Nice amount of snow in that pic! Those slopes are accessed via the route described in this thread. Ski the SE gully, boot 150' up left over the ridge after descending first part of gully. From here many options exist and are dependent on avy conditions, amount of snow remaining, and your desire for thrill. I only recommend exploring on a high visibility day as there are many cliffs that can suddenly appear from out of the fog.<br><br>The standard route down would be--from where you pop over the ridge out of the SE gully, make a slightly skier's right traverse to reach the other side of the little basin you are at the top of; avoid the chutes to your left and follow the blunt ridge down several hundred feet (the chutes to the left go through and are worth exploring under the right conditions); at some point you need to turn left and descend into the drainage skier left. Cross the drainage near its head below some large steep slabby cliffs; make a downward and skier left traverse staying a bit above the drainage until you reach a small bowl; hike straight up it into a flat spot below where your pic was shot or traverse across the bowl aiming for the trees and pick a way through (you get a few more turns if you go straight up); keep working slightly skier left and you are at the top of the clear cut above the car.<br><br>Yes there is a lot of potential for avalanches here and many terrain traps. Good visibility is definitely a plus when first exploring here and watch for climax avies coming off the steep cliffs. These could be deadly. We routinely set off small, slow surface slides but they can be easily outrun or steered away from so long as they don't suck you into a terrain trap. Pilchuck is a great mountain worthy of many return trips. There's nearly limitless lines and easy, easy access.<br><br>At this point, I'd wait until next year though if you're looking for fun skiing.
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