Trip Report
Winter Scramble - Teebone Ridge/Southwest Spur
A brisk, sunny 5000’ workout in the North Cascades, with gorgeous views of the Alma Creek Basin between Little Devil and Big Devil peaks.
Dave Morgan
- Sun, Apr 11, 2021
- Teebone Ridge/Southwest Spur (winter)
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Our party of 4 encountered snow at ~2000’, with snowshoes on at ~2500’. Throughout the day we had an unusual situation of a very hard/icy layer below (impenetrable by snowshoe rails), with substantial amounts of powder snow on top. The slipping/sliding on this underlying icy layer added to the day’s workout (especially for folks following the broken trail). We never did revert to crampons. The icy layer became less of a problem up higher where the overlying snow was deeper. On the ridge crest just below our ‘summit’, a succession of vertical snow walls presented a final challenge, giving us lots of skill practice and strength/flexibility training (planting the ice axe up high for self-belay, then kicking steps with snowshoes).
A beautiful but cold day in the mountains, so much so that every time we encountered a sunny spot we would turn and bask in the rays of the golden orb:
Eventually the clouds cleared above our ‘summit’, allowing a pleasant hour basking in the sun before starting our descent:
We encountered a number of folks on descent near 3000’ that had followed our tracks in the snow with minimal gear (i.e. no packs or snowshoes), ultimately turning around a short distance above. A great day in the outdoors with 5 hours for the ascent, ~3 hours for the descent, and a total time of 9 hours (back in Seattle before sunset!). Photos from this (and other trips) to this venue can be seen here.