Pahto’s SW Chute at Sunset and more Tieton fun with Carter!
4/8 – 4/16
Throughout March, Amber had been traveling in Pakistan visitng her family so I was dog-dad for a few weeks. Upon her return, she bopped down to Santa Fe to visit our good friend Lauren and to work on her dissertation. Relieved of doggy responsibilities, I jetted over to Yakima to visit Carter ahead of another trip to Pahto! The weather on the East side proved spectacular and immediately upon arrival on 4/8, we zoomed down to Tieton. I had just climbed there for the first time over Halloween and was frothing to return! Between the stellar climbing in Tieton and our upcoming trip to Pahto, it would be around a week of mountain activities on my homelands! What a treat =D!
Wicki Shelter bivvy
For the trip to Pahto, we had a team of three: Nolan, Carter, and myself. We faced interesting weather conditions the first two days, 4/11 & 4/12. Landing at the Wicky Shelter the night of 4/11, we got lazy and enjoyed the structure and dirt sleeping rather than pushing the final mile & 1,000’ of gain to our camp we made on the St. Patrick’s Day trip. The weather on 4/12 began with beautiful sun and skies as far as the eye could see, making for an easy time to construct camp and of course, sun tan! This time, we made camp around 6,500’ above our previous spot. After some time building out party tent, it was 1130 so we decided to walk up the mountain and see what we could find. The forecast listed mostly cloudy and rather stormy conditions for the meat of the day but we were keen to see what lemonade we could find. Arriving at Lunch Counter around 1430, Carter had pushed ahead so he could melt snow, while Nolan & I trickled in. Adjusting and fittling with gear and boots, Carter quickly disappeared into the now rolling whiteout. After some indecisiveness and chat with Nolan, we decided he would go down and I would go up. Having been here dozens of times before, it was my first whiteout experience on this feature and it was exciting. Tromping upwards with Portishead blasting in my headphones, I kept count of my steps and occasionally glanced at my GPS to ensure I wasn’t about to walk off the Mazama Glacier Headwall, due East of the Wall of Death. Some 30 minutes later, the rolling whiteout revealed itself to be a massive cloud moving across the Wall of Death as if it were a ship charting its way through Pahto. By now I had located Carter’s skintrack and further up, he was foolishly booting. I cannot blame him though, during our St. Patrick’s Day trip, I succumbed to a perceived imbalance forcing my fold and I succepted to the trudging booter. Undoubtedly, extremely tiring compared to the sailing flow I found skinning. Quickly stopping for another break on the shoulder near 10,800’ above the Mazama Glacier, we admired the fleet of clouds rolling through with the crimson sun beyond. By now, it was somehwere near 1700 as we encroached Piker’s Peak. My longtime goal of skinning to the summit was becoming a reality and another rare occurrence happened, I gapped Carter. Whether he was having an off day, or got wrecked by booting, there are few times I have gapped him in the mountains and it is a fun measurement of my fitness when it does!
Broken whiteout with Carter higher up.
Surmounting the false summit, I pressed my gap on Carter to scout out the Avalanche Glacier Headwall for the future. After some libations on the summit and harassing Carter to snap a photo of me, he quickly jetted down claiming to be freezing and worked. I enjoyed several more minutes of solitude atop the Yakama Reservation prepping for the firm sunset rip. We agreed to ski the South Spur although, I claimed intent to scope out the SW Chute… as I rolled by I noticed tracks and a wicked fast skier descending near the end. Surely, it had to be Carter! Impulsively, I dropped in, enjoying rather favorable recycled powder for the first 500’ or so. Then, then came icy-chicken-head firmness from Asgard! Constantly I was switching between the separate chutes hunting for more optimal conditions; but, all I found was consistent P+ firmness which began waxing away my nerve. Once I remembered I was cramponless, I decided to traverse over to the South Spur out of fear of falling, losing a ski, and being forced to trarvel with one ski. Certainly not ideal in a slide for life chute with 3,000’+ of mountian below me. As much as the traverse over was sucked, it immediately alleviated my stress; albeit, the sunset was something I will never forget. Slip sliding my way down the South Spur was equally as challenging although not as steep, I dropped down skier’s right to make the end bits of the SW Chute, directly above our camp. Several hundred feet of the stickiest snow lay between camp and destressing libations.
Camp chillout day
The next day we rolled out of bed sometime around 0800 enjoying sleeping in. The forecast called for exceptional weather although, by the time we arrived at Lunch Counter below a dozen other climbers + skiers, the winds were relentless. Feeling scared, and scarred by the scoured SW Chute, we decided to return to camp enjoying a ski of the Crescent Glacier. For the remainder of the day, we buffed out our tent site enjoying Carter’s B-Grade rum, and sun tanning. Sometimes you climb the mountain, and others, the mountain climbs you. With only one remaining day on the calendar, Carter and I planned to ascend one more time while Nolan left early to catch some downtime before work on Monday. Another similar day occurred up to Lunch Counter and beyond. Chug along for a few hours, stop brew water, then chug along more. Atop the summit, Carter and I soaked up our final views for the trip in stellar warm weather. Yet again, Carter was eager to not linger and begin descending. After I failed to convince him to ski the Avalanche Glacier Headwall, we decided to meetup at camp separately. I cannot deny I felt nervous to onsight descend a new route alone, although I knew the mountain, conditions, and had reliable mapping so, it was a matter of gathering the sand to get it done. Clicking in and questing for the appropriate drop in, I had to snake my way through pearlescent rime towers. Eventually, I found the broken link between the pearls, bursting through the clamshell headwall, I found the Avalanche Glacier Headwall! The initial 1,000’ or so were quite mellow; then, entering the gut, I found 40*+ slopes upwards of 2,000’ long. Quite similar to the SW Chute with maybe 25% less sustained route however. By this point in the trip, I was feeling it. The 1400 sun exposure and temperature had made the snow a bit beyond favorable, edgeable corn leaving me taking periodic breaks every 500’ or so. Eventually, I realized there was a substantial traverse I had to make. Spotting a landmark out in the distance and bottoming out some ridge skier’s left, I began the traverse from W to S. Although the terrain was not as sustained as SW Chute, the setting and scenery were spectacular; and hey, I was afforded/ privileged to ski a new route to me on my home volcano! A suprisingly quick egress to the car from 1700 to 1800 got us home to Yakima and a large Mod Pizza in my belly by 2200; all in all, it was 20,000’ over 40+ miles for the weekend only 60 miles as the crow flies from the Palm Springs of Yakima!
The Avalanche Headwall, much further W along Pahto
Awaking the next morning, I was eager to hit the local gym, High Steppe. If I’ve mentioned it to your, I’ve expressed how high quality it is. Quickly after arriving and grinding through my warm up, Carter and I left after maybe five routes climbed. The fatigue set in and soon enough, we ended up back at his house. Looking ahead to the weather the next day, Tieton climbing looked favorable with warm-enough temperatures. In preparation for my RGC, I convinced Carter to head back out for another adventure. I finished the trip in Tieton that evening with several TR laps up the impeccable 5.9 Inca Roads which, proved to be a tricky onsight which, ultimately, I succumbed to and aided up all things considered I was quite elated.
Looking down on Ed’s Jam with Carter and Reina following
The topout of Inca Road overlooking the Tieton River at sunset 🙂
Yakama Alpinism 