MOUNT MAUDE - West face couloir
June 4, 2005

By Jason Hummel

Phil edited a great film of our escapades. Click here for an 'Act of Maude'.

Looking back, I'd have to say that I really enjoyed this trip. I got more than expected! You see, there wasn't a lot going for it at first. Take the weather which was forecasted as rain and imagine getting there only to find no snow. Believe it or not, this was what we made the four hour drive for.

Phil was the only other person to join my brother and I, and since this was a reunion for him, he was even more excited. Earlier in the year he had made a winter ascent of the same route that we planned to ski - the West Face Couloir, but he hadn't skied it due to icy conditions. It was now our responsibility to make amends.

So, let's get started. First get packed, sleep, then wake-up and be on the road by 2am. Got that? Okay, let's go.

Josh and Phil taking a break in Leroy Basin.

Let's skip the drive since I slept through most of it, and get to the trail. Not every hike is as nice as this one, and my consideration isn't solely based on aesthetics. Give me a flat path from a 3400-ft trailhead, which leads directly to snow and - well - I'm thinking, "Dang, this is a nice hike."

There are lots of streams and plenty of chances for some of us to get wet feet. The biggest creek crossing is the last one. This is Leroy Creek and for two thousand feet from here you hike until you get to Leroy Basin. All of this goes quickly and the nice camps make for a fine rest spot unless of course someone is camping there. We found a log with a view of the route, which believe it or not had snow. If only a little. Hey, it's enough. I have to get my kicks somehow. It's my couloir and I'll ski it if I want too.

I started ahead of the others when we reached the melted out section near the bottom. Once across, I looked down and told them that there was more. Except for the loose rocks, it wasn't as bad. With rock walls on either side, softening snow above and below, I was beginning to feel excited. My first trip hadn't gone as expected (Maude 2002). Having never reached the true summit, there was a certain appeal to final get too.

The couloir eventually petered out. From a wide slope we traversed to the summit where small fingers of snow kept me off the rocks for the most part. Instead of going directly there, I contoured to take a gander at the North Face. At a col, I was able to stare down it. I was surprised to see how good it looked. I finished by going to the top to see if I could even get a better look. I continued over and glared down another part of the face. Yummy! Spectacle Buttes also looked like a worthy ski and the Upper Ice Lakes a very rewarding place to spend the night before climbing them.

Phil and josh climbing the couloir.

Phil climbing up a rock section near the bottom of the couloir.

We rested on some rocks below the summit and watched the clouds do battle with Glacier Peak. Some outflanked her and blotted out the sun. It was time to leave, but first we considered skiing the North Face and the West Couloir. The idea of doing both was tantalizing, but so was getting film and pictures. Anyhow, it was getting late and it could start raining anytime.

We skied from the summit on excellent corn to thinning snow, before crossing a patch of rocks. Phil had new skis and needed some encouragement. "C' mon. They ain't new forever! You may as well make 'em look like you use 'em."

The upper headwall was just as nice as anything we got above until it congested into the chute where there were runnels. These remained throughout the chute which shouldn't shine too poorly, because more snow would change that. One section was so narrow that any turning would have scraped more base than snow. Below there, we down climbed the rock section back down to a narrow fin of snow before we put on our skis again.

Down at the bottom, across from a creek, we sat down and looked back at the mountain for a time before backtracking our steps to the car. First we had to further initiate Phil's skis with some surprisingly smooth skiing between patches of snow. There was some snow. Hey, watch the film.

Back at the car, we drove down to the 59-diner and ate a healthy meal. We watched our films during the wait and listened to Mean Woman Blues on the Juke-box. Outside it wasn't nearly as sunny and nice. Our hope was that by the time we returned west we would see that it had rained all day. That would sure make us feel good, even better than good. In the words of a certain Hummel. "Chillin' on the east side, raining on the west side. Did you get that? Chillin on the east side, raining on the westside. Cool." Yep, very cool.

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