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Chair Peak Circumnavigation 2, February 25, 2004
Kevin and Francine overlooking Chair Peak Lake
Another beautiful day, and another chance for Kevin, Francine and Greg to do the Chair Peak tour, this time without the gnarly Fuck Bowl Couloir . . . we headed up the Alpental chair around 10:00 AM, spent a few minutes at the top joking with the OLN film crew who were shooting at the top of #17, and made it to Piss Pass around 10:15. A few turns on the crusty stuff to the base of Pineapple Pass, and then a quick skin up to the top of the pass. Fortunately the backside had seen some sun and was not frozen crust, just crust with a little soft avy debris thrown in, and actual turns were possible.
A hard traverse to skier's right avoided the nasty couloir business, and made for an easy skin up to the notch above Melakwa Lakes. A heavy sun/rain crust blanketed the Melakwa Basin, but the skinning was sweet and the weather sunny. Good turns were had from the notch above Chair Peak Lake, and more below the lake until the snow turned to really thick crust above Snow Lake. Skate-skiing again was the fast way across Snow Lake, then back up the skin track Kevin had laid down on Sunday.
The homeward leg down the south face of Chair Peak was notable for the really thick crust and serious avalanche debris (making a super-wide-track stem christie the technique of choice) and for the presence of three other skiers - the only other people we had seen in the BC all day!
