Heliotrope Ridge - November 12th, 2000
Jealous that Utah has been getting dumped on prodigiously, and the Cascades have not, Ed, Maia, Zack, T.J., Dave and I set off to find some quality early season Cascade powder. The scant 12 inches of snowpack didn't help much - however, the 1500ft freezing level, and the presence of permanent snowfields, did.Dave chilling on Heliotrope Ridge. A small wisp of steam from the summit crater can just be seen, if you squint hard, above the col between Baker and Colfax Butte.
It was definitely early season skiing, as evidenced by the fact that I was a complete skiing doofus - 1) I didn't even think of bringing my shovel, 2) I remembered my avalanche beacon, but forgot to ever put it on, 3) I nearly skied into a crevasse.
After driving up the icy forest road, we left the parking lot 9:30'ish. My pack felt really light. Here is my secret formula:
Phil's guide to packing light for ski mountaineering
TJ slogs up.
The skies were clear above the valley clouds, and it was "crisp". We climbed above the trees on the hard-packed trail, and soon had good views of the Coleman Glacier towards Heliotrope Ridge. It looked fairly crevassed, but then we saw, off in the distance, the "summit" of Heliotrope Ridge, and the smooth slope below, bathed in sunshine (a slightly different aspect than the shadowy north slopes we were on), and also bathed in many many ski tracks. It looked a bit like the "backcountry" at a ski resort. Oh well. To be expected, as this is some of the most accessible early-season skiing.
View down the valley of Thunder Glacier, towards the Twin Sisters Range
We traversed right on an established boot/skin track on the snout of the glacier, below some sizeable crevasses that you would definitely not want to ski into (we never bothered with the rope or harnesses because we saw other people without them, so we figured it must be safe!). I wondered about Zack, because Ed had said he was kind of stupid, and not too safe around those things.
Dave and I, ahead of Ed and co., rounded a broad ridge into a large gentle bowl where all the skiing action was taking place. Still room for some fresh tracks. The snow was dry and easy to travel through, though wind-compacted in spots. We headed towards the steeper slope leading up to a rock point. Visible from this vantage was a small crack - the only crevasse in this area. The ski tracks went on either side of it, demonstrating signs of intelligent life. We carefully noted its position as we ascended a line up the face.
TJ's first backcountry descent. Lincoln Butte in the background. Maia and Zack's tracks are also visible on the left side of the picture (widely spaced holes in the snow)
Once near the summit, we peered over the west edge of the ridge, and saw the Twin Sisters Range floating in the sea of low elevation clouds. Dave and I took a break and took in the scenery. We analyzed Canadian Rockies-like ice smears on the Black Buttes, and wondered if they had ever been climbed.
We spotted the others down below, and decided to make a run down to them, and them join them for a second run. Dave went first, carving sweet turns down the 30 degree slope - but then at the bottom he crash and burned. I made a few tentative first-of-the-season turns, then let loose - I spotted a few swaths wide enough for first tracks, and noted the one that had the crevasse below it. Don't go down there. I got into a rhythm, and then all of a sudden, there was the crevasse, 10 feet in front of me! oops! Never saw it coming! I pointed my skis straight and just sailed over it. Well, it was pretty small, but I was still freaked out, so I automatically crashed.
Ed, chased by Maia.
Dave and I met up with the others. Ed and T.J. had been in one spot for a while, and so Maia and Zack were really whining. We headed off up another slope, gentle, but less tracked up. More relaxing on top. More looking at the ice smears on the Buttes. More amazing "sea of clouds" views, etc, etc....
Then we had a long sweet descent in the powder. What can I say? It was great!
Dave, snowbordeur extra-ordinaire. Look at that bouldering problem in the background!
The bottom of the snowfield blended well with the rocky meadows, and so our last few turns involved some base-grinding. After finishing off my amaretto hot chocolate, we traversed back over the trail (taking the most difficult way), and down to the truck, and to Milano's for late afternoon food.