Lichtenberg Touring

Written by weekendclimber

Thursday, 19 January 2006

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.

It's seems that now that I have been getting out more and more on the weekends, my alarm clock has progressively been waking me up earlier and earlier. Not that I'm complaining about the 5:00am alpine starts, but looking back on my lazier days it would be nice to sleep in on a Sunday or two a month. Such is life. If I wanted to ski some fresh deep powder today at Stevens Pass I was going to have to get up early, since the drive usually takes an hour longer than the trip to Snoqualmie Pass.

The plan was to Approach Lichtenberg Mountain, just North of Stevens Pass, from the South along Nason Creek and skin up the sparsely treed slope towards Lake Valhalla. So, after struggling to get out of bed and go to the store, I met up with some of the members of the party at 6:15am. Once everyone was there, I through my gear into another's vehicle and we headed out with a haste.

Suiting Up

As we pulled into the pullout at Yodalin, just east of Stevens Pass, there were already several cars parked in the lot. Our final car of the train pulled in and we all shook hands and introduced ourselves before starting to suit up for the day ahead. We talked a bit about the avalanche forecast and the fact that the NWAC had posted that the danger level would be gradually decreasing during the day due to the colder temperatures.

Once everyone was ready to go, we crossed over to the north side of the highway and descend about a hundred feet or so down the Nason Creek Road. The small valley smelled of burning firewood and the residents in the cabins that lined the sides of the road appeared to just be rising for the day. We approached a cabin at the end of the road and quickly moved passed it without seeing the "No Trespassing" sign that was almost buried in a tree hole. Later we would learn that the property owner did not appreciate us bushwhacking through his land.

We quickly skirted the creekside and soon we were at the base of a large gully that had obviously recently released a rather large avalanche that seemed to defy physics. It was apparent that we should not Hang out too long in this spot because at this point we had no idea what the snow conditions were like on the slope above the gully. We made our way around the tongue of the debris and entered the treed ridge line to the left of this steep gully.

Kick Turn Territory

Kick turns have been my weakness so far in the few times that I had been skiing and I quickly gained a lot more experience as we zig-zagged up through the trees. Fortunately this time I had a few more people to watch and learn from, so I was able to figure out a better way to flip my ski's in front of me with my ski pole. This made the sharp switchbacks go by rather easily and I think I only fell once into the nearly bottomless snow that was covering the slope. I can tell you from this experience that wallowing in deep powder is a workout that even the strongest people dread.

Once we reached the flat area directly south of Lake Valhalla, we all stopped and waited for everyone to catch up to one another. From here we weighed our options and discussed the possibility of avalanches sweeping the Southwestern aspect of Lichtenberg that we had come to ski down. As we began to cross the slope we, spread out enough to not stress the snow-pack too much, while at the same time keeping everyone in the party within site of each other. The wind started picking up a little bit, which helped the visibility a lot, but it was obviously moving large amounts of snow. After reaching a relatively safe spot, one member of the team dug a quick snow pit and observed that the new snow layers were very well bonded. It looks like the avalanche forecast was correct, at least on this slope.

Windy Top

Though the wind was a cause for concern, we continued up to the col just southeast of the summit where there was a constant 35-40 mile an hour gale howling out of the west. Three of us broke off from the pack and found shelter near a small tree outcrop while the rest continued to the summit for the ski down. There was an apparent cornice that overhung the northeast aspect below us, so we made sure to stay a good 50 feet from the Edge of the ridge just to be sure not to break the thing off.

With the wind whipping all our gear around, we quickly ripped our skins off and got ready to head down the slope as fast as we could. Once we had all our gear stowed and strapped on, we started to make the turns we had worked for during the day. The last few trips that I had taken on my new Alpine Touring skis left a lot to wish for as far as snow conditions, but this time the snow was unbelievably sugary. We carefully made our way down the slope and snapped some photos of the others skiing down from the summit. After falling a few times I could not help but laugh when I took a spill and ended up with my skis crossed behind me. The snow was so bottomless that even getting a ski pole down to the hilt provided little or no purchase to be able to right myself.

Skiing the Deepness

As we made quick work out of the upper half of the slope, we worked our back over the Lake Valhalla and hung out long enough for me to scarf down the lunch that I had brought. We all talked about stories of past trips and of ones that we wanted to do in the future, while at the same time reveling the good fortune of the trip we were currently partaking in. So far, in the years that I have skied in the state of Washington (about ten or so) I had not skied during such perfect conditions as what we were having that day. In a word, it was spectacular.

From the edge of the lake, we again split off into two groups with two others and I heading down through the trees while the rest skinned back up the mountain for another go. The farther down the hill we went, it seemed as though the snow got better and better, since the wind had not had a chance to sweep away the best of it. I fell several times again and could only laugh as I waded through the deep powder that was blanketing the hill.

At the bottom, we all collected in a small clearing in the trees and put the skins back on for the trek back down to the parking lot. As we neared the cabin at the end of the road, there was a large "No Trespassing" sign that was clearly visible, so we headed up hill into the woods to avoid any issues. Once back at the road, the skinning back to the car went fast and I tried to work myself until my legs started burning. It was a great day, with great company, on a great ski tour.