Ruth Mountain Annual Ski Trip
There are many ski tours I do once and while I enjoy them I do not have the desire to repeat them. There are also a small handful of tours that I could do again and again, year after year. Ruth Mountain is one of the latter. The view from the summit is one of my favorite views in all of Washington and the ~3,000’ ski down Ruth’s face is one of the most enjoyable lines I’ve experienced in the backcountry. So last weekend, Alex, Sander, and I set out to ski Ruth in a day. I already had two successful ski summits under my belt, one time in a whiteout with Alex that I am reluctant to even count, and a second time last year with my friend Andrew. I was excited for Sander and Alex to ski Ruth for the first time in—fingers crossed—good conditions.
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A Gold Star for Silver Star
In early 2018, just after completing my AIARE 1 course I bought the “Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Washington” book and began leafing through the pages and dog-earring tours that looked like fun and adventurous objectives. One tour that immediately stood out to me was Silver Star. It looked wildly scenic and it seemed fun to be able to ski a prominent peak of Washington Pass, but I knew it would take awhile for me to gain the skills and practice necessary to successfully ski it. Plus the timing and conditions would need to align. It was a tall order, but this past weekend everything fell into place and Alex, our friend Sander, and I skied 1,500’+ of spring powder from the Silver Star Col!
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Cascades Crown Jewel: Skiing Glacier Peak/Dakobed
At 10,545’, Glacier Peak/Dakobed is the fifth tallest peak in Washington. It’s also the most remote of the state’s five major volcanos. While all of the other volcanos can be seen from major highways and cities, Glacier Peak is the recluse of the group, cradled deep within the Central Cascades. Summiting the volcano requires a 34 mile round-trip hike with 10,000+’ of gain and is usually done in two to three days. This is a volcano Alex and I have been wanting to ski since we first started ski mountaineering a couple years ago, but its remoteness and reputation as a rugged peak kept us away until this year.
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Skiing Ruth Mountain 2.0
This past weekend I finally got to properly ski a mountain that I have been dreaming of skiing for over two years. Ruth Mountain. If you’ve been around here for awhile you’ll know that technically I already have skied Ruth Mountain in May 2021, but unfortunately, it was in a whiteout so it was more survival skiing than anything. Since that trip I have been dreaming of returning in better conditions, but I’ve also been a little apprehensive since our first trip to the mountain really pushed Alex and I out of our comfort zones and pushed our limits physically.
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It's a Party: Skiing the Birthday Tour
On May 10, Highway 20 opened for the season and along with it a slew of ski touring possibilities near Washington Pass became more accessible. There’s a small window each year after the road opens when the snow line still allows for spring ski tours that don’t require carrying skis on one’s back so I wanted to get out there as soon as I could and take advantage of that window.
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Ski Touring from the Alpine Lakes High Camp
Located just nine miles from Highway 2 but seemingly a world away, the Alpine Lakes High Camp are an excellent basecamp for backcountry trips year-round. The huts are rustic and off-the-grid, but are still cozy and welcoming enough for large groups and families. I’ve been wanting to stay in one of these huts since I learned about them years ago, but choosing which season to visit was a tough decision.
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Ruby Redemption: Skiing Ruby Mountain in the North Cascades
If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile you may have noticed that trips and adventures don’t always go as planned and sometimes objectives require multiple attempts before we’re successful. This was the case for Ruby Mountain in the North Cascades. In May of 2021, Alex and I started our tour at the Happy Creek trailhead bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. We knew the day ahead of us would be arduous but we felt we were adequately prepared both mentally and physically. It turns out we were wrong.
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Juneuary in Washington: Skiing Loowit
This January offered a string of sunny, warm weekends with relatively low avalanche risk, resulting in many to dub the month Juneuary and head off on adventures usually relegated to the stabler spring months. Alex and I couldn’t let an opportunity to climb and ski a volcano in the depths of winter pass us by so we, too, headed for the mountains. We make it a goal to ski Loowit (Mount St. Helens) once per year and chose this for our Juneuary destination.
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