This whole spring I’ve been jonesing to get out into the North Cascades for a ski traverse, but it’s seemed like every weekend has had something come up: bad weather, work, or other commitments (why would you commit to anything other than skiing?). However, the last weekend in April, everything came together: the weather forecast was perfect, the North Cascades Highway was reopening, and my favorite partners Adam and Matt were both free, along with my good friend Alex who was visiting from out of state. The Ragged Ridge seemed to be a natural objective for our time constraints. It’s a fairly accessible ridge within North Cascades National park containing four of the 100 highest mountains in Washington. While I’d climbed all of these summits from the south in the summer, I’d never skied any of them, and I’d always wanted to set foot on the glaciated northern slopes of the ridge.
As we drove up the newly reopened highway, we kept a keen eye on the snow level, as our planned exit would likely require us to bushwhack the last few hundred vertical feet to the road after running out of snow. While there wasn’t as much snow as there had been in previous years when Adam and I had separately skied this exit, things looked reasonable. We dropped Adam’s car at the appropriate spot on the side of SR20 and, having set up a car shuttle, left the Easy Pass trailhead a bit past 8:00 with full packs. We optimistically started skiing as soon as we crossed Granite Creek, but were quickly forced to walk for ~30 mins before reaching properly continuous snow. Before long we popped out of the forest into the open slide path and got our first views of the dramatic North Face of Graybeard, and we cruised up to Easy Pass under bluebird skies, where we got our first views to the south, into the heart of the North Cascades Wilderness.
Matt and Adam having fun on the traverse over to the Meashchie Glacier, far above Fisher Creek. Graybeard at left, with Fisher and Black Peaks in the distance.
After a quick break, we continued up for a few hundred feet before making a steep traverse over towards the Mesahchie Glacier, far above Fisher Creek. We ripped skins for a quick lap into the basin below Kitling Peak, then climbed up to the col that provides access to the glacier. Dropping onto northern aspects, we enjoyed some pretty great turns in spring powder as we descended to the Panther Creek, leaving a few day trippers behind as headed over towards the Ragged Ridge proper. Having descended below a massive rock rib coming down from Mesahchie’s North Ridge, we started our climb onto the Katsuk Glacier as we made our way west.
Adam and Alex climbing on the Katsuk Glacier, with Mesahchie Peak in the background.
With just a bit of afternoon mush, we gained the high ridge connecting Katsuk and Pachyderm Peaks, and crossed onto the Kimtah Glacier, the third and last of the day. We climbed steeply above the glacial icefall, then traversed through beautiful and straightforward terrain to reach the saddle on the Ragged Ridge just below the summit of Cosho Peak, the westernmost and most diminutive summit of the ridge, where we planned on camping.
Adam enjoying views of the Kimtah Glacier icefall, with Cosho peak directly below the sun.
Adam and Matt skinning along the Kimtah Glacier under the afternoon sun.
The views from the saddle were jaw dropping, with many of the North Cascades National Park’s classic peaks laid out before us: Goode, Logan, Buckner, Sahale & Boston, and Forbidden all bathed in afternoon light. I dropped my overnight gear and headed up the last few hundred feet to the summit of Cosho, hoping to catch the sunset. Alas, some clouds descended and blocked my views. No worries! The light from the east in the morning would be even better! I set my alarm for 30 mins before sunrise, and skied down through the steadily darkening whiteout to rejoin the rest of the boys for dinner.
The next morning, as everyone else slumbered, I poked my head out of the tent to find exactly what I had been hoping for: clear skies, and clouds filling the valleys below. I struggled into my frozen-solid ski boots as the sky brightened, and headed back up Cosho for the sunrise, which was truly one of the most stunning in recent memory.
Our camp at dawn, nestled below Thieves Peak. Kimtah and the Kimtah Glacier in the distance.
First light on the North Face of Goode.
Buckner, the Ripsaw Ridge, and the Boston Glacier behind the NW Ridge of Thunder Peak.
Morning panorama from the summit of Cosho. From L>R: Goode, Logan, Buckner, Sahale, Boston, and Forbidden.
I skied back down to camp to join the boys for breakfast, then the four of us went back up Cosho one final time to enjoy the view. I mostly successfully resisted the temptation to retake all the same photos I had taken earlier that morning.
Goode and Storm King in black and white, with Pincer Peak, a subsummit of Logan, in the foreground.
We returned to camp to pack up and make our way out. The traverse past Red Mountain to Fourth of July Pass and Ruby looked straightforward and tempting, but I had promised Alex I wouldn’t let him miss his flight home. I’ll have to come back!
Adam skiing back to camp after climbing Cosho. Kimtah in the clouds in the distance, Thieves Peak above camp.
The skiing on the Kimtah Glacier had a few more pockets of pleasant powder, and before long we were crossing back onto the Katsuk Glaicer. Matt very kindly let Adam and I go ahead to briefly explore an ice cave in the toe of the glacier that we had scouted on the way up, and Adam and I quickly skinned up a few hundred feet to check it out - extremely cool!
Adam skiing along the mouth of an ice cave in the Katsuk Glacier, with Pachyderm Peak in the background.
We caught back up with Matt and Alex on the skin up towards Mesachie Pass and our final descent to the Highway. The views back along the Ragged Ridge from this last climb were stunning, and we could see our entire route over to Cosho and back, along with all the other summits of the Ragged Ridge.
Alex and Adam on the final climb out of Panther Creek, with the entire Ragged Ridge and our route visible. Cub Peak at left, then Mesachie and Katsuk, the Katsuk Glacier, Kimtah, and Cosho at very far right.
We said goodbye to the views to the south and dropped in to the Granite Creek drainage, with the Highway visible 3,000+ feet below us. We skied wet slop until we got into the tighter trees, then in classic spring touring fashion, took it as far down as the remaining snowpack would permit us, then just a bit further. Eventually we called it quits, and strapped our skis onto our packs and booted through the pleasant mossy forest to the valley bottom, where we faced our final challenge: crossing Granite Creek to get back to Adam’s car. With Matt as our talented scout, we linked up a few log crossings and popped out onto the side of the highway, only a little bit behind schedule. Alex made his flight without trouble, but he may not have had time to shower beforehand ;)
Matt crossing Granite Creek