Trip Date: June 11, 2011
South Early Winters Spire Day Climb & Liberty Bowl Ski Tour
Liberty Bowl
Spire Col
South Early Winters Spire aka SEWS (7807’)
Trip Report Summary
Region: Northeastern Washington Cascades
Sub-Region: Washington Pass Mountains
Area: North Cascades Scenic Highway Corridor
Starting & Ending Point: Blue Lake Trailhead on Highway 20 (Elev. 5400 feet)
Way Points: Liberty Bowl & Spire Col (ski tour)
Summit: South Early Winters Spire (rock climb via South Arete)
Approximate Stats: 5 miles traveled; 2600 feet gained and lost; 6.5 hours up; 2.8 hours down.
Related Posts
South Early Winters Spire via Southwest Couloir – July 18, 1981
North Early Winters Spire via Chockstone Route – September 11, 2012
Full Trip Report
Eileen and I had a fun and successful double-header weekend in the Rainy Pass / Washington Pass area last weekend. Taking advantage of the thick snowcover, we started skiing from the Blue Lake TH and easily worked up through mature forest to open larch slopes in Liberty Bowl.
- Eileen Skiing Toward Spire Col
- South Early Winters Spire from Approach
The snow was very firm, with a sun-softened veneer. There were backcountry skiers aplenty on this sunny morning, but most were probably continuing over Cornice Peak to do the classic Birthday Traverse.
- Cornice Peak from Spire Col
Upon reaching the ridge crest at Spire Col, immediately south of SEWS, we stashed our ski gear and donned rock shoes, then started up the South Arete route. This is normally an easy Class 3 to 5 rock climb on solid granite. With this year’s snowpack and late-season snowfall, however, it was interspersed with patches of soft snow, which lended a considerably more alpine feeling to the route.
- Eileen at Base of South Arete
- Eileen Au Cheval on South Arete
We belayed each pitch, taking particular care on the exposed snow traverses (rock shoes don’t inspire much confidence here), and reached the summit at 6:00pm. The evening light begged for a long stay, but we knew we were pushing daylight for our descent.
- Eileen On SEWS Summit
- NEWS from SEWS Summit
A series of running belays and three single-rope rappels got us off the spire just at sundown.
- Eileen Descending Au Cheval
We quickly changed back to ski mode and enjoyed thigh-burning tele turns down through the evening mush, arriving at the highway shortly before dark.
Photo Gallery
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