Seattle Snowshoe Winter Camping Field Trip - Austin Pass (winter)

Trip Report

This field trip was conducted to make up for the 26-27 February 2022 field trip that was cancelled due to high winds.

2 co-leaders

1 instructor

1 assistant instructor (a student from previous field trip!)

4 students

We camped at our 2018 site about ½ mile in due to a stormy weather forecast. 

The ski area was not crowded at all.

Arrived at campsite around 10:00am Saturday

All tent sites, design and construction were very good.  Great snow for blocks and construction.

Melinda and Bekah built a super snow wall to block wind. (with Christmas lights) Their Hubba Hubba tent 

poles needed field repair.  A nice group effort got it good for the weekend.  Duct tape, part of a snow wand, and

Dave’s spare tent pole section did the trick.

Tim and Patrick cut blocks and built a snow wall for Tim’s summer tent.  It really helped with the wind at night.

Dave Cotter and the assistant instructor took students on a snowshoe day trip to Austin Pass.

Very nice group dinner table and seats constructed by the class, complete with a “Snow King throne”.

Everyone learned about cold, fuel, stoves, hot water bottles, and oh yes dinner.

A happy, fun group.  Everyone seemed to learn a lot.  Students were encouraged to come back and instruct.

Departed camp around 9:00am Sunday

Huge winter storm forecast to hit early Sunday morning.  So, we got up at 7am and ready to get going.

However, the storm held off till after we got off the mountain.

6 inches of new snow  15mph wind  25mph gusts

25º F to 30º F with wind chill 19º F.

Avalanche danger  -  Considerable (we did not travel in avalanche terrain)

Map