Trip Stats
Trip Report
Tim and I had tried to get out that Tuesday, but Tim had other obligations. So I found myself at the upper lot of Alpental on a rainy Wednesday morning. Tim pulled up and we decided to head out, as the forecast called for the rain to let up later in the morning. We made our way along the exit route of the Alpental backcountry under a light drizzle and then continued our climb up through No Fog and into Great Scott Bowl. As we headed up the ramp to Bryant, the rain let up and the clouds began to break apart. Once onto Bryant Peak, we made our way over to the saddle and took a break, waiting for the clouds and fog to dissipate.
After a nice, long break, we headed into the upper bowl. The snow was difficult, with a layer of crust covering wet snow. We were able to link together some turns, although it was not pretty. The coverage in the couloir was excellent, much better than the last time I was in it a coupe of years ago. By this time, the sun was out and the snow was starting to soften. Towards the very bottom, where it splits into two distinct exit chutes, we triggered some small sloughs. Carefully making our way down out of the couloir, we experienced some of the best conditions out on the open slope. The sun had softened the snow enough that we were skiing on soft corn snow.
