danhelmstadter Posted February 10, 2010 Posted February 10, 2010 Trip: Shuksan - northwest couloir Date: 2/8/2010 Trip Report: Taken in the clear afternoon The weather looked questionable as I woke, better than the day before, but there were still clouds. I left the WS parkinglot around 9, and advanced towrds a dark cloud enshrouded Shuksan, in otherwise partly cloudy skys. I had hopes that the weather would clear, as the forecast seemed to indicate for the day from the last time I checked it some days before. I decided to skin up the White Salmon Glacier -- and drop the couloir from the top, as I was weary from the days before, and confident enough in the absense of ice in the exposed upper portion of the couloir... I was relieved when the dark clouds cleared and revealed the beast. Clouds once again wafted in, as I gained the upper Curtis Glacier, and I traveresed the upper Hanging Glacier to the couloir entrance in a almost complete white out. There I waited for perhaps an hour, slowly loseing hope that the clouds would clear -- and they did! I skiied the upper section very gingerly, because I had noticed some reavtive shallow windslab on my traverse of the hanging glacier, and the entrance was no place to get caught in a slide. I found and avoided some windslab, and ice... Snow conditions at the couloir entrance were stable slabby windpack. My knees were shakeing a little as I stared down the exposure below giveing quick considerations to possible slabs or ice... The exposed traverse did have a touch of shallow ice crust, but it was neither a problem or all that difficult to negotiate. Very good snow conditions existed in most of the couloir, although I practiced sluff managment, as I was knocking down quite a bit of snow with every large turn, so I got out of it's way by evadeing fall line after a few turns. looking at the entrance tracks Quote
E-rock Posted February 11, 2010 Posted February 11, 2010 It's crazy to check in here and see the lines people ski. Looking at Shuksan, I never would have guessed that line got skied, ever. Quote
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