2010, by snowNinjas

Sometime in February, the SnowNinjas realized that spring was fast approaching, which meant that we had to make plans to climb one of the Cascade volcanoes again. We considered all of the classic ski-mountaineering options, but eventually decided to make a second trip to Mt. Adams, and invite some friends to join us.

After lots of monkeying with schedules and arranging time off from various jobs, we finally set a date to meet at the trailhead on May 14th. Dave drove down from Seattle, Chad and Milena caravaned over from Boise with the SnowNinjas, and Dana M. committed to flying in from Florida (where he'd been training by running stairs in a lighthouse on the beach....unconventional, but he was a grr-animal on the climb, so it worked for him!). Amos, however, had no issues with clearing his schedule for the trip.

Luckily, we had a tremendous break in the weather for the weekend - after tons of late-spring snow and cold, we arrived just in time to bask in a delightful high-pressure system that provided warm weather, clear skies, and perfect spring skiing.

The trek in from the trailhead was eight miles, thanks to all the late-spring snow, but no one was complaining. Especially since we could all break out shorts and t-shirts for the trip into camp....as STB likes to put it, the stoke was high.

Just like last year, we set up camp at about 6200', just below treeline. The views of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens were stunning - the heat haze made the snowcaps look like they were floating over a sea of evergreens. Along the Columbia River, the pear trees and grapevines reminded us that even though we were standing in snow, winter was in full retreat, and the ephemeral alpine spring was fast approaching. Time to get some epic runs in.....

We had a really fine evening in camp, scoping out the peak looming 6,000' above us (there's the actual peak at 12,600', and then there's a false summit, Piker's Peak, at 12,400', which was our objective for the climb), and discussing the snowpack and our options for the skiing down the summit. The weather reports indicated that the temps would be near freezing at the summit, so there was potential for some treacherous ice and high winds, which had potential to make skiing off Piker's Peak a little tricky.

On the other hand, recent storms had left all the classic ski lines well-covered with snow, so we figured we had options if things looked dicey on the iconic SW Chute. The heat haze made for a stupendous sunset, so we gabbed until the last of the hot-pink alpenglow faded off the mountain and then turned in to get a few zzz's before our 0500 wake-up call.

Saturday dawned clear and cold, and a good freeze during the night left us all grinning in anticipation of some perfect spring conditions. We lingered in camp until the sun was just about the clear the ridge to our east - only one of our group had ski crampons, so we decided to give the snow a chance to soften slightly before we started climbing. 'Cause, you know, bootpacking sucks.

(Interestingly, one of the first things we saw on our ascent was a grey fox scurrying along the ridge above us, well above treeline - we wondered if if was the same one that starred in last year's STB video. Sure looked the same!)

The climb was terrific. Waiting for daylight to soften up the snow was a good call - after the first hour, no one had any problems with climbing or edging on the firm snowpack. Conditions were consistent almost all the way to the summit of Pikers, with the exception of the last hundred yards.

Sure enough, wind-carved ice made the skiing tricky and treacherous at the very top, so only two of us persevered the last few hundred feet to the summit. The rest of us whipped off our skins, keeping a death-grip on them in the 30-mph gusts, and started making huge turns down the south face. (Amos, of course, just kicked it into four-paw drive to make some flying turns of his own.)

Passing on the Southwest Chutes was the right decision - the snow on the south face was perfect, and in the four hours that it took us to roll back down to camp, we got to ski a stunning variety of terrain. Giant half-pipes, endless 35-degree slopes, rolling benches - everyone got back to camp exhausted and happy. As we were making supper, the delightful high-pressure system began it's slow collapse into clouds, wind and a few drops of rain....and above-freezing temperatures.

That night, a sudden rain squall made all of us collectively lurch up in our sleeping bags, thinking about the logistics of that long ski back to the car...thankfully, it stopped after ten minutes, so we didn't have to waterski home. The lack of a freeze made for a mushy morning in camp, though, so we were all grateful that we'd hit the right day to summit.

Our one novice backcountry skier was starting to drag his skins out of his pack for the trip down the mountain when we stopped him cold. Eight miles and couple of thousand feet of elevation meant that even though we were loaded up and headed back to the barn with huge packs, we weren't done making turns.

After a few minutes of whooping down through the trees, he caught on....we had a great time slaloming out. It was over much too soon. But there's always next year......or maybe, later this summer. :-)