The Lane glacier is dead. Well, almost. We headed up there last weekend for some early season fresh pow (it used to be THE place to go ski in September.) We figured, certainly a week into October there should be something decent.
Dan, Parker, Cosmo, Chad, and Jon on the hike in.
What we found was the Fast and Slow Lanes no longer connect. The Fast Lane is very short. The boulder field to get there always sucked, now it seems 4x as long as the glacier has receded, and you have to travel up the valley a lot farther to reach skinable/skiable terrain.
A look back partway up the talus field. We used to be able to skin through this area.
Hiking over boulders with 4 inches of snow is always a little challenging-although it’s better than the last time I went 3 years ago and there was 8 inches….although then you could ski all the way down to the boulder field above the Lane hut.
More boulders. Chad and Boone negotiating the endless field of talus with the Fast Lane above them.
We checked out the Fast Lane first. We didn’t end up skiing it-the measly four inches of snow was not bonded at all to the glare ice underneath. Boone, Chad, and Cosmo hiked up and over, meeting the rest of us at the Slow Lane. Dan and I decided not to join them when we saw Cosmo lose his footing and slide halfway down the icefield.
Boone hiking up the Fast Lane.
Chad on the Slow Lane.
Boone.
Boone skiing what he called “loud powder”- four inches of snow on top of glare ice.
Our tracks on what’s left of the Slow Lane.
Boone, Chad, and Cosmo on the trek out.
The Adventures of Amber 