Tony_Bentley Posted May 5, 2006 Posted May 5, 2006 Climb: Sahale Ski-Cascade Pass -> Sahale Arm Date of Climb: 5/4/2006 Trip Report: After cranking hard to meet a deadline, no sleep was to be had last night. I tried but Justin knocked 15 minutes after I laid down. In 40 minutes we were packed with food, coffee and gear and Justin was bombing down I-5. He made record time up Cascade River road drifting corners and taking the pothole hits at full speed. We were making good time and were skinning up Sahale Arm by 10am and had only stopped to chow and gauk at the snowy North Cascades a couple of times. I kept stopping and looking at all of them. North facing slopes are more fun! By noon we were at the base of the final crag of Sahale trying to find the least sketchy way to ski from the summit. There were two options; drop down a bit to the west face or go around the eastern side. We picked the northeastern slope but skiing from the direct summit wasn't an option for either of us. We hung out at the top and Justin then downclimbed and took some video of my single "don't botch it" turn from about 15' from the summit. A screw up would have sent me sliding down a slope that dropped off into who knows where. Forbidden Peak looked great in snow. After Justin came around and put on his ski gear he took the first run which was nice and steep with great snow conditions. Another few thousand feet and we were looking back at our tracks and loving the sun and perfect corn. J-Berg was puking snow and the rumble and dumps were fun to watch. Soon we were back at the car driving for Mexi and listening to Dr Dre. By the way.. I believe this was Justin's first ever trip into the backcountry on skis and I must say, he did pretty good! Keep it up!!! Gear Notes: Axe, cramps, sunblock and a red bull Approach Notes: melting fast Quote
iluka Posted May 5, 2006 Posted May 5, 2006 Great photos and great TR! Have they opened the gate at MilePost 20 on the Cascade River Road or did you have to hike up from the parking lot for the Eldorado trailhead? Quote
Weekend_Climberz Posted May 5, 2006 Posted May 5, 2006 Schweet trip and nice photos. First time in the BC? Pretty tight! Great photos and great TR! Have they opened the gate at MilePost 20 on the Cascade River Road or did you have to hike up from the parking lot for the Eldorado trailhead? Yes, Please divulge. Quote
ashw_justin Posted May 5, 2006 Posted May 5, 2006 I drove my 2WD to the mile 20 gate on dry road, and there's another 1-2 miles of dry road after that. The gate was open when we got back but there was no sign of anyone. Quote
ashw_justin Posted May 5, 2006 Posted May 5, 2006 http://students.washington.edu/ashwortj/NWMountains/NWframe.html Quote
powdrx Posted May 5, 2006 Posted May 5, 2006 These pictures make me feel funny inside... think I need to be alone for a minute. Quote
olyclimber Posted May 6, 2006 Posted May 6, 2006 holy crap those are awesome photos. thanks for posting Tony & Justin. beautiful Quote
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