Alex and I took advantage of this year's unusual road access for a February trip to Sahale Peak. We were able to drive Cascade River Road to the winter gate. From there it was maybe a mile of road walking before we found continuous snow.

Weather was variable, to say the least. Rain showers, fog, snow showers, more fog. Did I mention fog? The lack of visibility had us both feeling a bit spooked as we made our way up the valley below Cascade Pass. Listening to avalanches releasing from Johannesburg behind us only added to our concern.

Once we got a view of the slopes below the pass, we saw no evidence of recent slide activity, so we continued higher. Visibility improved on the arm, with breaks in the clouds and peakaboo views of Sahale. Alex was patient as I plodded slowly up up the little glacier to the base of the peak. We encountered a few open crevasses, but they were easily navigated. We stashed skis and Alex lead the way up rime coated rock to the summit before giving me a much appreciated belay for the last 50 feet.

At this point we found that my suggestion to leave pickets behind was a poor one. We spent nearly an hour digging out a rock horn to use for a rap anchor. Note to self: Mountains are covered in snow during winter. You won't want to leave your skis behind as an anchor. Duh.

The snow conditions for the ski down were perfect, 4-6 inches of powder over a firm base. Unfortunately, the fog level had risen (did I mention the fog?) and we were reduced to side-slipping, carefully following our uptrack in flat light and minimal visibility.

Things improved as we descended back to Cascade Pass and below the cloud deck. From the pass, we skied by headlamp, making thoroughly enjoyable turns down to the valley, where heavy, wet snow made us work for our last turns.

As we walked the road back to the gate, an avalanche let loose from Johannesburg that rumbled for better than 60 seconds. We couldn't see anything, but it made for a most impressive end to the day.

Car to summit: 7:30 am to 4:30pm
Summit to car: 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.