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Kendall Peak, February 5, 2014
It was cold and clear - in the twenties in town - in Seattle, and Alex and I had half a mind to attend the Seahawks victory parade downtown, but good sense got the better of us and we opted instead to ski. Alex had wanted to try some of the Snoqualmie area classics for a while, and I suggested Kendall as it would be easy access and in all probability the lower section of the approach would have been packed down by snowshoers.
Alex pauses enroute to the top - considerable to high avy danger had kept people off the upper slopes all week
It was colder at the pass, around 10 degrees F. at the Summit West lot but since everyone else in the state was waiting to take part in the parade, no one else was on the trail. We made good time up to the base of Kendall Peak, when the skintrack suddenly stopped and I found myself breaking trail in a foot or more of wind affected pow. The rest of the way to the top took considerably more effort, but the hard work came in handy when it came to staying warm in temps that came close to zero and moderate gusting winds.
On the top - it was really cold with a strong wind, and we didn't hang around long
Alex rips it hard; we went skier's left of the normal line and found the goods
Cold smoke, condensed. Hard to compare to watching a parade.
