Ski Mountaineering Ruth Mountain 2006

For some, the balance is skewed more than it is for others...




This was an insane trip. First, our friend Leo said not to worry about bringing hiking boots for the approach, becuase it wasn't too far to where we would throw the skis and skins on. HA! Yea, right... It was SIX MILES EACH WAY IN SKI BOOTS!!!! That was before a very long and very difficult skin up.

The weather was great at first, but as we were approaching the fin (the only big rock in the field of white), an electrical storm came out of nowhere. It was extremely scary. Seth's ice axe started humming very loudly and we were totally exposed in the middle of the mountain. We hauled a*# up to the fin and stayed about 20 feet away from it. I ditched all of my gear and hoped for the best. Then it started hailing marbel sized hail. It hurt like hell. As soon as it stopped, we grabbed the ice axes and made the summit quickly. There was another party on top and they were all very freaked out. They had their hair standing totally on end and were anxious to get out of there. So were we...
We had the BEST ski down ever. But we went too far and ended up hiking (yes, in ski boots) back up to the trail. It was very difficult with about a 40 pound pack, in ski boots, and already exhaused. When we finally got back to the parking lot, we carpooled back down the mountain to our car. In that hour, my body had completely siffened up, and I seriously didn't think I could get out of the car. :)
BUT, that was nothing that a margarita and a huge burrito couldn't fix. The drive back to Gig Harbor was as painful as I can ever remember in terms of fighting sleep.











OH, YEA!!! The mountains in the background are Shuksan and Baker. Baker was actually originally named Shuksan by the Indians, but it was changed by the "explorers." No matter, Shuksan is, in my opinion, far more magnificent.