at Washington Pass this weekend. The weather has been unseasonably cold and they received some snow this past week. It's supposed to get warmer, into the 60s this weekend and I'll post a full report.

View from the top of Cabin Run

Cabin Run - Cle Elum

End of March delivers the goods! On Sat the 27th Nick, Aaron and I snowmobiled in to the end of the Salmon la Sac trail (lots of dirt at the start of the road, it's melting out fast) and started skinning up to the right. The bottom was warm and very crusty, but it cooled as we climbed up and the snow improved. 3000' from the valley floor we reached the top and the powder turns you see here. We took another run on a more sun-exposed slope which had good corn at the top before turning a bit slushy. The last run was down the backside, and by this point in the day the sun was behind some clouds and it cooled quickly. There was a crust on top, but as we descended it turned to more corn before we had to pick our way through the trees back to the sleds.

Whistler BC - Feb 24-27

We got lucky with an invite to stay at a friend's condo during the Olympics and headed up with 5 of us crammed into a 4-door sedan. Whistler really did a nice job for the games - the Sea to Sky highway has been improved to the point where it takes 15-30 minutes less to get up there from Vancouver. In the village they had live music, big screen TVs, ski jumping demos every night (called the Fire and Ice show) and lots of exhibits. Fire and Ice was the highlight, with 8 skiers and boarders throwing flips through rings of fire at night - a perfect cap to the evening (or start of the evening for the childless crowd). Another big attraction was a set of giant Olympic rings you could climb on and have your picture taken.

We did manage to see one event, the women's slalom. We made it up to the standing-room-only area at the finish line and were able to watch the skiers come down and make the final 15 turns before the finish. It was foggy and snowing so visibility wasn't that great, but it was fun to see. The 8-year-olds we had with us only lasted about an hour, so needless to say we didn't see the whole thing.

Not a problem though, as the skiing was the highlight. It snowed every day, and because all the day parking lots were closed and you couldn't drive up without a pass - the hill was empty. No lift lines to speak of. This includes the Peak2Peak gondola, which whisks you from the Roundhouse at Whistler to the top of Jersey Cream at Blackcomb in 11 minutes. I was skeptical of the value of this investment until I arrived at the top of Whistler on Thursday to find all the top chairs closed for avalanche control and because of wind. 11 minutes later I was skiing Blackcomb and getting the freshies.

My favorite run is Ruby bowl, and it delivered two days straight. 6-8 inches of fresh snow each day and only a handful of other skiers made for some of the best skiing I've had there. It was a bit warm, but the snow at the top of the hill held up nicely and was dry enough to be enjoyable.

Big White Ski Resort

Rated the "Best Family Resort in Canada", Big White doesn't have the steeps you'll find at Revelstoke or Kicking Horse, but it excels as an all-around resort. We stayed right in the village at the Inn at Big White (all info here: http://www.bigwhite.com/index.php?fuseaction=home.showSection&ID=360). From most of the centrally-located hotels you can ski to the lifts, and they have a beginner run that starts in the main village and goes to the lower village where most of the children's activites are located. They have a giant tubing hill ($4 per ride), kids snowmobile rentals ($10 for 10 minutes) and reduced rates for a "Village Ticket" which allows access only to the beginner run. They have a gondola running from the lower lodge to the main village all day (free) so it's easy to access the different lodges and restaurants.
For the adults, there is great tree skiing and lots of intermediate runs. The 5500' base elevation means the snow is dry and it's a bit colder than we usually experience in Washington. Horizon Air offers one-hour flights from Seattle to Kelowna for about $250, then the resort is a 60-minute shuttle ride ($40 adults one way) from the airport. A friend drove from Seattle and it took 9 hours, so I definitely recommend the flight.