14th June, Mt Maude North Face

Aaaaaaaaaah Maude... you beautiful thing, how are you?

I'd been wanting to ski Mt Maude's north face for some time. It's a bit of a classic here among alpinists in the PNW, and it is quickly gaining that status among skiers too since it was first skied by the late Ben Manfredi in July 2002.

North Face of Mt Maude, with our ski descent. Photo taken on 18 June 2010 by Scot McAlister

I'd driven up with Aaron, James and Andy ealier in May, only to find the road gated still 13 miles or so from the trailhead - which eventually led us to Colchuck. This time, I went up with Booth Haley and with bikes in case we couldn't drive to the Phelps Creek TH. As (very bad) luck would have it, we hadn't driven a mile up the dusty road when we came across a massive fallen log blocking our way. Shit. After trying unsuccessfully to push it with my Subi, and thinking that burning it might not be a good idea, we decided to camp and bike in the next morning. I never thought a chainsaw would be a candidate for my quiver... Got up at 4am, and after a quick breakfast we where on our way, on our very convenient road bikes. The Phelps creek trail was in pretty good condition, though there were a couple of pretty full streams running through it, one we had to cross barefoot. Eventually, we decided to make a right turn, and went up lookers right of Leroy creek.

Came out of the trees just under the SW face of Maude, which was pretty beaten up, with runnelled gullies and wet slide debris everywhere.

Booth with the South West face of Maude behind

We climbed up the SW shoulder onto eventually the gentle south slopes that lead to the summit- we saw 2 ski tracks and a bootpack on our ascent route. Had a lovely little lunch on the summit, with clear views all around us. Glacier Peak looked stunning.

Glacier Peak poking through the clouds

It was below freezing at the summit but I was hoping the strong June sun had worked its magic on the north face- Booth is a badass and was in leather boots and 130cm skis, so we were hoping for a little cream.

Booth with his homemade whippet and 130cm skis...

Summit!

The face turned out to be just like Aaron's (who sadly was otherwise committed at sea level): beautifully chiseled, a paragon of beauty and a birthplace of intense emotions. Ok joking aside, it was f***** rad. Steep, exposed, super super fun. Quelle ambiance! Booth was kind enough to offer to take some pictures, a nice change since I'm usually on the other side of the lens

Dropping in...

... to some superb skiing...

We skied skier's right on the main gully, where the snow was a bit softer. Lower down, the snow had slabbed off the main gully. I went skier's right where it was narrow but passable, Booth went left.

...in a terrific environment

will it go?

Achtung Bergschrund!!

We re-united on the glacier and started traversing east, towards the Ice lakes. We eventually traversed all the way back to the south side of Maude, and skied back down into Phelps creek down the basin immediately south of Leroy creek. After a somewhat miserable bike ride under bruising skies, we made it back to the car and Fraulein StPauli around 10pm, tired but utterly joyed after an amazing day in the mountains. Thanks Maude!

1-8th June, Tromso, Northern Norway

Last summer I was a very lucky boy. I had the fortune that one of the most important conferences in my field (yes, that's work!) was held this past June in the far north of Norway, in a cool little city called Tromso. Tromsonites (or could it be Tromsoners?) like to describe it as the northernmost city in the world, host of the northernmost university, hospital, and brewery. The conference ran for 5 days, and I had a couple spare days at the end. The midnight sun visits the region from the end of May to the end of July, which means that one can ski all the time. And the terrain is fantastic. Heaven on Earth? or just a case of Norwegians being a little bit more blessed than the rest of us sinners?

I was joined by my beautiful friend Simon Weatherall who came up from his summer retreat in southern Norway- Chamonix extreme skier, extreme modeler, extreme taxi driver, and extreme scrumpeteer. It certainly bode very well. The weather didn't fully co-operate but we still enjoyed the odd weather window that allowed us to explore the region's delights. Snow levels were around 300-400 meters asl, which meant a little hiking to get to the goods, but nothing too serious... AND we even scored some powder.

Tromso, with Whale Island in the background

The man

The midnight sun

On June 1st we ran over to the mainland after Simon picked me up from the conference, excited to see the sun poking through the clouds for the first time in days. It had been raining and cold in town, and we could see there was quite a bit of fresh snow up on the hills.

Up Knutsenkogen

Norwegian Coolies...


and Norwegian Peaks...

We essentially wandered up a valley and started climbing an east facing couloir that looked fun. The views around us were beautiful, shining in the midnight sun. It was a strange sensation to see north facing slopes sunny and south facing slopes shady. Towards the top half of the coulie, we actually found nice boot-top powpow. June in Norway? Love it!

Simon at the top of the couloir (to his right)



The top pitch

Lower down. Steep and Tight!

The next day, 2nd of June, our plan was unchanged. Simon picked me up after the conference and we drove over to Kvaloya, 'Whale Island' in Norsk, to ski a fun north facing line at the head of a fjord that had a tongue of snow going down almost to sea level. In spite of leaving the car in warm sunshine, the next band of shite-ness was quick to dampen our hopes of sunskiing and so the summit greeted us with rain. The ski was a little wet, but that isn't always a bad thing, aiiii?

The route goes up the finger of snow on the left

Norwegian fjords...

Simon skinning up the glacier, with the mainland in the background

The line: up the left, behind the central buttress, up to the snowy summit on the right

After the conference ended on the 4th June, we left Tromso en route to the mystical land of Lyngen. Much has been written about this place. Even more spectacular than the land around Tromso, it is truly a paradise for skiers. Alas, when we arrived there, we found a higher snowline than in Tromso (probably around the 500-600mt mark) and even worse weather, the summits shrouded in thick fog. We spent a night in some godforsaken hostel in the hope that the following morning would dawn somewhat more promising. Far from it. It was crappier than crap. So we decided to drive to the Malaren Peninsula, which is just southwest from Tromso. I'd seen some promising peaks and quite a generous snow cover during my time in the city.

We didn't have much info on this area though, so we were guessing where it would be best to go. Again, the lack of easy approaches, with no high roads, or even seemingly trails (at least we did not find them) conditioned us. Nevertheless, we camped on a field by the road in a valley that seemed somewhat promising. That evening, we bushwacked a couple miles up the valley, slow and wet progress up thawing mud. For good laughs, it included an incredibly cold river crossing.

Suffering

Simon and our destination, the peak center-right

'That line doesn't look too shabby!'

From the summit, looking west

And East, with Tromso the island on the left

The line we skied had a nasty entrance, most of the ridge was massively corniced but we found a way in. I decided to stay on skis, but got my axe out and gingerly sidestepped the steep, icy wall of death. I didn't have a helmet on, and a fall would probably have been a bad idea. Simon downclimbed. The top half of the ski was fun, with an inch or two of fresh on top of a smooth, firm base.

Simon scoping out the entrance...

...and the entrance scoping out Simon

Fun ski!

Skiing at midnight with incredible views. We'd camped at the head of the valley not far from the water

And a nice bushwack back to camp

Over the next two days, we again ran into piss poor weather and had 'fun' skiing some mellow wet snow in the fog in the hills above Tromso. And so with a wonderful last supper shared with our beautiful hosts Tori and company we ended a marvelous trip. Would love to go back, especially earlier in the season. Takk Norge!!!