The Party

After Bouncing back and forth on whether to head up to Canada and do some hut skiing, I decided instead to go to a few shows with a rather notable American climber. After spending Saturday cleaning up around the house this diluted what would have been a three day skiing weekend into just a Sunday day trip. The destination was decided on at the last minute after one of our party members skied at Crystal on Saturday and found the conditions unsatisfactory. It was to Camp Muir that we would go.

The Author

So, this weekend the plan was to get up early and meet up with a few others to check out a place that I had heard about a couple times in the past. The first time I had heard about Yodelin was when I toured around Lichtenberg Mountain, which is directly opposite Yodelin on the South side of Highway 2. This area is the former site of a now defunct ski resort whose dual 1800-foot double chaired ski lifts and rope tow serviced skiers in the early seventies. Given the history of avalanches in the Yodelin area and with the forecast for high winds for the day, it was going to be an interesting day out.

After watching the weather reports for the last week and diligently paying close attention to the Northwest Avalanche Centers' telemetry for Snoqualmie Pass, it looked like Sunday was going to be a great day to get out and go skiing. There was a big bright Sun shining on the day in the forecast we were planning to head out on and according to NOAA the snow level was going to be dropping to 2000 feet. Though there was no precipitation predicted the cold temperatures boded well for good snow conditions and great turns. Did I mention I hate the weather man.

Powder Turns

So, after such a great week of snow storm after snow storm battering the Cascades it was starting to look like the avalanche forecast would become more favorable on the weekend, specifically Sunday (1/15/06). The Sunday before (1/8/06), up in the Alpental Valley the snow pack had definitely decreased from the previous week and made the trip out very tough. With visions of endless powder now filling the mountains, I started hunting for partners and after only a few hours several people were interested. A plan quickly formed and with seven others attending I knew it would be a great tour.

As I sat at my desk on Friday afternoon contemplating what to do with the only day I had free for the weekend. Since it is year-end, I was helping out at my old job to help make sure things where still functioning smoothly now that I have moved on. It was about then I received an email from Ethan, whom I had toured with the Monday before. He was going to head up to Crystal Mountain for some resort skiing and wanted to know if either Chris or I wanted to go. Being that Chris was heading to Whistler in a few days or so, he declined to save money but asked me if I wanted to head up on a tour somewhere. As they say, the rest is history.