Trip Date: June 1, 2008

Cornice Peak Day Climb & Spire Couloir Ski Tour

Spire Couloir
Spire Col
Cornice Peak aka Blue Lake Peak aka Wamihaspi Peak (7800’+)

Trip Report Summary

Region: Northeastern Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Washington Pass Mountains

Area: North Cascades Scenic Highway Corridor

Starting & Ending Point: Early Winters Hairpin on Highway 20 (Elev. 5200 feet)

Way Points: Spire Couloir & Spire Col (ski tour & snow climb)

Summit: Cornice Peak (rock scramble via North Slope—East Ridge)

Ski Run: Spire Couloir (1600-foot ski descent from below Spire Col to Hairpin)

Approximate Stats: 2 miles traveled; 2600 feet gained & lost; 3.2 hours up; 1.6 hours down.

Full Trip Report

Sunday was Day 2 of my skiing weekend at Washington Pass. Several of us car-camped at Lone Fir Campground on Saturday night and listened glumly to the sound of heavy rainfall throughout the early morning. This didn’t bode well for skiing, but at least the rain stopped by 7:00am.

Our group of eight then caravanned up to the Early Winters Hairpin and made hasty plans. Randy, Peter, Linda, Steve B, and Anita chose to ski up Early Winters Basin to the south, whereas Oriol, Eileen and I chose to ski up Spire Couloir to the west.

After parting company with the others, our trio skinned up the narrow and somewhat steep couloir to near the final chute.

We then booted up the remaining 500 feet to Spire Col (7300′), which was pretty well fogged in.

After a bit of head scratching, we decided to continue booting up to the notorious cornice several hundred feet higher. This had recently been referred to as “the cornice of death” by Linda and Anita, but it turned out to be more like “the cornice of duck soup” today; we easily climbed up its left side to reach a broad saddle—still in dense fog.

On a whim, we decided to try climbing up the 7800′ summit to the west. A short Class 3 scramble (which seemed much harder in ski boots!) got us to the top, although with no views.

Beckey’s book calls this both Blue Lake Peak and Wamihaspi Peak, but I prefer John Roper’s suggestion of Cornice Peak. Eileen and Oriol concurred that Cornice Peak seems more fitting for this little alpine gem, which has gained considerable fame among local backcountry skiers.

We quickly booted back to Spire Col and on down to our ski stash. Just below the col, we encountered two skiers who had just climbed up. They turned out to be Tony D and Kevin K from Bremerton, comprising half of a quartet of good Samaritans whom Eileen and I had met on our BHB Traverse last summer!

We quickly caught up on each others lives, then skied the couloir together. Kevin, Tony, and Oriol skied from near the col, whereas Eileen and I opted for an easier start several hundred feet lower.

Our group descent was pure delight on steep but nicely sun-softened corn snow.

All too quickly, we were down to our vehicles (at 2:15pm) and heading home. What started so inauspiciously this rainy morning ended as a great day of climbing and skiing.

Route Map

Photo Gallery

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