Paradise to Muir

I took Veteran's Day off and got lucky with a fine weather window. After being cloudy and rainy for several days, we had a brief clearing and low wind forecast for Monday. John and I rallied to Rainer where we could skin right from Paradise. We set out at 10:30 and skinned right up to pan point, where we had to shed the skis to get around some exposed rock. Back on the skins a few hundred feet later and we went right up to Muir. Almost no wind until about 9,000', and gorgeous skies as you can see from the photo (that's Adams in the background). A little water ice had formed on top of the snow near the top and I destroyed one crampon, but we still made it up there by 2. The ski down started icy, with scraping heard far and wide. About 2000' down we were rewarded with some corn and decent turns.

Back at the car (and an ice-cold beer) by 3 and home in time for dinner! Fabulous day.

Moran State Park, Orcas Island

Moran State Park delivers! Even though we were there over Labor Day, before they open the upper trails to mountain bikes, there was plenty of great single track down low. Having never ridden there I didn't know what to expect - but found a map at the ranger station and within 10 minutes was on some sweet single track from the picnic area to Cascade Falls. Smooth trails, some technical and some grunts made for interesting riding. Up from Cascade Falls on the double track, then down to the trail that hugs the southern boundary and back to the southend campground. Some good steep downhills there and good technical; roots and rocky drops. Looking forward to heading back when I can hit the upper trails.

It's hard to get a sense from the photo, but these trees are huge! All the riding was in gorgeous forest like this.

Sometimes it clicks

Butt back, point it forward, keep  your speed - up and over the gnarly roots. Then weight forward, all leg power, spin as fast as possible and get up the steep section. OK, up and over a big stump: speed, weight back, keep pedaling, pull the front tire up just a little and keep pedaling with an eye toward the exit. Another steep section- weight forward and pedal like you mean it. Around a hairpin, over a log, down the hill and up - onto the bridge. Hard right turn, over the log...

After 20+ years of mountain biking I can do the basic moves: short, steep climbs, hairpin turns, stumps, roots, rocks. The fat hand trail (Iverson RR) at Tiger has all of these in spades. I had never, in all my years of biking, made every obstacle on the one-way, mile and half trail. Riding with Aaron on Wednesday night it all came together. I couldn't believe I had actually made every obstacle- it's almost humbling because there's certainly no guarantee I'll ever do it again! Something about the climb up the trail to warm up, the fact that I had ridden it several times already this year and the mental attitude of "I'm going for it" all came together to make it happen. Luckily it's fun even when you don't make everything, but it sure is nice when it all clicks.

Sun Valley Early July

The three of us went to Sun Valley in early July and Ava had her mountain biking breakthrough. Here she is crossing a log bridge; we rode every day and she did one 6 mile ride with about 600' of climbing - not bad for a 12-year-old! I was able to ride Baldy, Adams Gulch and Fisher creek in our four days, along with other rides each day with Ava.

Devil's Gulch - first ride 2013

Heading upAaron, Kendall and I headed over to the Gulch on Saturday, June 15. This is our favorite mountain bike ride, bar none - it kicks your butt with 14 miles and 4000' of climbing (on the road, the easier way up) then rewards you with 12 miles of sweet, sweet singletrack downhill. We were eager to understand the condition of the trail given the extensive forest fires we had last summer - the trail was closed in late August for that reason. June is early to ride the gulch, but there was no snow even up at the top of the Mission Ridge, and the trail was smooth and dry.
  We were surprised to see the road closed to cars just after the access road turns to dirt, and we couldn't figure out why because it was in good condition all the way to the normal parking area. We rode up the road (the trail is for manlier men than us - it takes significantly more energy to ride up), and the second leg was still severly washed out in several places.

Aaron and Kendall at the lower Devil's Gulch trailhead

 

With sore arses, we reached the top of the Mission Ridge trail and dropped in. The forest service had done  a great job of clearing the trail - many blowdowns had to be cut to open it up.

Aaron riding through a scree section on the upper trail.

We quickly came across remnants of the burn, most of which were on the upper (Mission Ridge) trail. The trail was as good as it gets - not too dry so minimal dust kicking up and a perfect 70 degrees. We rode the whole thing in about 4 hours, and finished up with a beer and the fantastic barbeque at Country Boys in Cashmere

 

Ready for the down!

 

 Kendall on the trail, Tronsen Ridge in the background.

Mt. Adams, June 9.

Mt. Adams is about my favorite annual event. We usually hit it in July, so this year was a bit different to go in early June. The road to Cold Springs is open if a bit rutted at the top. Kerwin, Aaron and I rallied down on Saturday and showed up about 10pm. After a typical brief night's sleep, we got up at 5:30 and were hiking by 7. We hit snow and started skinning by 8 under clear skies and consistent wind. We trended left at the start to avoid the crowds and extra distance on the summer trail, and only had to use boot crampons once to get up a steep bowl.

We were a bit worried that things would not soften up given the wind and icy conditions we found on the way up, so we timed our descent for 3:30. We felt pretty good, took it slow and made the false summit at 2. Then on to the true summit over nasty ice (not surprising though, that section of the climb is always firm, even in July). We started down the Avalanche Glacier right away - very windy on top (est. sustained 30mph and cool). The top of the run, in the gap between the true summit and the northern peak, was firm ice. It quickly turned to nice corn though just before we skirted over two cracks. These, interestingly, have only been visible in the last two years - we skied this run in 2010 and there were no visible cracks.

 Here's Aaron shredding the glacier. It was great all the way down when usually it gets sloppy at about 9000. We whooped and hollered all the way down the glacier and to the end of the line where we went down to the round-the-mountain trail and picked our way out. We were able to skin all the way back to the main trail, with only 1 or 2 "skis  off" situations. Car by 7pm and back in Seattle at 1! Moving a bit slow on Monday but a fabulous trip.

 Me taking a break.

Route details

Washington Pass Goodness

 High pressure and warm temps settled in over Washington on May 3, so Aaron and I bolted from Seattle for the North Cascades to get the led out with some big ski tours. We camped Friday night at Klipchuck and started early Saturday with the Birthday Tour. Icy on the north faces, and slushy on the south as we headed into Madison Avenue at about noon. We skinned out and skied back to the hairpin, then headed up Kangaroo Coulour, the skinny line to the right of the highest peak in the photo above. It's about 3000' from the low point to the top. The top had already slid and shedded the snow that had fallen earlier in the week, so we weren't overly concerned about avalanches. The skinning was pretty good, although a bit slippery if you were following. We boot packed the steepest part, then Aaron put his skins back on and I kept booting it. What a mistake - I ended up sinking to my crotch at one point and wanting to just bail - due as much to sheer exhaustion from the long day as to the shitty feeling of being buried to your waist in slush. I manned up though and made the top. Good skiing in the first third, then a bit soft, then too soft at the botton.

 This is the view as you head south toward the first col in the Birthday Tour. That's South and North Early Winter Spires in the center of the photo.

 We hooked up with Jonathan (L) on Sunday for a modified day, skiing the line to the right of South Early Winter Spire back to the hairpin.

View from the top of Kangaroo Couloir.

Me at the top of Kangaroo Couloir - you can make out the hairpin in the center of the photo.

Mt. Stuart - Ulrich's Couloir

My friend Aaron had skied Ulrich's several times, and his reports of the steep line at the top and committing nature of the run sparked my interest. So when he proposed we climb Stuart on Friday at the start of good-weather window, I knew it was my chance to ski Ulrich's. We drove up the Teanaway road as far as the snow would allow, and fired up the sleds by about 6:30. Because of my limited sledding skills, we dropped them at the bottom of Long's pass and skinned from there. A very icy skin in the morning delivered us to the top of Long's in about 90 minutes. The run down to Stuart started as powder, then turned to corn, then to mank. Aaron skied right to the log crossing and we started up the Cascadian in soft snow. The sun was fully out now, and softening the snow quickly. We boot packed the steepest part of the Cascadian, then skinned up to the headwall for the final boot back to the top of the ridge. Then we boot packed over to the summit, with significant downclimbing but good snow conditions - soft enough to kick steps in but not so loose as to be an avalanche concern.

Views from the summit were incomparable, but our attention quickly turned to the task at hand. The near 50 degree slope at the top was firm but carvable, then turned to corn about 1000 feet down.

 Here's Aaron just before the first right turn.

The run is marked by towering walls on your left and cliffs on the right, but the funnel shape keeps you centered and while a fall could be result in a long tumble, there is little risk of going over any cliff. We reached the bottom with little drama and then found our way back across the creek. Another couple of hours of skinning and we were back at the top of Long's ready for the last ski. As the light faded we carved the soft snow down the moderately steep slope, and reached the snowmobiles just as the light disappeared. Back at the truck by 8:45, Mexican dinner in Cle Elum and home in bed by 1AM! A day for the books... 

Yodelin 2/23/13

Fourteen inches of snow fell between Friday and Saturday morning, and high avalanche danger was forecast for most aspects above 6000'. The last month saw very little snowfall, so I was not looking forward to a day at the resort and the certainty of large crowds. Enter Yodelin - an old ski area a mile east of Stevens Pass characterized by low angle slopes and old growth trees wide enough to ski but dense enough to minimize any avalanche risk. I hadn't skied it before but John convinced Jason and I that it would be great. And great it was! After a slow crawl up to Stevens and a bit of nerves because the lot was full and they were sending people to Yodelin to park, we had skins on by 10:30. We skinned up the cat track then over to the valley where we accessed the main ski run. Then up the ridge and dropping off to the left to ski the 700' run through the trees. It was so good we made six runs - all my lower back could handle! This was true hero snow - you could launch off anything and land in a soft pillow - just fantastic. Cold beers at 4:30 back at the car capped off an absolutely perfect day.

 

Mt. Rainier 2-2-13

The brilliance of Mt. Rainier on a bluebird day can't be overstated. The first glance of the peak as you wind up to paradise is shocking - it blinds you and the contrast between the white mountain and the blue sky is just dazzling. John, Aaron and I left a foggy Seattle and were welcomed at paradise with 40 degree temps and great snow. We skinned to Muir in about 3.5 hours with John leading the charge with a wicked pace. The awe lessened a bit when he dropped his ski at the top and it shot down the snowfield a few hundred yards. Luckily it stopped an he just had to one-ski it down a ways.

We hit the Nisqually Chutes and it was perfect corn. Top photo is John on skiers right of the main chute. Bottom photo shows the chute from the approach to Pan Point. Skiied all the way to the bridge where a few cold ones were waiting for us. Fantastic day!

Days like Saturday are pure gold. Sunny skies, cold temperatures, low avalanche danger and a foot of fresh snow, along with a full free day and a partner to share it with. John and I headed up Bullion Basin at Crystal and skied two great runs into Cement Basin, then two more on the front side of East Peak. The snow on the back was fantastic, only hitting crust on the last 200' of the run. John did a manly job breaking trail out of there, and the runs on the front side were great too. So good, in fact, that John blew off his 4:00 departure deadline to do another run (which sent me completely over the fatigue cliff).

Mt. Rainier from the top of East Peak.