After an incredible party at a friends wedding, Melissa and I attempted to ski from the summit of Arrowhead Mountain off Highway 2 back in March. This was in the old times, when COVID-19 was a nascent threat. Both intermingling and cooler weather prevailed. Melissa’s friends, Katie and John, owned property in Leavenworth and got married the night before. We decided to make a weekend of it and took their recommendation to ski Arrowhead Mountain.
We found tracks and route descriptions, which proved to be pretty easy to follow. You go up a road for a bit. Eventually the road ends and you head up a drainage toward a saddle to gain the ridge on Arrowhead. Everything was easy except for following up the drainage. We found some skin tracks that led us to some crazy steep terrain in thick forest.
That terrain navigated, we eventually gained the ridge for Arrowhead and followed it for a while until the travel became too steep for us. Low clouds had come in, we had used up a bunch of time and emotional energy on the steep traverses, so we turned around. We skied incredible, smooth, stable, 35 to 40 degree slopes back to the road. A fun road ski brought us to the cars, where we imbibed cola, ate chips, and got ready for our drive home.
Today’s high is was 92 degrees and, since we live in Seattle, we felt every one of those 92 degrees without A/C. I have two things to look forward to for this coming winter – cooler temps, and a quicker drive. Arrowhead is only going to be about an hour from Wenatchee 🙂
