Denny Mountain

After years of construction by the ski resort this peak finally accessible again - the work on the Snoqualmie 20 can continue!

Approach is straightforward and uneventful; the lower mountain is half-melted out already and given how ridiculously warm it was today it's probably not going to take much longer to be all brush. When we came down we chose a line closer to the Internazionale lift which felt easier and less brushy.

Once you got closer to the Edelweiss lift the snow was more persistent but also at times soft enough to make this a real workout. The route the top of the lift is straightforward with opportunities for glissading on the descent.

The summit block was in my opinion surprisingly technical. We first took a peek at the chimney; there was a snow finger lingering in there and the moment you lift your foot of the snow, the steps started to become slippery. Poor runout in the area and I thought that there surely has to be another way given the T3 rating. Next we attempted a ledge on the left of the chimney. That thing is pretty exposed and I would not touch this if there's any moisture. There are some cables along the ledge and the slab that follows afterwards that serve as a handline and provide some assurance. After the slab it's straightforward a couple of feet up to the summit. Given the slab's poor runout this naturally felt harder on the descent and I have to say that I'm a bit puzzled that this is considered T3 given the exposure (I felt that the scramble part was similar to Eagle Peak in the Tatoosh range which is a T4).

Return to the cars was FAST! Easy plunge-stepping with a bunch of good glissades. Naturally this was the one time where I decided to wear my lighter pants and NOT bring swimming shorts for glissading. The first few glissades went well but afterwards my butt cheeks started to voice their concerns - they had to suffer. Priorities!

After-scramble lunch at the pancake place at Summit.