[TR] Mount Ellinor - Winter Chute 12/26/2011

[JeffreyR]

Trip: Mount Ellinor - Winter Chute

 

Date: 12/26/2011

 

Trip Report:

Was originally planning on climbing Mt Washington, but the road was too snowy past the lower Ellinor parking lot and i had no desire for several miles of road walking.

It was snowing at the parking lot, but there was no significant snow pack until the base of the chute. The bottom third of the chute consisted of about 10 inches of snow on rock and ice. These abnormal conditions have made Ellinor a much more fun climb!

(looking up the chute)

 

(climbing in the lower section)

 

The top 2/3 of the route were a mixture of knee deep powder, ice, and frozen scree crap making for fairly fast climbing.

 

 

 

We summited around 1 pm as a storm was moving in and opted to descend via the summer trail since we could see several day old tracks leading down it. I pretty quickly lost the trail under the new snow and ended up BSing my way down through some cliffy and fun down-climbs. Overall a fun day and much more exciting than this route usually is under normal conditions.

 

 

Better watch out for this guy...

he seems like a real creep...

 

Approach Notes:

 

 

[Lazyboy]

That looks like fun.

 

Thanks for the trip report and pictures.

[Drederek]

Yeah that chute is weird with just a little snow in it. Washington is probably easier in the winter starting from the last crossing of Big creek than the lower Ellinor lot. Angle up the north side following the path of least resistance. You'll end up a quarter mile or so from the regular parking lot.

[Dave7]

Thanks for the write-up! I always enjoyed my Ellinor trips!

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Always fun to see winter stuff from the Olympics! Thanks!

[strait_up]

Thanks for the report. I was debating doing Washington yesterday for the holiday but didnt and will be heading up there this weekend most likely. Any idea what the road is like since the January snow & ice storms?