NWOutdoorGrrl

Last weekend, I played in the snow with Brian, Jan, Ed, Jessie, Eric, Science, Fred, and Doug. We were working hard at deciphering snow conditions and rescuing buried beacons. As you’d expect, hijinx ensued…

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On Saturday, Mike, Laura and I headed out to Stevens Pass for a little reconnaissance for an upcoming overnight adventure with our basic climbing class students.  We started out with an unremarkable snowshoe up to Skyline Lake. Then we dropped into the basin to the west of the lake and headed to what we thought was the notch that would lead us to Tye Lake and on to Spinnaker Peak. The avy danger was low in the shaded gullies on the north side of the ridge and we made good time.

Unfortunately, we ended up on an unnamed peak with a dramatic drop-off. Oops! Our consolation was a pretty fine view of Tye Peak and the surrounding hills. We also caught a glimpse of a fighter jet below us, buzzing the hillsides, 100m off the valley floor. (I’ll admit that it was a nice day for a joy ride.)

We headed back down to the notch we were supposed to go to and changed our destination to the summit of Tye Peak. The wind was howling up there and we were cold! We kept moving though and only paused for a summit picture before retreating back down to a place that was more sheltered from the wind.

We got back to the cars around 2:30 – mighty early for a regular trip. In the end though, I’m confident that we found just the right place for our adventure with

Over the last 11 years, I’ve learned that one simple phrase will ensure you a place on just about any winter adventure: “I like step kicking in deep snow.” And that’s how I got on yesterday’s trip up Norse Peak.

We left the TH at 9 a.m. and followed a meandering snow-covered trail up the mountain for an hour or so. Pretty soon, the slopes opened up and we got our step-kicking mojo going, taking turns as needed. A long and fairly exhausting 3 hours later, we arrived at a saddle on the wind-scoured ridge northwest of Norse Peak. After a short food break, Rena and I took over the step-kicking duties and got the team to a broad, open shoulder. Only a short, steep bump and ice-covered rocks stood between us and the summit!

Three of our team members opted to stay behind, while the remaining six of us pushed on. I was really tired and tempted to stay behind, but sometimes you’ve just got want the summit more than you want anything else that day. Remembering my failure on West Granite the previous weekend, I didn’t want to turn back twice in a row. Five hours after we left the cars we were on the summit.

We sipped tea, had some sandwiches, snapped some pictures, then retreated to gather up the rest of our team members. All I can say is thank goodness going down is so much quicker and easier than pushing your way up through deep snow. We arrived back at the cars only 2 1/2 hours after leaving the summit. All-in-all a good day in the mountains!

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John, Nick, Monica, Hiddeko, Vasko, Burke, and I battled thigh-deep snow on our attempted ascent of West Granite today (aka the Tusk o’ Granite). We made it to within about 500′ of the summit, but cold, driving snow, really challenging snow conditions, and exhaustion  sent us back downhill with our tail between our legs. Sigh… Next time!

I met Lisa and Mark at the climbing gym tonight. I thought climbers – of all people – wouldn’t be scared of a little snow. Turns out, we were the only people climbing. Not having to wait to get on a single rope was luxurious to say the least.