It's a Party: Skiing the Birthday Tour
DATE HIKED:5/13/23
TOTAL MILEAGE: 5 MILES
TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN: 3,200’
On May 10, Highway 20 opened for the season and along with it a slew of ski touring possibilities near Washington Pass became more accessible. There’s a small window each year after the road opens when the snow line still allows for spring ski tours that don’t require carrying skis on one’s back so I wanted to get out there as soon as I could and take advantage of that window.
One tour near the pass that I’ve especially had my eye on is the Birthday Tour. The tour starts at the Blue Lake trailhead, travels up and over Blue Peak Col, ~1,500’ down into the valley, up and over Cooper Col and Kangaroo Pass, and then ends at the hairpin turn on SR20. The point-to-point nature of the trip requires a car shuttle and so the trip never worked out in the past when it was just Alex and me touring together. However, this past weekend six of my friends were going to be going up together, spending the weekend in Mazama, and doing their annual Birthday Tour and I was able to join them this time. Despite the forecast—highs in the 80s!—I was very much looking forward to spending a week nestled in the North Cascades.
It was forecast to be the hottest weekend of the year thus far, which meant that the mountains were going to shed their winter coats in a scary way. Travel in the backcountry after the sun cooked the slopes would be dangerous, so we decided to start our tour relatively early. We knew it would take about four to five hours to complete and we wanted to finish by noon, so we worked backwards to land on a start time of 7:30am.
We pulled up to the Blue Lake Trailhead, all seven of us split between two vehicles, at about 7:15am after dropping a shuttle car off at the hairpin turn. Despite the early time displaying on my watch, it was already heating up. Even the wind, usually cold in the mornings, felt warm. I started the tour stripped down to just my single layers.
The first sunlight after skinning up through the forest
The first portion of the trail meandered up through the forest toward Liberty Bell Mountain and Early Winter Spires. The sheltered forest was a welcome break, shielding us from the sun, at least for the time being. The snow hadn’t fully refroze overnight so skinning up through the trees was easy and we made great time, breaking out of the trees and into a field of larches at about 8:30am. I couldn’t help but imagine what this area looks like in the height of fall, the entire slope a blaze of yellow.
From the route description, I was worried about one part of the tour in particular: a steep bootpack up to Blue Peak Col. As we crested a knoll I looked up and had a clear view of the obstacle. Ahead of me, the mellow rolling knoll I was skinning on took a sharp turn upward and appeared to turn into a wall of snow with a giant overhanging cornice looming over it. This cornice was also a spot of worry for us, but we timed it right so that the cornice was still in the shadows as we climbed under it.
The bootpack also wasn’t nearly as steep as it looked from afar and the soft snow allowed for perfect steps to be kicked in by the line of skiers ahead of us. But still, I breathed a sigh of relief once we were all on top of the pass.
Once we made it to the pass we were able to enjoy our first ski of the day as we descended to the valley floor 1,600’ below us. The snow wasn’t great as the southeastern slope had already been cooking in the sun for a few hours already, but it was still a fun ski down with incredible views surrounding us. One of my favorite aspects of spring skiing on bluebird days is the endless views that accompany the journey at every turn.
The view toward the southeast from Blue Peak Col
We took our lunch break in a shaded spot on the valley floor. The guys all changed into shorts (a great idea I wish I had thought of) and Greg and Sander surprised us by busting out some party hats for the whole group. It wouldn’t be a true Birthday Tour without some birthday hats!
After lunch we transitioned back to skinning and began our second and final ascent of the day. Traditionally, the Birthday Tour goes up and over Cooper Col and then to Kangaroo Pass, but from our vantage point it looked like a gnarly and steep bootpack up to Cooper Col. Additionally, we didn’t know what the snow conditions were like on the opposite side of the pass. Instead we opted to go with the known route, a detour to a pass under Pica Peak. This is the route that other groups on the tour were taking and the same route that some of my tour buddies had already taken on previous years’ trips.
Taking our detour route to the lowest point on the middle-left of the ridge
It was nearly noon by the time we ascended that final slope and the sun was beating down with a fury. There was no breeze, no shade, no reprieve, just the hot sun softening the snow and sucking the energy out of me. But, the views offered a welcome distraction and I stopped every few kick turns to take photos.
We made it to the pass by noon and from there it was all downhill! Once again I was blown away by the views. A jagged line of serrated peaks stretched out before us, the mountains seeming to pierce the bright blue sky.
The entry point of the “couloir” is up and out of frame to looker’s right
The drop-in point from the ridge was fun, if a little nerve-racking. It can best be described as a teeny tiny couloir, but it’s not particularly steep and it’s only narrow at the entry point. After one turn it opens up into a wide slope. As someone who gets nervous any time the word “couloir” is mentioned, this was a great first “couloir” to ski, if it can even really be called that.
Once again we were on slopes with overhanging cornices (and these ones had been baking in the sun) so we hurried down the upper slopes and down into the forest.
Finally, we could see the hairpin turn below. It was just a few hundred yards of old avalanche debris that separated us and the road. The softening of the snow was immensely helpful along this stretch, as the debris was easy to ski over.
We stepped onto the pavement at 12:30, exactly five hours after we had started.
The debris field on the way out
I am grateful that we could ski from start to finish without having to carry our skis at all, but the heat and relentless forecast has me nervous that this spring ski season may be a short one. I’m also so grateful that I finally was able to experience a Washington Pass ski tour, and especially the Birthday Tour, with such a great group of friends. I already hope this becomes an annual tradition!
Strava upload: https://www.strava.com/activities/9072882847