Slate Pass Skiing

Slate Pass Skiing

At Deadhorse Point (photo by Branden)

Nov 12, 2023

20 miles snowmobiling, 4 miles skiing

I was excited to take the snowmobile out for a first ride of the season, and it appeared about the only rideable location in the state was in the area around Harts Pass and Slate Pass. This area contains the highest road in the state (up to 7400ft at Slate Peak), and was projected to get around 3ft of snow on Saturday. Other areas in the state were also getting precipitation, but it was either less or the snow levels were too high. The sweet spot in the state was definitely in that area.

The route

Saturday night I was at the annual Bulgers party and gave a presentation on my surveying project of the top 100 highest peaks in WA. I had my snowmobile loaded on the truck so immediately after the party I started driving towards Mazama. The big storm that dumped all the snow at Harts Pass caused WSDOT to close Highway 20 so I had to take the long way around through Snoqualmie Pass. I picked up Branden along the way and we made it to Mazama around 3am.

Snow started in town and we drove to Ballard Camp where it appeared deep enough to ride, about 8 inches. We unloaded the sled then took a few hours nap in the back of the truck.

Branden getting towed (photo by Branden)

By 7am we were up and riding. A few other trucks had driven past and a few other snowmobilers were ahead of us. That was good news since breaking trail would be tough.

We made good progress to deadhorse point, and luckily there was no problem getting past. Later in the season snow slides can cover the road in that area, making passage tricky. There is a big cliff below the 0.5-mile stretch and a should has to be dug out of the slide path to get through. Luckily that was not required this time.

At Harts Pass

Past deadhorse it got difficult to balance in the deep drifts. I had Branden riding on the back mandem-style, but then switched him to ride in the front princess-style. After getting stuck we switched again so I’d tow him water-skier-style. A few other sledders passed us and that helped a lot breaking trail through the 3-4ft deep powder. It was also much easier for me to balance with just me on the sled.

Skiing down from Slate Peak in the storm (photo by Branden)

We got stuck a few more times but eventually made it to the lot just above Harts Pass around 10am. The other sledders went into the meadow around there, and I didn’t want to break trail on my own, so we parked the sled and continued on skis. With such slow progress up to the pass and such deep unconsolidated snow we had to downgrade our objective to just ski Slate Peak.

The skies started clear and we took turns breaking trail up the road towards Slate Pass. Beyond the pass a storm rolled in and the wind picked up and visibility dropped. The storm was about 5 hours earlier than forecast, which was surprising. We got to the pass just below Slate Peak at 7200ft and the visibility dropped to 10ft and the wind was blowing snow very hard. The summit was only 0.3 miles away but it wasn’t really safe to continue, so we bailed.

We skied back down to the sled, and luckily it was calmer in the shelter of the trees. We loaded back up then headed down. This time we didn’t get stuck at all since the snow was well packed down. We made it back to the truck by mid afternoon and back to Seattle at a reasonable hour.

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