Sahale Spring Ski Tour

DATE HIKED: 4/26/25

TOTAL MILEAGE: 12 MILES

TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN: 6,200’

I’ve visited Sahale twice in the past, once in fall and once in summer and on both those trips I marveled at the views, but I also wondered what the area looks like blanketed in snow. I put the idea of a Sahale ski tour in the back of my mind and waited for the right conditions. Our friends Adam and Meredith own a property on Cascade River Road and Adam mentioned earlier this year that he really wanted to ski Sahale too, so we put it at the top of our list and waited for a good forecast. This past weekend was forecasted to be favorable, clear skies at night to ensure a solid refreeze and sunny during the day for (fingers crossed) good corn. After years of Sahale being an idea in the back of our minds, it was finally going to become a reality.

On Friday night, Adam drove us and his Airstream camper to his property on Cascade River Road. Being able to sleep in his Airstream felt like staying in a palace compared to our usual pre-trip accommodations of our Santa Fe. Having room to stand and move around was such a luxury and we fell asleep to the sound of the Cascade River right outside our window. It might be some of the best sleep I’ve gotten before a ski tour.

Since it was supposed to be sunny and warm, we opted for an early start so we didn’t miss the best snow. It was going to be a long approach, though; the park website noted that the road was closed at the Eldorado gate at mile marker 20. This meant we had three miles and 1,500’ of gain to hike on the road before we even reached the Cascade Pass trailhead. From there it would be another six miles and just under 5,000’ to the true summit of Sahale. We weren’t planning to go all the way to the summit, but hoped to make it within a couple hundred feet of the summit, which still meant a big day.

We left Adam’s property around 3:30AM and started the 30 minute drive to the Eldorado Trailhead. As the trailhead approached, we slowed down to look for a parking spot, but then Adam noticed the gate was open. It seemed the park had opened the gate, but hadn’t yet updated its website. We continued to the gate at mile marker 21 where the road was officially closed. We were elated that we just shaved a mile and a few hundred vertical feet of road walking off our mileage, this put us at a great starting spot.

The view of the valley from the Cascade Pass Trailhead

At 4:15AM, we were hiking up the road, with our skis and boots on our backs. While it was annoying to have to walk on the road, it was easy travel and the time passed quickly. After 50 minutes we made it to the Cascade Pass Trailhead and were pleased to find continuous snow. The snow coverage meant we could take the winter route right up the gut of the valley instead of taking the endless switchbacks in the forest.

The valley was full of old wet loose avalanche debris so we knew we were in for a bit of an obstacle course, but it was still a better option than the forest. We transitioned to skinning and began to make our way up the valley. It was immediately slick, the overnight refreeze evident, so I opted to preemptively put my ski crampons on while the slope was still mellow.

Our approximate route up the valley

We weren’t exactly sure how we were going to gain the headwall of the valley, but it looked like we could skirt around the cliff bands on the left side of the valley before traversing our way above some rocks. This looked much easier to do from afar. As we made our way to the head of the valley, the slope steepened and grew incredibly icy. I stopped at a large rock and switched to booting with crampons because I wasn’t feeling secure with my skinning, even with crampons. Alex and Adam kept their skis on and completed one of the steepest, iciest traverses I have ever seen. I could barely watch them as they traversed over the ridge, their skis hanging on by a razor edge.

Alex traversing up the valley under The Triplets

Booting wasn’t much better. The slope surface may have refrozen overnight, but underneath this frozen crust was about a foot of soft snow. I kept sinking to my knees as I made my way up the slope. It was physically exhausting and it was a huge time suck. Eventually I made it over the ridge, reconvened with Alex and Adam and transitioned back to skinning for the quick jaunt up to Cascade Pass.

The view from Cascade Pass

From the pass, we still had about 400’ to go to gain the Sahale Arm and most of that slope was in the shade. Cue more of the iciest skinning of my life. I’m so glad we brought ski crampons. I probably would not have been able to do this trip without them. Skinning without them was nearly impossible, my skis kept sliding, but booting was also painfully arduous and slow in the conditions. It felt like a lose-lose situation.

After more than a few harrowing icy kick turns and side-hilling, we finally gained the Sahale Arm. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing the worst of the ascent was behind us. We now had eyes on Sahale and the remainder of our route and it looked like a cakewalk compared to the slopes we just skinned up.

The views from the Sahale Arm are overwhelming, in the best way. Every time I’ve been on this trail my jaw drops at the beauty. The serrated ridge of Johannesburg dominates the skyline, and more and more layers of mountains are revealed as the trail gains elevation.

The Sahale Arm made for quick and straightforward travel thanks to its gradual grade and the fact that by the time we were traveling on the slope, the snow had already softened in the morning sun so skinning was easy. We continued up and up and marveled at the mountainous views surrounding us. A bluebird day was the perfect time to attempt this route.

We made it to the Sahale Glacier camp area after six hours of travel, the only evidence of the camp being a few inches of a signpost sticking out of the snow. After another brief photo break we continued upward. Our goal for the day was a flat expanse at 8,400’, about 300’ below the summit. I had briefly considered going all the way to the summit block, to touch the rock, but the snow apreach felt soft and getting to the summit block would require more time and more slow booting. It felt more important to ski down in great snow than to touch a rock just to say I touched a rock.

Our transition spot was beautiful, we peeked over the edge and could see Buckner across the way. I tried to take in the immense sea of mountains around us, with Glacier Peak atop waves of layers.

Finally, it was time for the fun part: the ski down. Despite only being 11AM, the top was prime-time snow, a welcome change from last week’s sketchy ice slope off the Middle Sister summit! The skiing was also fast, in just over a minute we were all back down to the Sahale Glacier camp area, having soared gleefully down the corn slopes. We skied our way to the Sahale Arm, taking in some of the most scenic backcountry turns along the way. The snow skied great and I was on cloud nine.

Back on the arm, the good snow ran out and in its place, soupy snow grabbed at our skis. We dialed our skiing back and continued to pick our way toward the pass. At just past noon, Alex cut across a slope ahead of Adam and I and went out of sight below a ridge. He radioed back, “I just set off a small wet loose avalanche.” He confirmed he was okay, and Adam and I made our way one by one across the slope and reconvened as a group in a safe stopping spot. We watched as the small avalanche Alex started continued to grow and slowly make it its way to the valley floor beneath Cascade Pass. It had gathered up quite a bit of snow along its path. Definitely not something you’d want to get caught up in and a reminder than even in spring, the snow can move.

We made it back to Cascade Pass without any more incidents.

The final crux of the morning was making it back down the debris-filled valley. Thankfully the snow had softened enough that it was easy to navigate and in just a few minutes we were back at the Cascade Pass Trailhead.

We changed back into our trail runners, put our skis and boots onto our backs, and walked the final two miles to the car.

I’m so glad we got to ski Sahale in the height of spring ski conditions, when there was still enough snow coverage to go straight up the valley and stay on skis (well except for me booting up the valley) until the very top! We may have waited a few years to finally ski Sahale but we made it happen, and it was worth the wait.

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