May 12-13, Colonial Glaicier - Snowfield Pk. Atmpt
5/15/07
3725
2
Here is a TR written by Mike Schmitt about a trip he and Yuko took with me this weekend and originally posted here: http://uw.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3498&highlight=
The pics in this report are mine, and more can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/samcrary/ColonialGlacierSnowfieldAttemptMay12132007
"Yuko, Sam and I headed to the North Cascades for some skiing over the weekend. On Friday night we drove up and hiked to Pyramid Lake, where we camped. On the hike in we heard three huge avalanches from the peaks (which were several miles away). This was well after dark, between 11:00pm and 12:30am. We think this was icefall from small seasonal glaciers (see photo below), but it certainly caught our attention!
The next morning we left from the lake, and hiked up a climber's trail through patchy snow before reaching a more open area. We started skinning, until we reached Pyramid Peak."
Mike and Yuko below Pyramid.
"Here we saw an unstable snowpatch that likely accounted for some of the avalanches we heard the previous evening (there was a lot of fresh debris on the slope below).
Now we had to cross a steep slope covered with avalanche debris. Every few minutes, loose snow avalanches, rockfall, and icefall poured down the slope so we decided to cross this section without lingering in the line of fire...
However just approaching the debris zone, the snow on the east facing 40 degree slope was pretty warm and unstable, and every step set off a loose snow slide that built up speed until rocketing off the cliffs below. So we decided to nap for an hour or two as the slope went into the shade.
We then crossed without incident, and climbed the Colonial Glacier to the Colonial-Neve col (the more western of the two cols, for anyone who has been there before).
Yuko and I set up our tent, while Sam dug a snow cave. Overnight the weather took a turn for the worse, with constant snow and strong winds. We woke up in the morning to half a foot of fresh powder.
The Neve glacier had zero visibility, and after hanging out and drinking tea for several hours we realized that it was not going to clear up any time soon. Plus we didn't want to re-cross the steep slope below Pyramid too late in the day, especially with the recent snowfall and the forecast for afternoon clearing. So we skinned up to a high point above our camp for some spectacular powder skiing, and skied out the Colonial Glacier."
Skinning up for some May powder.
The ski out the glaicier.
"We took a last look at Pyramid before heading down the ridge. We lost the trail in the patchy snow, and traveled straight down through the forest to the lake and the car.
We didn't summit anything, but this was an awesome trip to an amazing and remote area. We'll definitely be back!!"
The pics in this report are mine, and more can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/samcrary/ColonialGlacierSnowfieldAttemptMay12132007
"Yuko, Sam and I headed to the North Cascades for some skiing over the weekend. On Friday night we drove up and hiked to Pyramid Lake, where we camped. On the hike in we heard three huge avalanches from the peaks (which were several miles away). This was well after dark, between 11:00pm and 12:30am. We think this was icefall from small seasonal glaciers (see photo below), but it certainly caught our attention!
The next morning we left from the lake, and hiked up a climber's trail through patchy snow before reaching a more open area. We started skinning, until we reached Pyramid Peak."
Mike and Yuko below Pyramid.
"Here we saw an unstable snowpatch that likely accounted for some of the avalanches we heard the previous evening (there was a lot of fresh debris on the slope below).
Now we had to cross a steep slope covered with avalanche debris. Every few minutes, loose snow avalanches, rockfall, and icefall poured down the slope so we decided to cross this section without lingering in the line of fire...
However just approaching the debris zone, the snow on the east facing 40 degree slope was pretty warm and unstable, and every step set off a loose snow slide that built up speed until rocketing off the cliffs below. So we decided to nap for an hour or two as the slope went into the shade.
We then crossed without incident, and climbed the Colonial Glacier to the Colonial-Neve col (the more western of the two cols, for anyone who has been there before).
Yuko and I set up our tent, while Sam dug a snow cave. Overnight the weather took a turn for the worse, with constant snow and strong winds. We woke up in the morning to half a foot of fresh powder.
The Neve glacier had zero visibility, and after hanging out and drinking tea for several hours we realized that it was not going to clear up any time soon. Plus we didn't want to re-cross the steep slope below Pyramid too late in the day, especially with the recent snowfall and the forecast for afternoon clearing. So we skinned up to a high point above our camp for some spectacular powder skiing, and skied out the Colonial Glacier."
Skinning up for some May powder.
The ski out the glaicier.
"We took a last look at Pyramid before heading down the ridge. We lost the trail in the patchy snow, and traveled straight down through the forest to the lake and the car.
We didn't summit anything, but this was an awesome trip to an amazing and remote area. We'll definitely be back!!"
I was sent home on this peak once. I remember telling a friend, "Hey, look (!) there are tracks here." It so happened I had just gone in a giant circle and come back around to my own tracks. I still crack up about that ;D. I still get sh*& for it. ;)
Awesome outing! Great TR and pics. I can imagine what your weather was like up there, as I was camped at Moraine Lake beneath the North Face of Forbidden on the 13th. It was less than nice, that's for sure.
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