March 3, 2006, Near Snoq Pass

Because this trip was sort of a bust, I didn't write a report. However, Silaswild's report request inspired me. Yesterday, Phil and I attempted to ski the Bryant Couloir, but bad snow conditions near the entrance made us turn back. Let me elaborate, everything with mild sun exposure was solid. However, things that got a lot of sun were releasing natural sloughs. We approached the couloir via the Alpental backcountry traverse and started climbing below Pineapple Pass.

The last 100 feet of the approach required us to choose between a really steep, sun exposed slope, or a flatter sun exposed slope with a final climb through a shaded gully. We chose the latter. In the gully we dug a pit and found unstable snow. There was a 6" slab that broke off Q1 before I could even finish the pit to do a shovel test. Under that was another 6" of loose, unconsolidated snow that slid easily off the crust layer underneath. As there were big cliffs under us as well as above us, we decided to turn around.

We then skied down No Fog to Source Lake, climbed to the Snow Lake divide, and skied through the sparse trees back to Source Lake in full sun. I started two slough slides that were bigger than expected, but moving at 5 mph.