Backcountry Ski/Snowboard - Skyline Ridge to Tye Peak

We did a snow study near the Skyline Lake divide before skiing down the boulder field.   Decent snow conditions in the boulder field.

We skinned westward to the ridgeline above Tye Lake.   We did another snow study near the ridge on a local slope that was steeper than the route we intended to the top of Tye peak.    The compression test showed a small collapse after 6 from the shoulder taps.   No tendancy toward propagation.     On the open slopes leading toward the Tye Peak summit we found shallow new snow on top of the crust.  We observed small isolated fracturing in the shallow new snow during  kick turns.  To ease travel, we used ski crampons.     

One the top conditions were condusive to only a brief stop, though we did get a brief opening on the clouds and  view across the valley to the west, but mostly the view from the summit was of clouds.

Skiing from the top of Tye peak on open slopes down to the trees had thin amounts of new snow over the crust.   The crust was supportive, but edgeable.    Once in the trees, snow depth and quality improved considerably.


We were able to follow an existing skin track back to the Skyline Lake divide.    The ski back down Skyline ridge was enjoyable,  though a bit packed out on the road itself,  but we mostly skied along the ridgeline between sections of road.

Traffic on HWY-2 towards Monroe was actually OK, despite departing the parking lot @ 5:00PM -- no big backups and no stop and go traffic.

Photo Credit: Austin Hubbuch

Strava recording
https://www.strava.com/activities/4708403586