After putting off our January trip with
Cascade Powder Cats
due to total lack of snow, we were delighted to find that they had enough coverage to take us yesterday. We were hopeful that the warm temps had left some of the north facing stuff in decent shape and 11 of us headed out to Scenic, just west of Stevens, at 0-dark-thirty on Monday morning.
Ryan and Jay, the owners of CPC, are class acts and excellent guides. After a quick, useful safety drill to start the day, we headed up to try out our first turns, wary that the crust down by the yurt might continue up high.
Oh boy, did it. We had more breakable crust practice yesterday than I've ever had, but it was actually pretty damn fun. Our group had a great attitude and Ryan and Jay tried to cherry-pick areas that would have better snow. We soon discovered that the top 500 feet on most aspects was quite good, but crust awaited at the bottom no matter where you went.
Despite that, the group had a fantastic time. The guides were willing to go just about anywhere, recognizing that they had a pretty experienced group that was making the best of less-than-ideal conditions. Afternoon warming improved the crusty lower slopes and let us access some of the steeper more technical terrain above the yurt before closing out the day with a round of beers in the fading light.
Highly recommended and Jay says he's planning on doing yurt-based self-guided trips starting next year, which will be an excellent way to get access to some fantastic touring terrain.
