• Destination: Mount Sahale (8680')
• Date: May 04, 2011
• Starting Point:  Cascade River Road (c.2000')
• High Point: Sahale Arm (8600')
• Round Trip Distance: c.14 miles
• Equipment: The ten essentials, skis 
• Difficulties: Steep snow, rime ice

   Spring is here with its long days and sunshine, time to ski corn and gain access to all those favorite spots long buried by winter…..not! Winter, it seems, is slowly letting go it’s grasp of the mountains this year. If you want to ski, you must be willing to hike. And so we did. Occasional sunny days in between weeks of stormy weather makes you so hungry to get out and harvest some fresh turns. So when a report that the S Cascade River Rd was open all the way to MP18 we got excited about the beauteous views we might see and planned a ski to Sahale. Of course we were blinded by our anticipation of the fun we would have and never gave a thought to the 7 miles of road separating us from our goal.
As we approached 2200’ elevation, and the snow immediately became too deep for the Outback to negotiate we asked ourselves, “How long is this road?” Just as we were about to begin the slog, a guy on a recon mission from the bridge repair crew pulled up in a huge truck with great clearance. He said hop in, boy were we feeling lucky! We jumped in the back and watched over the cab with anticipation of at least a few miles of free ride. Not so! Even the mighty Ford couldn’t negotiate the snow. We wondered how he might turn around as he pushed it a little farther to see if the snow might break around the bend.

Back to the slog… Probably by now you can make it to the Eldorado TH, but that day we enjoyed sunshine and smooth glides, at least to that point. Then the debris and destruction of the many slide paths began. At first it was your normal mud, rock snowball mixture with some branches off the Eldorado side, then around the bends, we found more impressive sights. Mature trees of 50 years snapped by slides that traveled off J-berg and its adjoining ridges, then traveled across the valley and up our side with such force that it snapped them off 15’ high and heaped them across the road. There was one giant second growth to climb over as well. Must have been quite the event(s) to see. There was no shortage of entertainment, as we listened to what sounded like giant slides working their way off J-berg and the Triplets, with cascading showers of snow falling at a safe distance. Finally we reached the TH.

Cascade Pass loomed above us, a soft sun crust, covered in powdery snow deposited by the strong E wind which gathered speed in the late morning, as the warm air rising in the Skagit Valley pulled the cool eastside air behind it. Excited for the great turns we would have we made a heinous path as directly as possible to the top of the pass. Of course once there, the wind scoured arm made for good purchase with our ski crampons, but no pow. We made the journey up the arm toward the beautiful Sahale, admiring the incredible views of Cascade Peak, Magic, Mixup, Spider, the Triplets, Eldorado, and BEYOND I could go on, but you should go and see for yourself. Sahale was enshrined in rhyme ice, a small fortress covering sugar crystal snow. Scott gave it a thorough examination coming within 10’ from several sides, but she didn’t easily give access to her peak. As we only came to ski anyway, we decided to quit wasting time and get the really fun stuff!!

We hooted with whoops of joy as we skied down the arm. There is always this magic zone, floating, sailing, leaning into the turns with an infectious rhythm that leaves you giddy, then suddenly it changes at a certain point to softer, than grabby, then sticky mush. But we didn’t have to go there this time (at least not until we reached Cascade Pass). We carefully skied past the windrows, and rhymed little trees now soft and glistening with moisture in the afternoon sun. But, once at the pass, the morning pow apparently was in that certain zone (predictably). Solar heating had changed it all to seriously soft grabby, push hard to get through it, my quads are killing me snow. But like giving birth to a child (as some of you may know) you forget all about the pain because its all worth it. When you close your eyes at night and relive the turns, lines, shadows and textures etched perfectly by the best artist around and found only in the most secluded places and when you actually take the time to see it. I am dreaming about it now. We’ll be skiing till July this year. So much snow in the mountains, just gotta hike.. Let’s go!
Thanks Scott, Steve, Jeff for being game ski buddies.