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Yana Hater
Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Posts: 4212 | TRs | Pics Location: Out Hating |
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Yana
Hater
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Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:59 am
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After the unfortunate June weather we’ve been having so far, I was itching to get out at the first available opportunity. So, to take advantage of the sunny weather yesterday, dicey and I decided to head up to Denny Mountain just north of Snoqualmie Pass.
Dicey, Lindsay and I went up there last spring in the hopes of bagging this peak, but the gloopy snow and the arctic breeze that was present at the time discouraged us from going any further than the top of the ski lift.
We took a pretty direct route by just heading directly up (west) the ski slopes. There is still plenty of snow up there, beginning at the parking lot. At about 4600’, a towering cliff-band is reached. You can contour around this to the left (south) as described in ragman and rodman’s TR from last fall. We chose to go around to the right (north) – following an utterly scary looking (to me) ski run called International. This is a very efficient route up Denny, at least when covered in snow. It also has really pretty views of Chair Peak and eventually the middle fork area. There is some new, very slushy snow up there, and it got deeper the higher we went. As we turned south for the last bit of slogging to the top of the chairlift things began to get really mushy.
We paused at the chairlift and looked at the last 100 vertical feet to the summit. Getting to the summit rocks was easy enough on some vaguely firm snow. Of course, as is dicey’s style, we ended up in a rather entertaining moat in which I flailed and cursed my wide pack and all the things inconveniently attached to it. The moat led us to a break in the rocks with a tree in it. The foot of fresh new snow here made things doubly exciting as it was slippery and also was melting and making the rock wet. I took off my pack and thrashed my way up to a well hidden slot that lead to a ramp and easier going. This route is not for the claustrophobic (or the large)!
Meanwhile, I could hear pack-scraping and muttering noises behind me as dicey tried to follow with her much smaller pack on. Eventually she too abandoned her gear. I asked her to grab my ice axe as there was one last short steep snow patch to negotiate. We tagged the summit one at a time since we only had one ice axe between the two of us at this point.
As far as I can tell, the highest point of Denny’s rather rocky and extensive ridge is right above the end of the chairlift, despite not having an elevation on the maps. The views are nice if you don’t mind sharing with the antenna on the summit and the chairlift nearby.
Met some skiers booting up on the way down and managed to get one good, ass-numbing glissade in.
Fun trip and way more exciting at the end than I was expecting!
PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
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wamtngal Member
Joined: 13 Jun 2004 Posts: 2382 | TRs | Pics Location: somewhere |
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wamtngal
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Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:12 am
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Great night to be out and about, that's for sure! I'm trying to picture how small this slot was if the two of you were having trouble!
Opinions expressed here are my own.
Opinions expressed here are my own.
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ree Member
Joined: 29 Jun 2004 Posts: 4399 | TRs | Pics
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ree
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Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:18 am
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Glad you two had fun.
Where's the pics?
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EastKing Surfing and Hiking
Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 2082 | TRs | Pics Location: 77 miles from Seattle! |
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EastKing
Surfing and Hiking
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Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:26 am
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Quiet an evening stroll!! Sounds very fun though!!!
YouTube | SummitPost
Saw the depths of despair. Now I am salvaging what time I have left on Earth.
YouTube | SummitPost
Saw the depths of despair. Now I am salvaging what time I have left on Earth.
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ragman and rodman Member
Joined: 28 Apr 2005 Posts: 1219 | TRs | Pics Location: http://rgervin.com/ |
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dicey custom title
Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 2870 | TRs | Pics Location: giving cornices a wider berth |
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dicey
custom title
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Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:36 am
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I really wanted to bring skis for a rapid descent, but didn't think Yana would appreciate that!
The long, fun glissade down lower international mostly made up for it - weeeeeee!!!
There is still a ton of great snow up there for skiing, you just have to walk up now, instead of ride.
Fun trip, with some interesting challenges near the end with the new snow. Thanks for suggesting it Yana!
Here are some pics. Sadly none from the top section. I forgot my camera in my pack below, and I think Yana's camera battery was on strike.
mmmmm....... Snow all the way to the parking lot on June 12! Only 10ft of exposed rock and no moat yet! still LOTS of snow! From the top of upper international From top of chair 2 follow the cable? Be skinny to get by here! Up here and turn left yep, it's me up to my old tricks chair peak with charge line fux with your perceptions!
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