We have been enjoying skiing Cannon's West flank a fair bit this season and 1 more line looked promising. The ridge just south of the direct west face on Cannon is a powder trap. It holds cold snow on an aspect that only gets glancing sunshine all winter long. It's cold shoulder was holding the good snow on Friday, March 5th. Here are a few images of the Birdman in full wingspan.
February 22nd 2010 was forecast to be the best day ever so I called a couple friends to see if they could shred. Ring, ring...ring, Birdman picks up and doesn't even say hello. He just says yes, I go to mountains with you and then hangs up before I can say a word. Perfect, just need one more ripping shred master, I know just the guy. Ring, ring...ring and Rex Flake says hello. The conversation goes like this, I tell Rex I want to do 12 miles and climb over 10,000ft in a day. He says, "sounds awesome, what time?" I say 3:15am at Icicle Junction. He says "I am packing, see you soon." Yes! 2 pro's sign up for an exploration of the Argonaut Colchuck basin.
I had just spent 2 days wondering around Sherpa and when we left there I looked up and saw this epic looking ridge with what looked like a fine steep skiing line down its North West flank. I was instantly inspired to come back for a further exploration. Who could be better than the Birdman and Rex Flake! I was stoked and we rolled to the end of the plowed Icicle Rd and started the sled assist to help us on the first 3 miles and thus we started the adventure at the Stuart Lake Trailhead.
Not sure if you know Rex or not but he is the reason that Stevens Pass Ski Area doesn't have any fresh tracks left in the cool lines. If there is good snow, he already shredded it. He is the guy that passes you on the uphill boot pack like your standing still. If there is a track in your secret stash you can most likely blame it on Rex.
As for the Birdman everyone knows him. He is the Methow kid that grew up chasing bears for fun. Luckily his passion switched over to skiing. He spent years in Chamonix mastering his steep skiing skills. He brought back his passion for the steeps and now resides in wonderful Leavenworth Wa where I am fortunate enough to call him a ski partner.
I have to say that the snow was the best, softest, most perfect steep powder skiing snow you could imagine. This snow had that perfect texture, snow so good you can taste it! The first line we shredded was just right of the main rock face. The steepness was around 40+ degrees but the true cherry was the lunch break on the top col. We were surrounded in every direction by glowing mountains and rock walls. Another positive side to this spot other than just the beaming glory was that we were fully sheltered from the wind. We thought we were in a sauna with the best views ever, it was t-shirt suntan weather. We soaked it in for about 40 mins and then began to shred steep perfect snow.
Now at the base of Argonauts N.W. Face we climbed the gully to the lookers left of the main rock face. After another 1200ft we hit the ridge and enjoyed another nice break with views of Colchuck peak, Dragontail, Argonaut, Sherpa and the mighty Mt. Stuart. The shade was moving fast and was about to hide these cool sunny spines I wanted to photograph. We moved quickly to capture the fast moving light on the spines. We were in motion for over 14 hours, did around 13 miles and 5700ft. These are the images we brought back home to share.
Giant thanks to Rex and Birdman for trusting me with their days adventure. Thanks brothers! More tk...
Birdman rides the light.
Rex laughs and says "I have already been on every peak you can see!"
Birdman soaks in the beauty.
It's time, into position!
Rex tries to jump over Sherpa and Mt. Stuart!
Birdman goes black and white!
Rex shreds the steep panel under Argonaut.
Rex rides the mountain in hard charging style.
Erik Svega and I had the privilege of an overnight visit to the Sherpa Argonaut basin. We stayed at hotel Sherpa Derpa at 6000ft with magnificent views of the mountains in every direction. The weather was as premium as it gets in the mountains with high pressure settling in for a week! We took advantage of the deep blue skies and we were able to ski 3.5 lines in 2 days. The .5 was a crusty run we only climbed half way on the second day before skiing over to another couloir that never sees the sun.
For the first day we had special guest ski star Matt ( Mixed Master MC ) Collins along to break trail and provide the humor. With MC leading the way we shredded Barranco Escarpado ( French for steep gully ) which is just lookers right of the Argonaut Sherpa col. Steepness was around 40+ degrees and the snow was perfect champagne powder that tickled the senses. After a shred of this line we said so long to MC as he had to travel the 8 miles back to the road before sun down. After our farewell to MC we headed up the North West flank of Argonaut to shred a rather delicious line filled with smoking butter cream powder and marvelous views of the Stuart Range.
After 14 hours on the move 8000ft elevation gain and 7 miles travelled we were ready to set up camp and fired up the stove. Dinner included slow cooked Chicken tortellini in a roasted rosemary basil and beef soup. Took quite some time to cook due to the frozen fuel bottle connection that was filled with a pesky ice chunk. The dinner was large enough for a feast at the castle with the entire staff but we managed to chomp it all into our over-stuffed bellies all by ourselves. After that we were off to bed. I froze the whole night with my light is right sleeping bag and pad. Erik roasted like a dumpling in a hot stew with his zero degree bag and his pad that was the size of Wisconsin. While I was shivering me timbers in Antarctica he was roasting away on the Southern coast of France.
For the second day we awoke to solid blue skies and no wind. After a scrumptious coffee we then packed as light as we could and headed off to start the day. The line we then shredded is called Old Faithful due to its excitingly steep and soft nature every time you shred it. Old Faithful is the first couloir lookers left of the summit of Sherpa Peak and hits 50 degrees near the top and the run is approx 2500ft.
A huge thanks to Erik who could perhaps be the strongest skier/person on the planet and also to Super Matt for his love of the shred. Until next time!
The top of Old Faithful.
Erik shreds @ 8000ft on the N.W. Flank of Argonaut.
Erik Svega the crusher @ camp Sherpa Derpa.
Matt ( Mixed Master MC ) Collins.
MC drops into Barranco Escarpado.
Adam Mckenney and I arrived at the Icicle Rd and Mountaineer Creek junction at 6:45am. Just as we were packing up Icicle Creek local Danny Z slides up on his super sled on his way to work and gives us some beta. He says everything is good and there is a skin track up Cannon's west face out of the Stuart Lake Trail head. This is exciting news for us, we don't have to break trail! We zip up to the top of the road with a sled assist. 2 hours and 57 minutes from the trail head we are standing 4500 vertical feet higher and crest the ridge. Special thanks to Erik Svega for putting the skin track in a few days prior.
We drop about 400 vertical ft to arrive in the Cooney lake basin and tour over to the main head wall. We place skis on our backs and kick steps up to the true summit. From the ridge to the summit took us about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The main head-wall is around 1000ft high and approximately 40 degrees steep. Once on top we enjoyed a nice view of dense fog and low clouds at an elevation of close to 8600ft. After a short break and some recon photos we locked boots and started our decent.
Adam finds a line through the first rock band. We followed a direct line from the top. You can traverse further down the ridge for a cleaner entrance.
Almost into the open!
Yes, yes...yes it's powder forever!
Very high alpine feel to this run.
Birdman Skis with Dragontail, Colchuck, Argonaut, Sherpa and Stuart looking on.
Sam Broaddus walks into the light.
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