Kendall Trees Ski Tour (January 2024)

1/14/2024

Mileage: 4.55 mi

Elevation Gain: 1,000 ft

It was a cold but beautiful day up at the Pass for Milena's first ski tour. It was 1 degree F when Greg, Clarisse, Milena and I arrived at the trailhead (with a toasty "feels like" of -6).

The avalanche forecast was moderate, for wind slabs and a persistent slab. Due to our terrain selection, I felt confident we could avoid these hazards.

Despite the frigid temperatures, the sun was shining: a rare Washington winter treat. Bright blue skies contrasted the pure white snow illuminating the peaks around us. All day long, I could only think about how grateful I felt to be here, with these people. So much love for these pals and the home zone!

The day prior was even chillier– winds raged and "feels like" temperatures reached -20 to -30 degrees F. It was a low-traffic day in the Snoqualmie Pass backcountry.

Sunday was quite the contrast.

While we were getting ready at the car, we watched a steady stream of skiers and snowshoers heading towards the PCT/Kendall Katwalk trailhead from Summit West's lot. It almost felt like more people were heading towards the backcountry than the resort.

I was a bit concerned about how busy the skintrack might feel (which might make Milena self conscious on her first ever tour), and if we'd be able to find some quality untouched snow to make the uphill effort feel worth it.

Luckily, my worries were for naught.

There were a lot of backcountry travelers heading towards the forest and though there was a bit of a crowd near the entrance where teams were gathering to step into their skis and perform beacon checks, once we were in the forest, solitude prevailed. There were many skintracks and possible destinations to choose from. We spent most of the day alone, and didn't see many other teams at all in the woods. And there was plenty of untouched light, fluffy, perfect powder to harvest.

It had dumped over 4ft of snow at the pass during the work week and the combination of stormy roads and cold temperatures had maintained the snow's quality and kept most away until today.

Used to being bold and starting cold, I removed my puffy and stripped down to my liner gloves for the start and soon regretted it as I lost feeling in my toes.

My go-to layering system was tailored to a typical, much warmer, PNW day. And though Milena had the strongest first tour I've ever seen, she still had to get used to skinning at first. I added back my puffy and mittens and felt much more comfortable. I hadn't worn all my layers while traveling uphill in a long, long time.

Luckily, Milena was an extremely quick learner– especially for a snowboarder not used to being on two sticks. She brought the stoke for sure!!

I got to test out my new Super Free Alpine jacket (an early birthday present from Greg: thank you frigid temps) made from Patagonia's "forever chemical free" GORE-TEX. It is a beautiful shade of blue, PFCs/PFAS-free, AND it kept me dry all day!

It was still definitely nice to be sheltered from the wind in the trees. We did not see any signs of wind effect, which seemed to be the opposite experience from most Snoqualmie Pass zone NWAC observations.

Travel here was much easier now than when Greg and I had done this same tour with our friend Marshall a couple weeks prior. A lot of the lower drainages had filled in and after a very-long-for-the-PNW "early season", we are finally moving past seeing rocks/logs/early season hazards!! The stream under the main log crossing of the Commonwealth Creek was not fully frozen:

With a long awaited return to a decent snowpack base depth (though still below average), it feels like winter has finally arrived in full force.

The uphill travel was straightforward. There was an existing skintrack that was never steep enough to require any kickturns– which I think is ideal when it's your friend's first skin ever.

I used this tour to test my new Dissent Snow Pro Fit Compression Thin Nano Tour Socks. A mouthful of a name, yes, but these new socks combined with some blister pads and KT tape finally kept my ski boots from tearing my heels to shreds while skinning.

We kept our terrain to moderate angle slopes (below 30 degrees) with supportive old-growth trees and saw no signs of instability. Our tour topped out around 3900ft elevation (NW aspect), though there is an option to continue up for even more well-spaced old-growth skiing.

This is a great first tour for a very competent resort skiier comfortable with tree skiing (ideally tight tree skiing). The slope angles are moderate, especially so on a powder day, but the trees got a bit thick near the bottom.

There are some flats near the bottom, where you meet back up with the skintrack but it's possible to ski all the way out. Splitboarders beware and keep your speed!

This tour was so full of love, support, pride, and friendship. I love my backcountry baddies... outdoors for all– outdoors for us! Snoqualmie Pass felt like home today, a deep part of my heart. Somewhere I belong. It felt like we belong here– women (and their allies: hi, Greg) belong in the backcountry.

Days like these feel so incredibly, deeply validating. Like they heal a deep part of me that has felt insecure every time I've put my skins on in front of a trailhead full of ski bros, anxious and wondering if I belong. If I was even good enough to ski there.

I want to spend the rest of my life encouraging other people, other women, that they are competent, they are capable, and they belong in the backcountry.

After picking our beautiful, sexy, gorgeous line, we giggled as we ripped our skins and danced down perfect powder like sugar plum fairies as FTCU by Nicki Minaj played on loop in our heads.

High heels on my tippies,

Thanks to Greg, Milena, and Clarisse for a great day out. You all constantly impress me.