Slot Couloir...Reloaded

December 30, 2003

Who:  Bill and Sam

After Bill heard about our trip to the Slot on Saturday, he needed a taste for himself.  A last minute troll on TAY to find at least one extra partner yielded only one response...from alpentalcorey.  He had just gotten home at 5 this morning and needed sleep.  So Bill and I arrived at the Alpental Lot at about 8am and met a party of 3 who was at first reluctant to disclose their destination, but finally said they were also heading for the Slot.  They were on their way and Bill and I thought to ourselves, "We need to make sure we hit the top first!"  We readied our gear and were on our way after about 15 minutes.  
 
We caught up to the other group and chatted them up a bit and introduced ourselves.  They were Pete, Rob and Ron.  We ended up choosing different paths up the Phantom and finally came together at the upper bowl near the exit gully to the north side of Mt. Snoqualmie.  They said they were planning on climbing the gully THEN skiing it.  I mentioned that I had just skied it blind on Saturday and that it was in great shape.  They continued towards the exit gully, we headed up the towards the ridge to the top of the Slot. About half way up, we noticed they decided to follow our track.  This was a relief to us because we didn't want to be skiing the couloir as they were climbing up it and we didn't really feel like waiting at the top of the gully until they reached the top.  
 
We hit the top of the gully at about 11am with Pete right on our tails.  Rob and Ron were a minute or two behind.  A quick bite to eat and Bill and I were ready to ski.  The other party was feeling a little more cautious and decided they would setup a rope to assist them in entering the gully.  Pete offered us a belay, but we thanked him and declined.  Since I once again forgot my camera, as did Bill, we were able to focus on skiing the Slot virtually non-stop, which by the way was perfectly untracked and almost as light as Saturday!  
 
At the bottom of the apron Bill hit a boulder that was totally hidden under the snow.  He crashed and landed on his pole, snapping it cleanly above the Flicklock joint.  It was a quick fix and we were ready to do a couple of runs on the gladed apron below the Slot.
 
Pete, Rob and Ron had come down the couloir by this time and said they were under time constraints and headed for the exit saddle. Bill and I had a couple very sweet 600' runs through the glades and then it was time to boogie.  Since the party of 3 left before us we were grateful for their skin track all the way up the exit gully.
 
More sweet turns down the Phantom...a bit of breakable crust in places, otherwise easy bounding through calf deep fluff.  We capped it off with another waterfall finish through the lower cliff band and we were through...
But wait, there's more.  Two runs on groomers at the Alp...Now we can go home because Bill broke his arm...Ouch! 

Time check:  3:30pm
 
Another crappy day in the BC at Snoqualmie Pass!
Remember, kids:   Stay at home and watch Oprah reruns.  Heck, watch Dr. Phil too!

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