Dirty Face Ski Tour - 1/9/08

Drew, Steph, Mike, Adrienne and I finally got out to ski Dirty Face near Lake Wenatchee. After a bit of driving around scoping the parking situation we settled on parking in the Lake View area and sliding between a few houses on our way up the east shoulder of Dirt Face. About 3 hours of skinning threw old growth trees and trying to avoid avalanche run out zones and we were on the summit ridge. I cant believe the weather station works. The whole station was rime covered and nearly berried. A quick survey of the summit while trying not to be blown off the ridge found us quickly running for the cover of trees before turning fall line and skiing the eastern most avalanche path. We did a bit of ski cutting in the starting zone then skied one at a time to some cover on a small but broad ridge with a few trees. I couldn't help my self and continued on past the group, stopping just long enough for Mike to catch me before we hit the big pinch and work the remainder of the path as a group. What a great ski. Something like 4,000 feet of open bowls and stellar position. Next time I'd like to check out the ribs that run from the summit and provide access to both the right and left run outs.