Good2Go Posted March 27, 2007 Posted March 27, 2007 Trip: Mt Stuart - Cascadian Couloir Date: 3/25/2007 Trip Report: Recent weather patterns have been delivering snow during the week and copious "gifts" of Hawaiin moisture on the weekends. Last Saturday was no exception. I've recently been relegated to weekend warior status, so suffice it to say I was more than a little perturbed that our planned climb/ski of Stuart on Sunday might have to be aborted. The forecast, however, offered a glimmer of hope. Warm rain was supposed to taper off late Saturday night, with a potential 1-3" of freshies to be deposited on East slopes by the waning edge of the front. I've been burned by that kind of forecast many times before, but the key to being a succesful mountaineer is a short memory coupled with a strong ability to suspend disbelief. And sometimes, you just gotta resort to praying for benevolence from the weather gods. Thankfully, this time it all worked out. We awoke to starry skies at the Teanaway Road snow park, which greatly enhanced our cautious optimism. As we skinned up Long's Pass, we discovered dust on crust that grew progressively deeper as we gained altitude. The ski down the N side confirmed the diagnosis of powder. By the time we began our climb up the S shoulder of Stewie, broken clouds had given way to bluebird skies. We skinned most of route in pow and wind buff conditions, switching occassionally to crampons and axe, where it seemed more efficient. We skied from the false summit. (Didn't make the summit traverse this time, due priimarily to time constraints.) Lower descent was via the Cascadian. Mostly pow, some wind buff and minimal crust. All in all, a brilliant outing. More of Kendall S's photos can be found here: BTW - If anyone's interested (Skykilo, et al?), Ulrich's appears to be in fine shape right now. Gear Notes: Snomos for the road approach. Harscheisen for the skinning. Pons and axes for the false summit headwall and the summit traverse, if you are so inclined. Approach Notes: Snomo approach is mostly covered, with only a few 50 meter+ bare spots. The snow on the road was ultra slushy though, so I doubt it will be in shape much longer. Quote
skitchmo Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Very nice. Looks like you had a much more enjoyable descent down the Cascadian than my last dust filled, knee crunching slog there. Quote
kevbone Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Holy crap those are great pictures. Great job. Quote
Tony_Bentley Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Yes but damn look where they got to ski. Nice job! I love that mountain. Quote
altasnob Posted March 30, 2007 Posted March 30, 2007 Just curious, can you legally snowmobile to the top of Longs Pass? That's where the Wilderness area begins, correct? Quote
ilookeddown Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 Yes you can. Stop at red the signs. Most skiers will start their tour from the summer trail head. Quote
Spin Fast Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 Here are a couple more pictures from the trip. Good day indeed. View from Longs Pass Up and up Traversing the upper flanks Heading Home Ian --- www.mackieimages.com Quote
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