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!