July 31, 2010 – Watching the sun come up in the Artist Point parking lot and burn the morning fog layer off giving us epic views of Mt. Baker and Shuksan and getting us pumped for the big day heading out towards Lasiocarpa Ridge for a ski down the backside towards the Sholes Glacier.
Started out w/ the shirt off (wouldn’t last for long) and working up a good sweat in the morning heat as we made our way on the Ptarmigan Ridge trail behind Table mountain. Just below Ptarmigan Ridge we skied into the Valley (Wells Creek) for a direct route up on the Ridge between Coleman Pinnacle and Lasiocarpa Ridge. As we started skinning for the ridge, the rain started and temps dropped. Out came the Winter ARC’TERYX jacket AGAIN to make things pleasant for the rest of the day. Took a quick lunch once we hit the ridge line and did a short ski on the backside (West face) towards Sholes Creek. Once back on the ridge we skied the nice steep face back down through the mini pinnacles and big rock features down towards Wells Creek. A few skins on/skins we were back at the Chain lakes junction were we decided NOT to walk the trail behind Table but to ski down and boot up the last remaining chute just before the parking lot.
We were intending on spending one more night up there but the rain wasn’t looking like it was going anywhere soon. Made it back to Snoqualmie pass w/ the rain still falling… Good choice.
Wanted to mention that we drafted behind a fast walking mountaineer, Marius Ghetie, on the first leg of our trip. Thanks for the pace Marius and THANKS for the great pics! Below are a couple of his pics and more can be seen on our facebook page.
Just beyond Table Mountain 1.5 miles into the trip. Photo by Marius Ghetie 7/31/10
Skied off the far ridge (left center of frame)down the other side towards Sholes Creek then hit the front side through the mini pinnacles and rock features. Photo by Marius Ghetie 7/31/10
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