Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - Mount Ellinor
This was a good snow scramble for students. Clouds prevented distant views, but there were good views of many peaks in the southeastern Olympics.
Fritz Klein
- Wed, May 7, 2025
- Alpine Scramble - Mount Ellinor
- Mount Ellinor
- Scrambling
- Successful
- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Despite recent reports, the road is in decent shape. FR 24 was horrible, but a bulldozer was just starting to work on it in the morning and it was fine when we returned in the afternoon. Nearer the trailhead, there are some rough places, but you can manouver around them.
Glissading in the chute is no longer safe. We were able to do short glissades above and below it. The snow was pretty soft.
Six students, all on their first scramble, and three instructors started at the lower trailhead. It was a mostly cloudy day with occasional sunbreaks, but no precipitation. We started encountering crusty snow at about 4200', so we started using our ice axes there. Microspikes weren't needed.
In the chute, the old glissade tracks were quite deep in places, and had significant obstacles and holes. We ascended alongside the tracks. The gentle ascent from the top of the chute was easy for everyone, and we spent some time at the snow-covered summit enjoying views of Lake Cushman and peaks such as Washington, Skokomish, Cruiser and Lincoln.
A bit below the summit, we did a short glissade and a bit of self-arrest practice. The descent down the chute was a bit awkward due to soft snow.
All in all, a very good day in the mountains.