sayjay Posted February 19, 2002 Posted February 19, 2002 Was up in the Scottish Lakes area this weekend for some backcountry skiing and saw a gorgeous-looking pitch of blue ice above the north end of Lake Julius. It looked to be in good shape, and given that it's at ~5200', is north-facing and on the east side of the crest I'd imagine that this ice stays in for awhile. Has anyone out there climbed this? The approach from below looked a little brutal but doable -- not long, just on a very very steep boulder field that may have super-deep snow -- and it could definitely be set up from above by crossing a ridgeline... What's great is that you can get a shuttle ride up via snowmobile from the people that run the Scottish Lakes huts. That gets you to 5,000', and it's only a couple mile ski to the lake from there so the approach (if you're willing to shell out the $$) is easy for a climb in a relatively remote area. Apparently it's a rarity that the masses who stay at the Huts actually trek any further into the wilderness than the south end of Lake Julius. We camped one lake higher up and hit some gorgeous backcountry and great skiing and didn't see another soul-- Quote
mattp Posted February 19, 2002 Posted February 19, 2002 George Sherrit and I went to look at that thing in 1983, and on that occasion we climbed a small piece of it, just left of the main flow. I'm pretty sure George went back and climbed the main pillar, perhaps with Jack Lewis. It is reliable ice climb that stays formed most of the winter and I would guess it to be 100 feet high, pretty much vertical. I worked at "High Camp" for one season and spent a couple of years up there, helping out part time. When I was up there, we maintained a ski route from Lake Julius to Lock Eileen and customers from High Camp routinely skied up past all three lakes to reach a viewpoint up on the Chiwaukum Crest that we called "Baldy," a gentle pyramid that overlooks Highway 2. Quote
mikeadam Posted February 19, 2002 Posted February 19, 2002 Matt, is there anything you haven't done? I bet you never climbed Maple Pro... Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted February 19, 2002 Posted February 19, 2002 quote: Originally posted by mikeadam: Matt, is there anything you haven't done? I bet you never climbed Maple Pro... I heard rumors him and Yoder put that up back in the dark ages Quote
sayjay Posted February 19, 2002 Author Posted February 19, 2002 Hey mattp, Thanks for the info. Yeah, it looked very vertical, and it looked like a good line would be left down low then head towards the middle. That's cool that you worked there for a season -- it's a fantastic area. Looks like now they are maintaining trails only as far as Julius, but they've extended the trail system around the huts a lot in the last few years. I said people rarely go beyond Julius because this is what we were told by the folks working there. Two of the guys who were on their second season working there hadn't even ever been up beyond Julius and a third made some statement about how great it was that "SOMEONE was FINALLY taking advantage of the easy access to great alpine skiing". That and the fact that we didn't see sign of anyone else up there on a three day weekend :-) Quote
philfort Posted February 19, 2002 Posted February 19, 2002 You actually had good skiing there this wknd? I was at Jim Hill mtn on Sunday, which is pretty close-by. The snow was wet'n'sloppy to at least 6000ft. Quote
mattp Posted February 19, 2002 Posted February 19, 2002 Too bad they are not taking advantage of what they have up there. The high country up there in the headwaters of Roaring Creek (Lake Julius et al) and also in the upper Chiwaukum Creek drainage has a tremendous amount of easily accessible skiing in alpine (really subalpine)terrain. Quote
mikeadam Posted February 19, 2002 Posted February 19, 2002 wet and sloppy isn't good snow? Wait you're right...I prefer trap crust! Quote
mattp Posted February 19, 2002 Posted February 19, 2002 Philfort- We had fairly good (not great) snow in the woods between 4,500 and 5,500 over below Colchuck. Quote
specialed Posted February 19, 2002 Posted February 19, 2002 SayJay, whats the beta on getting a snow machine ride up to huts. What did they charge you guys? The huts are on Scottish Lake and the good skiing/climbing is a bit further at Julius Lake, correct? Quote
sayjay Posted February 19, 2002 Author Posted February 19, 2002 Well it wan't exactly knee-deep powder but yeah it was good skiing. We just did the approach on Sunday and hit the high open country on Monday and at least then it was all hard-pack powder. It was colder on Monday than it was on Sunday so maybe that was the difference, along with the fact that the slopes we skied were between ~6000' and 7200'. On the slopes that weren't subject to a lot of wind or sun there was actually a really nice layer of packed powder for cutting turns. On our way out, when we got below about 5200' monday late afternoon/early evening it *was* mushy... Quote
philfort Posted February 19, 2002 Posted February 19, 2002 Can you take your own snowmachine up there, or is it private property, or private parking, or something? And if you can, can you continue further (past the huts) towards the good skiing/climbing, or is that wilderness, or would that just be plain uncool 'cause it's a nice peaceful area? Quote
sayjay Posted February 19, 2002 Author Posted February 19, 2002 quote: SayJay, whats the beta on getting a snow machine ride up to huts. What did they charge you guys? The huts are on Scottish Lake and the good skiing/climbing is a bit further at Julius Lake, correct? The huts aren't actually on a lake. (Scottish Lakes describes the collection of lakes in the area). Yes, Lake Julius is maybe a couple miles -- mainly a traverse, on trail -- from the huts. Info is on a web site:www.scottishlakes.comThey charged us $30 a head to haul us and our gear to the huts. Pricey if you ask me, but well worth saving you the ~8-9 miles (I'd say) of not-so-entertaining skiing in. I'd rather spend the $$ and spend my time in the high country! We did ski *out* though as it's mostly downhill and fast going- Quote
sayjay Posted February 19, 2002 Author Posted February 19, 2002 quote: Can you take your own snowmachine up there, or is it private property, or private parking, or something? And if you can, can you continue further (past the huts) towards the good skiing/climbing, or is that wilderness, or would that just be plain uncool 'cause it's a nice peaceful area? I'm pretty sure you can't take your own snowmachine up there-- mattp do you know? I also don't believe you can take snowmobiles past the huts because it becomes a wilderness area on the way there. Also, yes, it would be plain uncool cause it is a really nice peaceful area as soon as you get away from the huts. Quote
mattp Posted February 20, 2002 Posted February 20, 2002 When I was there, I am not sure that High Camp had a right to exclude other snowmobilers but the Camp was operated on a license with the USFS and they rented and plowed the parking area next to the train tracks next to highway 2, as well as maintained the road and did some occasional grooming. Because the customers at High Camp don't want to hear snowmobiles, I recall that Bill had a sign at the Midway point, asking other snowmobilers to have their fun on the road system that branches off westward from that point, and they generally respected this. Occasionally someone would head up there, usually during the week, and rip it up on the clearcuts near High Camp, and once in a while they would show up at camp and share a drink with Peg and Bill, but that was about it. You might have a right to drive your sled up there, and I'm not sure what they'd say if you stopped at Camp and asked. However, in my opinion it would be rude even if it was perfectly within your right to do so, because you know that people who pay lots of money to go up there and ski in a semi-wilderness setting do not want to hear you or see your track on a ski trail (and the road beyond High Camp toward Lake Julius is one of their ski trails in the sense not that they own it, but in the sense that it is one of the most obvious ways out of camp toward the wilderness). When I was there, we would occasionally "groom" a track by driving a snowmobile out that road but we only did so if the snow was real heavy and there would be enough new snow before the weekend to at least partially cover the snowmobile track -- otherwise, our guests always complained about the intrusion of such a sign of civilization into their wilderness experience. That's just my opinion. Ask them. Quote
philfort Posted February 20, 2002 Posted February 20, 2002 I agree, it would be rude; I wouldn't do it. Good to keep it peaceful. Quote
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