Dragontail Dragontail rises over 3000 menicing feet above Colchuck Lake.

Deep in the heart of the central eastern Cascades lies the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area and the Enchantments. Magnificent alpine lakes surrounded by jagged granite rock and remnant glacial fields make this wilderness destination one of the most popular areas in Washington’s backcountry during peak season. Winter offers solitude and a plethora of magnificent lines,filling in even the narrowest and steepest couliors. Add rappelling into the approach and you’ve got yourself an endless supply of ski mountaineering options.

Pulling into the parking lot late we quickly made dinner and packed to head out early the following morning. Sleeping in the back of the Outback was surprisingly comfortable and we awoke to daybreak and other vehicles joining the early morning preparations. After exchanging some greetings with “the regulars”, we began to gain elevation, first on the road and then onto the trail. The wooded approach made it difficult to calculate approximate distance traveled, and the seven mile slog dragged on and on. However, we eventually reached a prominent ridge near Colchuck Lake and we soon found ourselves skinning towards the prominent rock fortress, Dragontail. Scouting a safe campsite away from avalanche danger, we set up our tent and quickly jumped into preparing dinner as the trek in had left us hungry – both for food and powder.

The following morning we made an early start and began climbing up Aasgard Pass. Steeply, we quickly began to gain views of a landscape oozing with steep couliors and chutes, offering challenging terrain for even the most auspicious ski mountaineers. Nearing the saddle, we stopped to soak in some pockets of bluebird skies and enjoy the views. We decided to work our way up the western basin of Dragontail and continue following the ridge up. Flat light and clouds made us wait for a weather window, and when we got it we got moving. After passing back over the saddle and down the western basin, we broke free from the clouds and began to really enjoy the endless powder that greeted us at each turn.

Colchuck Lake. The descent to Colchuck Lake is steep, and luckily deep.

We leap-frogged through Aasgard pass and began moving into more of the steep terrain that make for great skiing. Nearing the apron of Aasgard we expected to find powder covered avy debris, but much to our delight we instead carved turns into buttery, hero snow. Boulders and trees provided us with some final playground equipment as we made our final few turns down to the lake. Although hauling camp is heavy, it was mostly downhill the rest of the way out.  In fact, we still had over 3000′ to drop in the next seven miles which would hopefully help us return to the cars by a decent time. Exiting by headlamp, we skied the last three miles on the road, allowing for an easy and quick exit. Luckily dead batteries were easily brought back to life, being only “mostly dead”. However, our legs definitely felt “all dead”. Changing into comfortable sneakers we began the drive home, still amped from yet another amazing powder run.