Mesachie Glacier

May 15, 2021

I generally enjoy ski mountaineering with summit objectives more than ski touring, but the Mesachie Tour looked like a nice way to get up high with great views and experience a new area along Highway 20. Our group of four met up at about mile 148.5 near the end of the tour, dropped a car, drove to Easy Pass, and started skinning at 8:45am.

While there was continuous snow at the trailhead, we quickly had to transition over patches, a bridge, and a series of other obstacles. It was slow going and not so easy on the way up to Easy Pass. After putting skis on our backs for a ways, we finally started skinning near the end of the switchbacks near 4,000 feet, pulling some PNW moves over some dry patches before it finally got easier. The rest of the climb to Easy Pass was straightforward, though it was already hot on our perfect blue-bird day and we were getting increasingly nervous about wet slides on the high traverse.

From the pass, we switchbacked North up to 7,000 feet and then started traversing. It was slippery enough with high enough consequence that we eventually put skis on our backs and booted along. This turned out to be reasonably efficient since there were a number of sections with bare rock, there was a booter in place, and we also hit a place where we needed to climb up steeper section. Farther along the traverse at about 7,400 feet where the runout became less consequential, we switched back to skinning, reaching the col above the Mesachie Glacier in about 5 hours from the car.

It felt like a beach here with no wind and a strong sun. The views of Black Peak, Goode, and Logan were awesome. I was especially intrigued by the sprawling Douglas Glacier on Logan. We ate a leisurely lunch here and then dropped in next to a cornice onto the super fun slopes of the Mesachie Glacier. What a cool cirque framed by Mesachie, Katsuk, Kimtah, and Cosho Peaks.

The ski was super fun all the way down to 5,650 feet where we transitioned and started up toward Mesachie Pass. The views back toward Mesachie as we climbed to point 6,730 were awesome—it felt much more remote and grand than any of us had expected. We transitioned at about 7 hours and 20 minutes from the car, skiing a relatively steep chute briefly before getting on much lower-angle terrain. We stayed on what seemed to be the easiest slopes of the descent and were able to ski down to about 4,000 feet with some shenanigans, including one point where we had to climb back up a stream gully that turned into an exposed waterfall.

We’d carried trail runners, given how light the coverage seemed to be where we’d parked, and walked our way down to the creek at 3,400 feet. It took a bit of looking to find a suitable log to cross, and we did some “Four Seasons Total Landscaping” on it, removing some limbs to make it easier to get across with skis on our backs. It felt great to be past the final objective with lots of daylight left and we triumphantly walked a short ways down the highway to our car for a little over 10 hours on the day. High price of admission and exit, but worth it!

Northwest Face on Cashmere Mountain

May 2, 2021

With the forecast lining up for a single day objective, Kelsey and I decided to head out to the Leavenworth area and add a new peak to our repertoire. We drove her van to the road intersection off Icicle Creek between Johnny Creek and Ida Creek around 10:30pm on Saturday night. There was enough cloud cover that it was quite dark and we couldn’t see much, but it was clear there was no snow to be found in the valley. Significant doubt set in as we conked out for the night.

We woke up at 5:45am and it was already light enough to see that there was no snow for a long ways up the mountain. The recent heat wave had significantly impacted the snowpack. We set our expectations low and donned our trail runners, planning to walk for a good ways starting at 6:30am. Thankfully, near the switchback of the forest road, a nicely-signed trail to Lake Victoria began and we followed it all the way up to near the ridge line at 3,600 feet. There were a few patches of snow to this point, but it was generally dry.

At the ridge, we couldn’t see much snow in the Victoria Creek drainage. There was a couple hundred foot section of dense slide alder that we waded through to get toward the creek, then a moderately tricky stream crossing before we got to the other side and decided to switch to skis about 2 hours from the car. We weren’t sure the snow would be continuous from here and our expectations remained low. On the more North-facing aspect, the snow was in better shape and we were able to skin up to 4,500 feet where a nice-looking gully presented itself.

We thought the summer trail followed Victoria Creek more closely, but decided this gully was more likely to have continuous snow. We skinned nearly all of it and booted the last part with icy snow. From there, we could skin again up and over a shoulder down toward Victoria Creek, eventually getting to Lake Victoria about 4 hours from the car. What a stunning spot! A bit like Colchuck Lake, but with an unfamiliar cirque of granite and no signs of civilization. Our straight-on view of the Victoria’s Secret Couloir made it look quite steep and the wet slide debris from the recent heat wave made it look like skiing it would be quite challenging.

Nevertheless, we headed across the lake to see what it looked like up close. We found the slopes to be lower angle than expected and a clear area on the climber’s right of the gully to be easy skinning. In the hot sun, we switchbacked our way up, eventually transitioning to boots and crampons to climb the gully. It got pretty steep and icy near the top, but was never too much for a single whippet.

Above the couloir, the snow was firm enough that we just stayed in boots and crampons up to a nice rest spot below the NW Face about 6 hours from the car. We had less than 1,000 feet to go at this point and could see an old boot track headed up the face. We left skis at the base of the face and headed up, traversing in from the climber’s right and then going pretty directly up to the summit block. We made it to the top in 7 hours from the car, so 1:30pm. The views of the Enchantments and Stuart Range were phenomenal. Having climbed many of the peaks and lines visible, it was really cool to see them lined up like that.

A quick downclimb closer to the North ridge brought us back to our skis. We clicked in and scraped our way down the first 500 feet or so before things warmed up and were much more fun. The couloir had seemed quite intimidating on the way up, but it wasn’t too bad to side-slip the top and then, as soon as we were through the constriction, we had the best skiing of the day on the corn below.

After a quick skate across the lake, we tried to match our up track, heading over the shoulder into our ascent drainage and then down more directly to the stream crossing. It all went smoothly and included some pretty fun turns, only getting wet and heavy down near the creek. We transitioned here 9 hours from the car and made quick work of the descent, reaching the car about 1 hour and 20 minutes later for a bit over 10 hours on the day.

Hitting this a bit earlier in the season would be recommended, but the effort to get to the snow was actually not as bad as we had expected it to be. On days when you don’t have high expectations, accomplishing anything feels pretty good. We were pretty psyched to have tagged this summit and skied this route. The subsequent burgers and beers in Leavenworth and drive home during the daylight hours added to a glorious feeling that summer is near.

East Success Couloir on Mount Rainier

April 18, 2021

This route wasn’t on my radar until Adam sent a note early this spring, looking to get a group together to climb and ski the line. Reading up on the route, we’d heard of the rock bands melting out early in the season and so we looked for the first opportunity with consistent good weather to fire it up. When the recent high-pressure system gave us July in April for an entire week, it was obviously time to roll.

Adam, Colin, and I met up at Longmire at 9am on Saturday morning to register and then drove to Comet Falls, packing up and leaving the car around 10am. It was a bit tedious ascending along the summer trail with some side hilling on slushy snow, but we eventually made it to the Van Trump meadows with views of the mountain and our excitement grew. We could see ski tracks from a group that had recently been up in the Van Trump area and it looked like they’d had a great time!

The approach was pretty straightforward, heading more or less straight up before bending to the West at around 8,000 feet. 5.5 hours from the car under a hot sun and cloudless sky got us to a nice, nearly flat campsite on the East margin of the Kautz Glacier, mostly protected from ice and rock fall. That meant we were at camp by 3:30pm, enabling my most favorite thing—an afternoon nap before dinner. The sun was beating down on us in our tents, but the 9,000-foot elevation helped keep things cool enough to go down for the count after some ramen. We scouted out the Kautz crossing that evening before dinner, including a highly-awkward roped ski, then tucked ourselves in just after sunset for a 2:45am wakeup.

I slept really well, having opted to bring a warmer bag than I’d tried to get away with on Rainier before and the early morning wasn’t that painful. We took a bit longer to pack up than planned and were moving around 3:45am. With skis on our backs and short-roped together with crampons, axes, and whippets, we descended and crossed the Kautz, then ascended the Kautz Cleaver’s 50-degree snow slopes to 10,150 feet where we were able to easily traverse into the East Success Couloir. The angle eased slightly here and we swung our rope team around, getting up to 11,.000 feet before our next break at 6:15am.

The snow was odd. Small sun cups and penitentes had formed with a light coating of pumice dust everywhere. Every so often, there would be an old wind layer that was more pristine, but harder packed. We hoped it would all soften up later under another cloudless sky. We took another break at 12,000 feet, roughly an hour later. At 12,600 feet, we encountered a steep step that was mostly exposed rock. It took a bit of finesse to work through the sugar snow here. Above this, we started traversing rightwards onto more and more exposed terrain.

At 13,300 feet or so, we encountered what normally must be a rock band. For us, it was a much steeper step of snow, easily 60+ degrees. The snow up here was warming fast at this point, with a more Eastern aspect. As Adam gingerly kicked in steps and Colin and I plunged our axes to be ready for a worst-case tumble, we had a group chat. The terrain below us was steep enough and exposed enough that an unmitigated fall would not end well. None of us expected to ski down this section, so it would require booting to the top and back, easily taking 1.5-2 hours. If the snow started to wet slide, that would also be a problem. So we called it, having all been on top before and being more interested in skiing the couloir than pushing our luck.

We down-climbed to a ridge at 13,125 feet, took a break, and clicked into our skis at 11:15am. The first turn was a doozy with firm snow, steep terrain, and a lot of exposure. We scraped our way back to the rock step at 12,600 feet, popped our skis off to down climb, and then clicked back in just below. The snow had softened a bit, but was not great. All of the sun cups, wind features, and mini penitentes made for choppy skiing requiring a lot of attention. We slowly made our way down the couloir, searching for anywhere the smoother old wind layer bridged sections together.

Finally, near the bottom of couloir, we got delicious corn. The objective hazard was mostly behind us and we could go for it as much as our quads would allow. At 8,900 feet, we decided to traverse to the Kautz Cleaver to see if we could get across here. Boy were we glad we looked! The Kautz Glacier below us had a dirty, nasty icefall that we’d have to climb through if we went farther down. We were able to traverse from here, then skin back up to camp by 2pm. We packed up quickly, knowing the lower slopes. would be getting wet.

Skiing from camp to 6,500 feet or so was lovely corn which we enjoyed as much as we could in spite of our overnight packs. Below this elevation, we encountered isothermal slop. With matchstick skis and an overnight pack, I struggled my way down, reaching the car at about 4pm.

We made a good decision to turn around when we did. I can see how the couloir can be a phenomenal ski line. Unfortunately the conditions for us didn’t live up to the promise, but we did it and came out unscathed. Not sure I’ll be back on this route. I like a bit more technical (and protectable) terrain punctuated by some amount of moderate terrain. In this case, it was a consistent, long day of ~45-degree snow slopes—a bit of a slog while staying on edge the whole time.