[TR] Chair Peak - Counterclockwise Circumnavigation 3/19/2016

[AlpineK]

Trip: Chair Peak - Counterclockwise Circumnavigation

 

Date: 3/19/2016

 

Trip Report:

Decided to celebrate the last day of winter with a trip around Chair Peak. On a previous tour we did a clockwise trip around the peak, but traveling the opposite way made descending the north side of Chair the first downhill run.

 

Start of the slog

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3071/medium/1-W-DSC03106.jpg[/img]

 

North side of Chair Peak

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3071/medium/9-W-DSC03114.jpg[/img]

 

Windpacked powder followed by fun stuff

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3071/medium/11-W-DSC03116.jpg[/img]

 

Climb up from Snow Lake

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3071/medium/16-17-W_Panorama1.jpg[/img]

 

Chair Peak Lake and Melakwa Pass

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3071/medium/22-W-DSC03127.jpg[/img]

 

From Melakwa Pass skiing included nice corn and a climb to Bryant Col featuring occasional and random pinwheels

 

Looking down from Bryant Col

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3071/medium/32-W-DSC03137.jpg[/img]

 

The couloir descent involved skiing though piles of avy debris in the narrows. Thick and warm powder below was much nicer.

 

Approach Notes:

With cool temperatures at the start of the tour you could set a track without punching through the top layers. As things warmed later in the day punching through was guaranteed.

[lunger]

Nice one, thanks for the conditions report K. Counter-clockwise is my favorite direction for that one.

 

Do you by chance have any good pics of the NE Butt and/or more straight-on ones of the North Face?

[AlpineK]

NE Ridge (Reduced File Size)

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3071/8-W-DSC03113.jpg[/img]

 

There were a couple parties climbing when traversing under it

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Cool, I need to get out and ski more this spring!