March 12, 2006, The Slot +
3/12/06
WA Snoqualmie Pass
2673
1
Along with many other folks Bill and I skied the Slot on Saturday...we went on to more adventures after the Slot for breakfast.
We left the Alpental lot at about 6AM. Climbed up the trees to lookers left of the Phantom. Going was pretty easy thanks to the highway from Saturday. We did not intend to ski the Slot but couldn't pass it up. (does that make us sluts?) We dropped in behind two others and found the snow surprisingly stable. We skied down to about 4500 and found the basin quite cool (19F). We climbed back up to the west ridge notch and over the summit of Snoqualmie Mtn. At the top we had a quick chat with David and Ben then headed east. After a short snack break we dropped down again to about 2600 feet. Then began the slog back up. The snow was in great shape on all northern aspects and even in the trees and sheltered areas of the southern aspects. The finish on the Phantom was less than ideal, but even crust is fun (?) on my new TeleDaddy's.
We got back to Alpental at about 5PM. 11 hours and 8K vertical feet later....totally spanked. I think with more fuel we could cut a chunk of time off the tour...but maybe not.
Great terrain, great weather, good test of fitnes...
We left the Alpental lot at about 6AM. Climbed up the trees to lookers left of the Phantom. Going was pretty easy thanks to the highway from Saturday. We did not intend to ski the Slot but couldn't pass it up. (does that make us sluts?) We dropped in behind two others and found the snow surprisingly stable. We skied down to about 4500 and found the basin quite cool (19F). We climbed back up to the west ridge notch and over the summit of Snoqualmie Mtn. At the top we had a quick chat with David and Ben then headed east. After a short snack break we dropped down again to about 2600 feet. Then began the slog back up. The snow was in great shape on all northern aspects and even in the trees and sheltered areas of the southern aspects. The finish on the Phantom was less than ideal, but even crust is fun (?) on my new TeleDaddy's.
We got back to Alpental at about 5PM. 11 hours and 8K vertical feet later....totally spanked. I think with more fuel we could cut a chunk of time off the tour...but maybe not.
Great terrain, great weather, good test of fitnes...
Still good today, Wednesday the 15th . . . we went in the scenic way through Commonwealth Basin and around Guye Peak. A hard crust topped with a bit of loose corn and about 1" of fresh made for some interesting "no grip" skinning along the SW ridge of Snoqualmie, ski crampons highly advised. After the reports from the weekend, we expected bumps in the Slot, but the combination of loose slough and about 3" of new had smoothed everything out and there were no tracks to been seen except on the very top! Excellent. Untracked pow in the lower apron.
Crust on the ski down the west side of Snoqualmie was not quite so desireable . . . stayed in the trees rather than out on the Phantom, which offered some pockets of nice snow mixed with ugly crust.
Reply to this TR
Please login first: