Zipper Status

Belated trip report of the Zipper, the Snoqualmie couloir for the cool kids who think the Slot and Bryant are "too mainstream". This was my second attempt at it after first sighting it early May from the top of Granite and seeing a perfect straight ribbon of snow peaking out over Windy Pass. Attempted it in a miserable rainstorm on May 6, where I got as far as the Twin Lakes trailhead before deciding that the soaking wet conditions maybe weren't conducive to the climb. 

Took another shot at it the 20th- the road was undriveably snowy, so the approach was a skin over pine needles, a few sections of roadwalking exposed gravel, and negotiating fallen tree branches and logs. I climbed straight up the couloir, and booted the last thousand feet, sections of which are probably 45 degrees. Not something you would want to do on an icy day, but I was unsure of the approach from the top of Roaring Ridge, and the softening spring snow made for easy toe and handholds. Ski conditions were "ok", with only one little section of exposed rock low down the necessitated a careful scramble. Definitely a high-effort tour for the amount of vert, as the whole trip took me 5 hours, of which only 2 were spent climbing and skiing the couloir.

Decided to investigate the road again on the 30th, since this one obviously would be way more fun if you can cut out the tedious approach. Verdict- wait until the weekend, I buried my lifted truck up to the frame rails twice and got my upper body workout in with a shovel. A little bit of warm weather should melt it out enough to get to Twin Lakes trailhead by the weekend, and with the pace of the melt currently this might be your last chance to ski this epic line until the winter.