The Strugle to Find Powder part 2: Mt. Shuksan

Our plan was to head into the North Cascades and pull off something big but the weather had other plans.

Mt. Shuksan is a mountaineers dream with each side having a uniquely separate personality. With high freezing levels and a promising forecast Dan and myself decided to head for the north side and hopefully ride something big.

Within a hour of leaving the trail head we were standing at the base of the might pyramid following a beaten in skin track all the way to the base of the White Salmon Glacier. With a few switchbacks, traverses and a crevasse scare we were standing on top of the White Salmon Glacier, 4500 feet above the valley below.

Clouds had engulfed the upper mountain and squashed our plans so we decided to cut our losses and ride the White Salmon. The riding was a mixed bag with two thousand feet of great snow and another two thousand of wet heavy slush.

Not wanting to leave early we decided to skin to the north face col to get a better look at potential lines and finished the day with a 3000 foot fall line run.

Here is a (not so quick) video