Blewett Pass Skiing

Blewett Pass Skiing – Lion Rock, Table Mountain, Diamond Head, Windy Knob, Tronsen Head

Parked near Lion Rock

November, 2024

7 miles skiing, 18 miles snowmobiling

There’s finally enough snow in the cascades that it makes sense to use a snowmobile for approaches to peaks. I usually do one shake-down trip with the snowmobile in mid November to make sure it’s in working order for upcoming winter bulgers trips. After replacing the spark plugs (which I do once a year, roughly every 300 miles), the snowmobile started fine in the garage. Based on NOHRSC snow depth models Blewett Pass looked to have sufficient snow down to the sno park to snowmobile in. I had a few peaks in the area I hadn’t yet climbed, so I decided to snowmobile in and do side trips to ski the peaks.

The route

I drove up to the pass in the morning and had the sled unloaded by 8am. I was the only one in the sno park, and there were just a few inches of snow on the road. I hoped the models were accurate and there would be several feet of snow up at 6000ft. Unfortunately I noticed the carbide was ripped off the left snowmobile ski. This likely happened during my last ride in late April on a long section of melted out gravel road in British Columbia. Some of the road was very rocky, and it likely ripped the carbide off and I hadn’t noticed. The carbide is a metal piece that allows the ski to dig into snow to turn, and provides a durable surface for short stretches of riding on gravel or pavement. The plastic on the ski bottom is less durable.

On Windy Knob

I decided to continue anyways, since this road would turn to deep snow soon and the ski would likely survive. Then I’d install a carbide when I got home.

I cruised up the road and indeed the snow got deep enough after a few miles that I was no longer churning up gravel. I continued about 9 miles, passing a few blowdowns that I could ride around and some that I chainsawed out with my little 10″ Black and Decker electric saw. At the turnoff for Lion Rock I reached the edge of treeline and encountered a whiteout. I was nervous continuing on the snowmobile, so parked and skied the last mile to the summit.

Sledding out

After skiing back to the snowmobile I rode a mile down the road then bushwhacked a quarter mile to Table Mountain on the edge of a a cliff. I then rode down to the intersection below Diamond Head and parked again. This time I skied a nice 5-mile loop over Diamond Head, Windy Knob, and Tronsen Head. The snow was thin, but I got a few turns in some deeper sections, and was able to follow trails most of the way. I skied back on NF 9712, reaching the sled by early afternoon.

By 2pm I was back at the truck and soon driving home. I made it back before the big wind storm hit, and early enough to get some work in for the day. The ski suffered a bit of damage to the bottom, but I was able to machine some custom replacement parts and mount a new carbide. So the snowmobile is back in working order and ready for upcoming winter bulgers trips.

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