3.26.11 chair lake coolies
3/15/11
WA Snoqualmie Pass
3476
4
We set out to ski Kaleetan hoping for a miracle, but no miracle materialized... so on to plan B, whatever that was. The ski down from Bryant col had been survival skiing at best, crusty hard, nasty. From there fierce and generous winds pushed us up Melakwa Pass, where we ruminated for a while 'til Will's previous attempt at lower Kaleetan's NE couloir caught fire and Rob charged on up the rib. Excellent choice. Super ski down!
Plan C emerged while crossing Chair Peak Lake where another couloir was spied, facing North, straight ahead. Couloir, North: Good. So up we went and down we went, sending a fairly manageable 2 inch light crust skittering down the slope. Pretty soft underneath, good consolidation.
The ski out was somewhat dreaded, but really wasn't all that bad. Several attempts at sunbreaks throughout the day had softened it up quite nicely; cream cheese was overheard on the ski out. The Snow Lake skin was also quite scenic. Pretty much an inadvertent Chair Peak circumnav of a day. Good company and fruitful improvisation!
Melakwa Pass dialogue
Plan C emerged while crossing Chair Peak Lake where another couloir was spied, facing North, straight ahead. Couloir, North: Good. So up we went and down we went, sending a fairly manageable 2 inch light crust skittering down the slope. Pretty soft underneath, good consolidation.
The ski out was somewhat dreaded, but really wasn't all that bad. Several attempts at sunbreaks throughout the day had softened it up quite nicely; cream cheese was overheard on the ski out. The Snow Lake skin was also quite scenic. Pretty much an inadvertent Chair Peak circumnav of a day. Good company and fruitful improvisation!
Melakwa Pass dialogue
Thanks for getting us out. Couple more photos
Nice report and photos. I was in that area in late January with another group. Impressive lines with exellent photos!
Nice style guys! up and down.
The one across the lake was bigger but the little alien couloir more aesthetic.
Short and sweet and the top narrow and steep.
Seems it'd be a nice accent to any Chair Peak circumnav tour.
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