May 19, 2002, Snoqualmie Pass

Pete and I climbed through old-growth forest and then up an average 35 degree SW-facing open slope to about 5600'. Continuous snow started in the forest at about 2800'; at 3200' there was about 5' of snow, and at 3600' about 8-10' of snow. Clouds slowly floating across from the east covered the sun most of the time, keeping the surface snow from getting excessively mushy, but no rain and good local visibility. At the bottom of the open slope, the snow was very nicely consolidated (1" soft on a solid granular base), and above 5000' there was 6-8" of loose granular on the same solid base. Great snow for kicking steps. We did one 2000' run with the snow getting better and better for turning as we descended out of the deeper loose snow; we set off a lot of loose surface slides on the upper part that ran pretty far, but they remained shallow (less than 4"). We had so much fun, and now had steps up the slope, that we climbed up again for a 1500' run on the same slope, stopping where the snow became most mushy.

There are some photos from this trip here.

Charles