Devils's Bed Stead East up Kane Creek. This was a good one! After botching the approach
really bad (two extra hours at least) I found myself 700 feet above the place I needed to be. I had been post holing and scree crawling so this snow slope wasn't the worst thing I'd dealt with. The surface was new, but how deep, and did it bond? A quick ski cut set 10 inches of wet snow in motion which began propagating downhill at 45 degree angles left and right. In a second or two there was a full on avalanche boiling up around trees like class 4 whitewater! Red flag! I skied the soft bed surface down to my prospective bivy spot, set up shop, made water and took some pics.
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| DDB one the day I hiked in. |
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| From the parking spot |
The views on the way in were very encouraging but the new mobile snow left a big question mark. The picture below was one of many similar slides, ubiquitous at all elevations. The good news was that none of these slides triggered anything deeper, suggesting stability down deep.
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| Some of the day's activity in spectacular natural light |
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| These bed time views assured me that the route would go no problem followed by a soft snow descent. |
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| This is about 2,500 feet of relief. |
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| View looking north from bivy spot at bed time |
Summit day dawned in a fierce gropple; I wished I had set my stove up within arms reach. Eventually the upward slog began with me wishing I had brought skins. Because I had forgotten a helmet, a planned ascent of the class 3 North Face turned into an attempt on the class 3/4 Northeast Ridge. Three fastballs in the big gullies vindicated my decision. Oddly, high humidity slowed my progress. Three times I almost quite, exasperated by the rotten snow pack and stream of perspiration. I was eventually stopped by either class 4 wet icy rock or 50 degree post holing in dubious snow, you pick. Avi danger can be somewhat mitigated on skis from above, but climbing into it is asking for trouble. What I needed was to start dry tooling on belay.
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| High point and top of ski descent |
I clicked in out of thigh-deep post holes and quickly found the surface not only supportable but dangerously icy for steep skiing. Lose lose snowpack! After a little side slipping I hopped back on the bike and shredded between the safety rocks. Through increasingly soft snow, I skied all the way to camp, 1,800 feet below. The correct way out to the car took less than two hours.
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| DDB on the way out on the yucky day that I tried to summit |
I'll be back!
