AlpineK Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Trip: Snoqualmie Pass - Chair and Roosevelt North Slopes Date: 5/1/2011 Trip Report: Skiing a loop that includes north facing descents on Chair Peak and Mount Roosevelt has been on my tick list for a while. Jeff H and I completed the route to celebrate May Day. A friend reported thick heavy snow at the pass. That didn't sound fun, but we hoped a couple days of freeze thaw would make travel easier. The forecast for May 1 called for warm afternoon temperatures. With the recent snow we figured starting early in the morning was best if you wanted to avoid point release avalanches. We didn't get a crack of dawn start, but we figured leaving the trailhead at 7 AM would be sufficient for our plans. The approach to the base of the NE Ridge of Chair Peak was soon behind us. Jeff at the top of our Chair run. Mt Snoqualmie is in the background. We practiced our figure 8 form up high. The snow on the slopes down to Snow lake was variable. In good sections you could turn and stay on top of a surface ice layer. Most of the time each turn involved dealing with the consequences of breaking through then trying to execute another turn. At Snow Lake we climbed south facing slopes on Roosevelt. The temperatures were warming the snow, and we started seeing point release avalanches. Fortunately everything we saw was moving slow enough to make avoiding the concrete like snow simple. Jeff negotiating a steep section of the slopes on Roosevelt. The col between the summits of Roosevelt provides excellent views both south and north. View to the southeast View to the northwest The chute on the northern side of Roosevelt provided the best skiing of the day. Snow on the slopes up high felt like it still remembered winter. As we descended the snow returned to a spring form. We did ski it late enough in the day for the warming effects to soften the icy layer we were breaking through on the north side of Chair. Eventually we reached the point where the climb back to Snow Lake started. The climb out was fairly straightforward. It didn't take long to pop over a ridge and get views of Chair Peak and Snow Lake again. Chair Peak from the ridge east of Mt. Roosevelt. We saw a large warm snow slide covering some of our tracks on the north side of Chair. As we skied to Snow Lake point release slides would follow us. Travel wasn't a problem as long as the second skier payed attention to what the first skier set off. A view back at the south side of Roosevelt revealed a number of slides covering our ascent tracks. From there we skied across the lake and made it to the up tracks leading to the Snow Lake divide just as a large snowshoe group was starting to ruin the ski uptrack. I pointed out another snow shoe track they could follow and commented on the poor etiquette they were practicing. I'm sure this had little effect on the group, but you never know The rest of the ski to Alpental was soon behind us. Lots of folks were celebrating the last day of ski area operation in the upper parking lot. I suppose that signals the first day of Spring skiing for backcountry folks. In any case it was a nice warm day with fun ski terrain. Approach Notes: Starting and finishing early seems to be the best plan until more snow consolidates occurs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danhelmstadter Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevino Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Anyone interested in getting out for a half day wed morning? Or something along those lines... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Nice trip Feck! That couloir on Roosevelt looks sweeeet. Seems like it's been spring for a while already to me, given the abundance of sunny rock available this past month or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilookeddown Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Nice pictures Kurt. Looks like you got the timing just right given the snow conditions and the warming during the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friedrich Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Congrats Feck! Great pics too, nice! Reading your Trip report, for some reason I started hearing an old Simon & Garfunkel song in my head. "Slip-sliding away..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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