Bacon by Baker When people ask me for high route recommendations, I always say that the Watson Blum High Route is the most underrated route in Washington. This relatively obscure route traverses Watson, Bacon, Hagan, and Blum, four nondescript peaks, near Baker Lake in the North Cascades, crossing large glaciers and passing marvelous alpine lakes. I first did the traverse in September of 2020 on foot. On the way, I was impressed by the ski potential, so I wanted to come back. For the last few years, I have had my eye on repeating the route as a ski traverse. The tricky part was timing – the ap ..read more

Cascadian Ditch Skiing After a big day on the Forbidden Tour, Kelly and Barrett drove up to Anthony’s house to meet me for a chill tour the next day. We ended up on deciding to check out Heliotrope Ridge on the north side of Mt. Baker so that we could ski mostly on higher elevation north aspects. I knew the Grouse Creek Approach was still (barely) in, which made for a very simple and direct tour! We got a leisurely start and parked about 1.5 miles from the Heliotrope Trailhead where snow started. Just as we began, some splitboarders arrived back at the car. They reported strong winds overnight ..read more

From Red Rocks to Snowy Summits While Moab, Utah, is certainly known for its red rock canyons, arches, and towers, the nearby La Sal Mountains loom 8,000 feet above. Over spring break 2017, Kylie and I spent a week in Moab, mostly climbing and canyoneering. One day, we snowshoed up to 12,000 feet to the summit of “Little Tuk” in the La Sals. Many years later, I found myself returning, but this time with skis! My timing in Salt Lake City was rather unfortunate, as strong easterly winds ruined the snow even below tree line. At the end of my visit, Brigette, Kelsey and I decided to roll the dice ..read more

Where the Giant Things Are Among the high peaks of the North Cascades, Forbidden Peak is a classic, with three knife-edge rock ridges radiating from a singular rocky summit. The terrain surrounding it includes some of the largest glaciers in the lower 48. Having climbed the West Ridge many years ago, I have gotten to experience the mountain as a climber. As my ski experience has increased, now I had my eyes on a ski circumnavigation of the mountain – the Forbidden Tour. The Forbidden Tour is a classic ski circumnavigation of Forbidden Peak. The route climbs up to Sharkfin Col via Boston Basin ..read more

A Teton Journey The Skillet is a famous ski line on Mt. Moran. Over multiple trips to the Tetons, I had never gotten close to the Moran because it is surrounded by water, with no trail access. But even in summer, I had admired the sliver of snow on its steep east face that looms over Jackson Lake. This feature is The Skillet, a “50 Classic Ski Descent of North America”. After a great day skiing in Garnet Canyon, Kelsey, Brigette, and I decided to go for the Skillet, along with their friends Connor and Alex. Accessing Mt. Moran is a challenge. In the summer, people often kayak across Jackson La ..read more

Returning to the Tetons The Tetons are amongst America’s most iconic mountains. I have visited them a few different times – for spring skiing, rock climbing, and trail running. Upon arriving in Salt Lake City to visit my friends Brigette and Kelsey, we decided to drive up to the Tetons for the weekend. I was excited to see the range in winter! We caught a beautiful sunrise at the Taggart Lake Trailhead, although the -11F air temperature was chilling! Alpenglow on the Grand. Chilly morning! Nice light in the morning. We skinned past Taggart Lake, across Bradley Lake, and up into Garnet Canyon ..read more

A Land Near and Far After a rough month or so, 2nd winter finally returned at the end of February 2024. These blasts of cold air are so difficult to predict before hand, but they are always fascinating to watch play out. 1st winter in January brought record low temperatures, high winds, and a deep freeze. While this round did not appear to be that extreme, the promise of continued NW flow looked highly favorable for some good skiing. With a free weekend, I reached out to Sam to see if he was interested in skiing something. He pitched me the idea of skiing Glacier Lake Couloir on the backside o ..read more

The G-Skin is a narrow skin that can be used to get excellent glide on backcountry skis. While not a replacement for standard climbing skins, these skins can be particularly useful for flat and rolling terrain. If you are interested in how to make your own pair for only about $40-$50, you can skip ahead to “How to Make G-Skins”! Nordic Origins Last year, Logan and I finished an incredible ski traverse in the Salmon La Sac region of the East Central Cascades. We had never explored this region because of its reputation for long road approaches that “require” a snowmobile to access. After our fin ..read more

Hi-box Bye-box A brief but powerful cold spell gave us two lovely weeks of “real winter”, and then El Niño returned with a vengeance. After multiple atmospheric rivers, the snowpack is pretty bleak. Baker and Crystal seem on the verge of closing, with bare ground under the lifts. But after a few weeks without skiing, Logan and I decided to get out for a tour nonetheless. Logan had mentioned that he wanted to get up to the Rampart Ridge area on skis, so I suggested a high traverse from Rampart Ridge to Hibox, exiting via a 6 mile road skin to the Lake Kachess Sno-Park. This is the kind of exit ..read more

Balmy Baker Backcountry A deep freeze arrived in the PNW in early January. The lowlands plummeted into the teens and even single digits – possibly the coldest temperatures I have experienced in my lifetime in Western Washington. With fresh snow and a sunny but bone-chilling forecast, the question was: where should we go to enjoy this ephemeral cold snap during an otherwise warm winter? Wyatt and I have been producing weekly weather videos for Cascadia Mountain Weather. In our video before this weekend, we focused on the temperatures and wind chills. Due to big pressure gradients, the passes wo ..read more