April 22, Guye Peak East Couloir

Managed to get out to Guye Peak before work  and I couldn't have asked for a better start to a Thursday. Left the Commonwealth Basin trailhead around 5:30am with the plan of skinning up toward Cave Ridge and dropping into the East Couloir before the sun reached it.

Skinning through Commonwealth was quick with a good skin track in place from recent traffic. I broke off toward Guye once clear of the basin, traversing the looker's-right side between Guye Peak and Cave Ridge. The approach is shorter than it looks from the road — maybe 2,500 feet of gain total — and you're into the couloir in under two hours from the car if you move.

The couloir itself was in mediocre shape. A couple inches of wet snow had loaded over uneven crust and frozen avi debris from an earlier cycle. Nothing looked like it was going to slide, but nothing was going to ski well either. I dropped in expecting to link turns and instead found myself side-slipping more than skiing and it genuinely felt like I was learning to ski again. The slope had enough fill that you weren't scratching rock, but the surface irregularities made it technically demanding in an un-fun way. More humbling than scary.

Lower in the couloir things smoothed out and I was able to open up before rejoining the skin track back to the car in time to make it to the office.

On a good day with stable snow, uniform surface, the East Couloir is one of the more satisfying short laps at the pass. The approach via Commonwealth is mellow and the couloir has enough character to justify the effort without committing to a long day. I've been putting together more detailed notes on the ski objectives at Snoqualmie Pass, including this one, over at the Snoqualmie Pass backcountry skiing guide — useful for planning if you're new to the zone.

Check NWAC before committing to anything steep here. April conditions can turn fast!