White Salmon Schralp, Shuksan, Dec 4, 2010

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DonJuanPakistan
Trippin' travellin'.
from Seattle, Washington
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White Salmon Schralp, Shuksan, Dec 4, 2010

Post by DonJuanPakistan »

Nice day on Shuks. Late start prevented summit attempt, but great snow and a nice line during sunset made for a memorable day.

We followed a skin track up the White Salmon. Dug a pit that showed well over 300 cm of snow on the upper half of the glacier. I had skied this route a couple of times before, but had always followed the moderate line of ascent on the descent as well. With the day's great snowpack, we were able to drop the proper ski line from the very top along the skier's right edge of the glacier. We paused partway down to climb a few hundred feet up a sliver of a couloir that always begs for attention from the Baker Ski Area. These were the best turns yet, very steep boot top powder, with the Border Peak glowing an ephemeral pink in the waning December light. We skied the rest of the Salmon, and upon exit met up with the other group whose skin track we were following. It was Zach Giffin, Molly Baker, and Ben (name here), the snowboarder who was in on the first descent of the NW couloir. They ascended the Salmon a few hours before us, and felt so good about conditions that the crossed the Hanging Glacier and dropped the NW couloir from the top. The reported very hard, scary conditions in the entrance dog leg section, but once below that it was hero snow all the way to the bottom.

We teamed up with them for an exit skin in the dark and an awesome dinner at Milano's in Glacier, telling stories and dreaming of more good days.

This ghetto image (of the mountain in May) illustrates what I just explained in HD technicolor Bluray 3-D brilliance.

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mtraslin
mtraslin

Re: White Salmon Schralp, Shuksan, Dec 4, 2010

Post by mtraslin »

Congrats....

Thanks for sharing a cool route!

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skykilo
olikyks
from Santa Fe
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Re: White Salmon Schralp, Shuksan, Dec 4, 2010

Post by skykilo »

Nice, Drew. Thanks for injecting some life around here.

I'm going to post a BC^3 (BlackComb British Columbia BackCountry) TR tonight. The mountains look wintry up here!

sukiakiumo
SkiIan

Re: White Salmon Schralp, Shuksan, Dec 4, 2010

Post by sukiakiumo »

Sweet. Saw pics from a friend up on Table, and it looked perfect even yesterday.

Jason Hummel

Re: White Salmon Schralp, Shuksan, Dec 4, 2010

Post by Jason Hummel »

Awesome man. I should've been there. Looks awesome.

Atraslin
Giver don't skidder

Re: White Salmon Schralp, Shuksan, Dec 4, 2010

Post by Atraslin »

Awesome, I want to hit that line.It's good thing you guys dug a pit.Way to time it right, this early in the season.

danhelmstadter
voluntary admission

Re: White Salmon Schralp, Shuksan, Dec 4, 2010

Post by danhelmstadter »

sweet! looks like great conditions! it sounds like it was a glacier crew who skiied the nw couloir, so the ben was probably bootpack ben - he da man.

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DonJuanPakistan
Trippin' travellin'.
from Seattle, Washington
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Re: White Salmon Schralp, Shuksan, Dec 4, 2010

Post by DonJuanPakistan »

Photos.

Me skin.
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Orinando!
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It was real good coming out of that coolie.
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Kinda like Medusa, no?
Image

ziff

Re: White Salmon Schralp, Shuksan, Dec 4, 2010

Post by ziff »

sweet photo coming out of the couloir!

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Diamond Dachshund
from The Future
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Re: White Salmon Schralp, Shuksan, Dec 4, 2010

Post by Diamond Dachshund »

Did you ski up that couloir on the looker's left? Were you searching for treasures?

Nice pics of the alpenglow. What did you eat at Milanos? Did it have pesto in it?

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