Thanks to Dylan and Kate for organizing the weekend at a cabin in Plain near Lake Wenatchee. And thanks to Wade for inviting Randy and me to join the fun.
The plan as organized by Dylan and Kate was to spend New Years weekend having fun in the snow and with friends. I'd say that mission was well accomplished. Nearly everyone skied at least some point during the weekend, except Coralie, who has just learned to walk in the last few months. She did experience daycare at Mission Ridge. Most of the folks skied inbounds at either Mission Ridge or Stevens Pass. Ingrid cross country skied at Lake Wenatchee. Randy, Wade, and I skied in the backcountry.
Having experience with sharing a cabin with a dozen of your new best friends and their children, Randy and I opted to bring our camper for maximum quiet and sleep. Plus our personal mission was to ski and that means out the door fairly early due to limited daylight. Our ski partner, Wade, was bunked in the cabin and still managed to get an early start both Friday and Saturday with us. He's more cheerful on less sleep than we are.
On Thursday Randy and I were the first to arrive at the cabin with our camper. We talked to the lady from the management company and were instructed to finish drying the towels in the tiny dryer. A couple hours later Dylan, Kate, and Coralie arrived. The the rest of the party spilled in as the evening went on.
Wade, Randy, and I planned to ski Diamond Head at Blewett Pass on Friday so we left as others were gathering ski gear to ski in the nearby resort areas. The day was sunny but very very cold at 5F. We pondered the avalanche report, considered the slope, the recent snowfall and weather, decided we were making a good choice and got on the non-motorized trail just as some snowmobilers headed up the road on their machines.
The route tours south for a little while then rounds back toward the snowmobile road, which we cross and continue the trail through the forest to a junction which lead either to a valley or ridge. They both arrive in the same place. We opted for the ridge, even though that meant we'd have to cut a skin track back up the slope we intended to ski.
By lunchtime, whatever time that was, we got to the top of our slope in the sunshine and sat to enjoy a sandwich. Sitting in the sun was actually fairly comfortable but the tiniest breeze gave Randy and me the shivers. We were up and ready to ski even though Wade might've liked to enjoy the view for a few minutes longer.
Randy skied the first few turns then stopped to watch Wade and I ski down in turn. There were a few lines put in by skiers, possibly the previous day. The snow was very light and fluffy and stable. Perfect. A little thin though because Wade hit a rock and tumbled ass over teakettle. He popped up out of the powder with a smile and continued down. At the bottom we all agreed that one more run was in order so up the hill we went.
And down for another great run. I thought we'd go out the usual way, down the drainage, through the woods and over hill and dale, which is a lot of up and down and kind of a painful way to end a good ski day. So we opted to skin back up and go back down the side that faces the Enchantments and follow our skin track out.
The skiing on that side was a little more lumpy and inconsistent but forces me to be clever. Randy skied it pro-style like he always does. Wade skied it Wade-style, like he always does. I skied it with a prayer and some fear like I always do. The snow was friendly for making tight necessary turns through the woods and over fallen logs and tight along gullies.
There was some poling on the flat spots but far fewer flat spots on this route than our usual route out. On the road a snowmobile loaded with three skiers, a trailer with a dog crate and three sets of skis passed me gently. At the parking lot the driver followed me back to our rig where Randy had poured some celebratory beers, which were slushing in the very cold temperatures. The driver was a local fellow who is the champion of separating backcountry, non-motorized users from all the snowmobilers who think they need access to all the terrain. He is clearly passionate about his cause. Check out Wenatcheeoutdoors.org for more information. I think it's a worthy cause for all of us who enjoy non-motorized areas. Anyway, our day amounted to about 3500 feet, if I'm a little generous.
Back at the cabin we enjoyed lukewarm showers and the promise of more festivities. Other skiers trickled in. Some people were organized enough to bring party clothes. We are not that organized. Everyone brought way more alcohol than could be consumed. Some of us were actually very reasonable about consuming it — I had two beers and a half glass of champagne to wash down the duck-liver pate. Appetizers were consumed, including genuine pate with champagne, cheese fondue, smoked salmon (our contribution). That morning we had crock-potted a chicken-type stroganoff, which was the bulk of our dinner. Then the sushi came out. Not long after that Randy and I slithered out to the camper to get some sleep. We had snow on the brain and wanted to ski the next day. Plus New Years had already been celebrated in New York by that time and we figured that was just as good. Plus Wade kept sneaking off to nap. That was justification enough for us.
The next morning we had to be even more quiet as we were pretty sure that some of our cabin-mates had rung in the New Year and then some. We cleaned up what we could, emptied the dishwasher, refilled it, washed some big dishes, packed our stuff, breakfasted, made lunches and were out the door before 8:30.
We met Randy's friend Russ, who is a Leavenworth-transplanted former Skagit Alpine Club, at the beginning of Icicle Creek Road. Russ had some beta on a "700-foot line" on a spur ridge of Cashmere Mountain. The route begins at the 8-mile campground gate. Ski up the road a piece then pick one of the shoulders to skin up then ski down.
The snow wasn't as good as the day before even though the temperature was even colder at -6F on the drive over. By the time we got to the parking area, it had warmed up to about 3F. Anyway, Russ found the skin track he had seen the previous day so Wade and Randy started up. There was one tricky area near the bottom that crosses a gully onto a steep shoulder. Wade fumbled through it, Randy got through it a little more gracefully, then Russ and I totally messed the whole thing up and struggled for a long long time to get back on the track in deep fluffy snow. Russ was ready to give up but I got back on track so he had no choice but to follow. That may not be Russ' version of events.
Once I got back on track I could see Randy and Wade about 100' above us sitting on their packs in the sunshine, possibly enjoying the spectacle of Russ and me stumbling about. Things got easier for me but maybe not so much for Russ as his skins were not quite wall-to-wall. That makes kick turns even harder. Never mind that the hip flexors want to give up at every turn. Russ' skins kept making him slide backward.
Randy and I continued up the steep track. Wade waited on Russ. Two and half hours later Randy and were near the summit of the ridge but opted to not continue for a couple reasons: a) we were in the sunshine on a little knoll and, b) the skiing looked worse farther up because it was on a sunny aspect. We bundled up, ate peanut butter and jelly and waited. And waited. Got cold so stomped around in the snow then Wade showed up. And finally Russ made it too. Luckily Russ wasn't interested in stopping for lunch because it was only "a 700-foot run" so he didn't bring lunch.
We de-skinned and skied around rocks, shrubs, trees, gullies and other obstacles in pretty decent snow for about 2000'. Russ later confessed that he didn't want to overstate the possible vertical. Randy and I thought we could make another run but we had gotten a late start and the snow wasn't nearly as good as the day before. However, we would file the route for the future.
Then we drove back to town and enjoyed some fine beers and burgers and The Duck and Drake, which is across the street from Gustav's and Starbucks. It was barely daylight when we parted ways but the drive back on Saturday night (versus Sunday night) was actually pretty easy. Randy and I made it back to Stanwood in about 2 1/2 hours from Leavenworth with the truck and camper.
For the weekend we got a little over 5000' of skiing. Not bad for still early season ski legs and hopefully the end of flu season (seriouly I thought I was better but perhaps a lack of appetite that is ordinarily quite robust might've been a clue). Naturally I insist you read to the end before I offer the true story in the pictures.