Backcountry Skiing: Stevens Pass and Washington’s East Side Guidebook

Backcountry Skiing: Stevens Pass and Washington’s East Side Guidebook

Backcountry Skiing: Washington’s East Side Stevens to Snoqualmie
by
Matt Schonwald
Northwest Avalanche Center
Beacon Guidebooks:
California:
Tahoe Light Tours Colorado: Berthoud | Buffalo | Cameron | CO Light Tours | Crested Butte | Loveland | Marble | RMNP | Silverton New Mexico: Taos Oregon: Hood Washington: Baker | Crystal | ONP | Snoqualmie

In 1897, John Stevens found the passage for the Great Northern Railroad across a 4,000’ pass in the Cascades. Since then, Stevens Pass place in history is thick with decades of travel, avalanches, ski areas, and so much more. Stevens Pass is one of the essential gateways to the extraordinary backcountry possibilities that exist between I-90, US Highway 97, and US Highway 2.
Over 300 tours, accessible via ski areas, roadside pullouts, and long snowmobile approaches make this region’s diverse opportunities seem infinite. The East Side also provides a drier, colder snowpack—bringing blower pow (and persistent slabs) to the Cascades.
The author and publisher acknowledge that the lands described in this atlas are the ancestral home of the Pisquouse and Si’apkat, members of the Yakama Nation. The Pisquouse (Yakama name: Winátshapam), or Wenatchi, lived in the area that spans present-day Leavenworth to Wenatchee. Wenatchee is a Sahaptian word for “river water which comes from canyons” or “robe of the rainbow.” The first inhabitants of the Kittitas Valley were the Psch-wan-wap-pams (stony ground people), also known as the Kittitas, Si’apkat, or Upper Yakama. They lived along the upper Yakima River (today called Cle Elum), which was a traditional gathering place for tribes east of the Cascades.

Backcountry Skiing: Olympic National Park-Hurricane Ridge Washington Guidebook

Backcountry Skiing: Olympic National Park-Hurricane Ridge Washington Guidebook

Backcountry Skiing Olympic National Park, Washington
by Matt Schonwald
& Sam Luthy
Northwest Avalanche Center
Beacon Guidebooks:
California: Tahoe Light Tours Colorado: Berthoud | Buffalo | Cameron|
CO Light Tours | Crested Butte | Loveland | Marble | RMNP | Silverton New Mexico: Taos Oregon: Hood Washington: Baker | Crystal | Snoqualmie | Stevens

For almost 8,000 years native people have lived around the Olympic Mountains. The Duwamish of the Salish sea call them ‘Sun-a-do’, and the ancestors of the Klallam have been living, hunting and gathering in the high mountains since time immemorial.The Spanish sailed along the coast in 1774 and named the highest peak, Cerro Nevado de Santa Rosalia. In 1788, the British Explorer Roger Meares renamed the highest peak, Mt Olympus because it looked like the ‘abode of the gods.’ and just like that the Olympic Mountains became part of the European map.The 1890s saw climbers begin ascending the summits of Mt. Olympus, with the main summit finally being climbed in 1907. Deer Park became Washington’s premier ski area in the mid 1930s. The Hurricane Ridge road was built in the early 50s and the ski area moved from Deer Park, establishing a new winter recreation center for the Olympic National Park. Ski touring began along the roads of Deer Park and Hurricane Ridge and shifted to the Bailey Range and the higher peaks in the 1990s.

Buy digital plus (book and/or map) and the price includes $4.00 for shipping, a screaming deal! When you buy a bundle, you can use your digital rakkup guidebook immediately.

Backcountry Skiing: Buffalo Pass, Colorado Guidebook

Backcountry Skiing: Buffalo Pass, Colorado Guidebook

Backcountry Skiing: Buffalo Pass, Colorado
Colorado Avalanche Information Center
Beacon Guidebooks:
California: Tahoe Light Tours Colorado: Berthoud | Cameron | CO Light Tours | Crested Butte | Loveland | Marble | Silverton | Stevens New Mexico: Taos Oregon: Hood Washington: Baker | Crystal |
ONP | Snoqualmie | Stevens

Buffalo Pass is the mecca for backcountry sled-skiers in the Rockies. Nestled in the Park Range of the Rocky Mountains near Steamboat Springs, it is one of the only places in the world where you can drive 15 minutes from a resort, unload a trailer full of snowmobiles, and have a 55-mile network of maintained snow roads on public lands dedicated to mechanized skiing from mid-December til Gaper Day.
The orientation of Buff Pass makes it favorable for significant orographic snowfall in zonal flow, particularly northwest flow patterns. The frigid air from northwest Colorado adds to the magic of “Fluffalo Pass” by providing consistent light and blower powder all winter long. To top it off, Buff Pass competes with Wolf Creek Pass every season for having the deepest snowpack in Colorado. Buffalo Pass also has access to some of the best tree skiing in the world, varying from widely spaced and naturally gladed aspens in mellow terrain to tight and technical aspens and evergreens guaranteed to test any skier.The area boasts some of the oldest and largest old growth aspens in Colorado.There are several stands on the pass that are renowned for their top to bottom skiing amongst quaking aspens such as Forester’s Aspens, Double A’s, GalaxyTrees, and Quaker Bowl. However, the gem of Buff Pass is Soda Mountain. When the skies rip to blue, locals and tourists alike flock to the highest point on the pass for steep chutes, big drops, and technical terrain in Buff Pass’s deep, world class powder.

Buy digital plus (book and/or map) and the price includes $4.00 for shipping, a screaming deal! When you buy a bundle, you can use your digital rakkup guidebook immediately.

Backcountry Skiing: Marble, Colorado Guidebook

Backcountry Skiing: Marble, Colorado Guidebook

Backcountry Skiing: Marble, Colorado
by
Beacon Guidebooks
Colorado Avalanche Information Center
Beacon Guidebooks:
California:
Tahoe Light Tours Colorado: Berthoud | Buffalo | Cameron | CO Light Tours | Crested Butte | Loveland | RMNP | Silverton New Mexico: Taos Oregon: Hood Washington: Baker | Crystal | ONP | Snoqualmie | Stevens

Welcome to Marble, Colorado: Out of the way, isolated at a dead-end, and full of snow. In this guide you will find more than just ski lines. You’ll find helpful up-to-date information about road maintenance, snowmobile advice, parking systems and trailhead info. We explain the relationship with the quarry, discuss skin track etiquette, and of course, we provide reliable avalanche terrain information.

Backcountry Skiing: Loveland Pass, Colorado Guidebook

Backcountry Skiing: Loveland Pass, Colorado Guidebook

Backcountry Skiing: Loveland Pass, Colorado
by Rob Writz
Colorado Avalanche Information Center
Beacon Guidebooks:
California: Tahoe Light Tours Colorado: Berthoud | Buffalo |
Cameron | CO Light Tours | Crested Butte | Marble | RMNP | Silverton New Mexico: Taos Oregon: Hood Washington: Baker | Crystal | ONP | Snoqualmie | Stevens

Join us this winter to unlock new terrain on Loveland Pass. From Watrous Gulch to Porcupine Gulch, we follow US Highway 6 as it climbs dramatically to 11,990 feet; providing trailhead access to glacial valleys holding a lifetime of winter backcountry exploration. Download the Loveland Pass guidebook to get access to 23 zones and 165 named runs. Featuring ascent routes, descent descriptions, max slope angles, a trail map, offline GPS navigation and much more, this app helps your terrain management, tour planning and route finding. Check out the new foldable, waterproof trail map from Beacon Guidebooks too!

Buy digital plus (book and/or map ) and the price includes $4.00 for shipping, a screaming deal! When you buy a bundle, you can use your digital rakkup guidebook immediately.