Observation Subpeak II
April 19, 2016
Mountain
height: 2950 m
Elevation gain: 900 m
Unfortunately,
Mark was unavailable to join me for another stab at this outlier of
Observation
Peak. However, I was thrilled to be accompanied by Raff, and two new friends
–
Alison and Andrea (Raff appropriately named us the AAA Team!).
Raff, Alison, and Andrea chose to go on skis, while I picked
snowshoes (although a nasty stint of postholing, about 20 minutes
in, made me question that decision!).
The
ascent went without a hitch and of course was fantastically scenic
throughout, especially above treeline. The skiers ditched their skis at
various points of
the route, as the upper slopes were more rocky than snowy.
Andrea
led most of the ascent and did so with ease and severe speed. She arrived at
the summit quite a bit ahead of Raff and Allison and way ahead of the sloth on
snowshoes! Reunited at the summit, we all took a long summit break to absorb
the phenomenal view.
The
descent was very easy, although once again I lagged behind throughout. Here,
however, I was happy to be on snowshoes, as negotiating the steep, heavily treed
lower slopes was way beyond my ski skill level.
Another outstanding
day and great company!
The troops approach treeline
Raff and route up
Two thirds of the AAA team. The next time I would see Andrea would be at the summit - she's fast! (photo by Raff)
Alison ditched her skis and continued on foot
Andrea leads the way (photo by Raff)
Here comes Raff
Good winter camouflage
The ptarmigan and the route to the true summit of Observation Peak
Looks like you could probably traverse from the Subpeak to the true summit via this ridge
More great views to the west
Raff traverses a narrower section of the ridge. It's actually more exposed than it appears
Raff and Allison on the ridge. Andrea was way ahead of everyone. I lagged behind throughout (old man syndrome!)
Looking ahead towards the summit
Andrea is already at the top, with Raff and Allison following. Pretty obvious where I was!
Some views never lose there cache!
Alison circumvents a fin of snow
Finally caught up to Andrea at the summit! And took the cliche photo of the
rest of the group reflected in her mirror sunglasses!
The AAA team at the summit (photo by Raff)
Allison and Raff enjoying the summit view
The north ridge that leads to the true summit of Observation Peak
More of the incredible summit view
The view to the southeast
A close-up of Mount Baker
Cirque Peak, Mount Hector, Bow Peak and others
Heading down
Andrea
enjoying the benefits of AT skiiing as opposed to snowshoeing (photo by
Raff - I was still halfway up the mountain at this point!)
