AlpineK Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Trip: Mount Shuksan - White Salmon Glacier Date: 4/18/2009 Trip Report: A lot of funny stuff, and occasionally some cool stuff starts while hanging out with friends at a bar. I figured that hanging out with backcountry skiers was a good idea given a desire to rip it up on the weekend. Talk eventually turned to the north side of Shuksan. It took me about five tenths of a second to say, "Fuck yeah lets go shred Shuksan this weekend." We briefly discussed routes, but we decided to meet at the Baker Ski Area at 5 AM and figure out routes when we got to the base of the White Salmon Glacier. A traverse through the trees brought us to the point when we actually had to pick a route. Of course early spring snow conditions lead to funky uptracks. I skied with folks going up the White Salmon Glacier. View of Baker from the top of the Fisher Chimneys. Our group ended up being motivated enough to head up Winnies Slide. There was no skiing now. Upward movement required step kicking in waist deep snow. Yeah it's hard work, but it paid off. Here's a view of Hells Highway from our high point. Skiing was pure pow down Winnies Slide. The nice pow continued down the glacier for a ways. Eventually you have to come to terms with the season. The young fresh pow is on the way out, and the adult corn isn't fully formed. That leaves you and the snow in a rough transitional period. Just like human teenage years you get teen powder. It kind of sucks, but it does make you focus on your skiing techniques. Here's a view back at the route. After a lunch break it was time to exit the valley. In the past I've always traversed horizontally out to the ski area. This time we decided to ski down the creek bed a ways to an obvious clear cut. This was a good choice with lots of corn skiing. Looking back. The uptrack back to the area sucked, but with some work we were back at the vehicles. All and all good times. Gear Notes: Snow sliding equipment. Bring lunch. Approach Notes: I'm a big fan of helmets these days. I really liked having a helmet to wear on some of the sections of the approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky_joe Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 fuck yeah. way to get out and shred that shit. sick write up and photos as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mzchristy Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Nice work, my friend!! Loved the TR and photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.