hefeweizen Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 (edited) Trip: North Cascades - Isolation Traverse Date: 3/23/2013 Trip Report: Not a typo, we were capitalizing on the fine conditions the Isolation had to offer these past few days as well. I think Forest's comment when we met them at the rappel was, "They're gonna have to rename this thing!" It was great to share beta and conversation with some fine folks out there. We pretty much followed the classic route that Skoog describes here with a few small variations. We opted for the Sibley Pass approach to the western edge of the Eldorado Glacier that Nelson mentions. While quite long, it did afford us a higher start than skinning up the CRR. We were able to drive about two miles up the Hidden Peak (Lakes?) road and skin from the car. Our first night was on the Eldo. The next morning we continued on the normal route. Great skiing conditions abounded on pretty much every turn. The beauty of this traverse is that just following the route gets you great fall line descents, and that's not to mention the abundance of ski lines just a pack drop away. We chose to check out the NW cirque off Pyramid as well, and found heads up turns in great snow. This was our other deviation from the route Skoog describes. It would have been a comfortable 3 day trip, but we stuck around on the Neve for a day to enjoy some great skiing. All in all the exit was very smooth for a North Cascades adventure. Thanks Phil, Ryan, and my lovely lady Sam for the great trip. Approach Notes: Sibley Pass approach is long, avalanche prone, and very scenic. Edited March 27, 2013 by hefeweizen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danhelmstadter Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 nice photos and report, looks like it was a great trip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeakBeggar Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 SWEET! looks like an awesome trip! Cool photos, those lines in the last photo look excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowell_Skoog Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 The last photo is especially intriguing. I don't recognize the location. I'm guessing that it must be from your last day in the Neve area. Sure looks nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Did you guys exit just the to the right of Pyramid in this photo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hefeweizen Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 Lowell- You are correct. This is on the NE glacier on Snowfield. We descended from one col east of the main one (east of the summit) on that side. A beautiful fall line! Tvash- Yes, we descended through that basin. It involved the obvious long skier's right to left traverse, some engaging downhill turns, and a sidestep or five. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowell_Skoog Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Lowell- You are correct. This is on the NE glacier on Snowfield. We descended from one col east of the main one (east of the summit) on that side. A beautiful fall line! Yes, I see it now. It's right above the orange skier in the following picture: which was posted in this TR: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=24940.0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainsloth Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 great idea! looks hard to beat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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