Silver Star Mountain via Silver Star Creek- 05.09.2021 (glacier climb on skis)

"This is Cascade Ski Mountaineering," we said sarcastically over and over til we were beat tired."

📍Where: Okanagan Native Lands, Silver Star Creek, Silver Star Mountain, Highway 20, North Cascades, Wa, USA 
📆 When: May 8, 2021
🥾 Trail stats: 10ish miles/5400ft gain (stats were higher for me)
🚐 Parking and directions: Take highway 20 (opens most years in May) to Silver Star Creek Sno Park, 48.5974397, -120.5830608 (not currently on Google, I believe)
🌥 Forecast: Mid 30s, partly cloudy
❄ Conditions: Cold, breezy in morning, and windy in evening. Snow was mostly hard crust, didn't soften much as day progressed. 

⚒ Tools brought/used: Skis, ski crampons, ice axe and whippet, boot crampons, avalanche beacon, probe, shovel, helmet, gps track, topo map. Brought rope and harnesses, did not utilize.

⛷Skills needed: Skiing on ice, climbing steep snow, rock scrambling with exposure, self-arrest. 

This trip report will not have great beta for the GPS track (find ours on my Strava). We are still unsure what the best route up to the glacier is. The approach from the basin is still confusing to me. I also didn't do the final move on the summit (an exposed chimney) as it was so late in the day and we were tired. Here are the TRs I found most helpful:

Peakbaggers

Engineered for adventure

Trail summary: Park at the Silver Star Sno-Park along highway 20. Bushwack up towards Vasiliki Ridge for 2/3 miles. There was a trail visible at times, but most of the time, we were climbing over downed trees on what I'm assuming is a worn dirt path.

From the basin, gaze up (though the summit won't be visible yet) and eye an approach up a number of gullies and open slopes. We went right and up to the edge of Vasiliki Ridge. Beta suggests going left is more direct, but these areas were full of debris- both avy and rock.

Our route to avoid an avy chute

The beginning of the glacier was hidden from view at our angle, but if you've chosen the left (more eastern) areas, you should see an opening ramp.

Where the two lines converged

Climb up to 2,000ft through beautiful ramps of snow. 

Photo courtesy of Nathan

From 8,800ft, you can look up at the approach to the summit. For us, snow filled in most of the space between the boulders. 

Photo courtesy of Daniel

The final boulder is a chimney with good holds to mantle. We sat just below this last move as clouds rolled in and the clock hit 4:30pm

The ski down was uneventful if not challenging. I again must admit to not having great beta- I've never experienced good conditions in the backcountry to really know what its like to glide smoothly. We skitted over blue ice and wind-swept crust. My legs burned, but its all I've ever known. 

The way down. Photo courtesy of Yulia

To skin or not to skin: A large portion of this trip was the struggle to keep skis on- a battle I should have surrendered much earlier than I did. Snow conditions from start to summit were thick, firm, and often icy. Boots and crampons were wonderful- skinning was just a tad more work. We carried til the basin, skinned up the ridge, then went back to boots for the glacier.

We stop to boot up, photo by Yulia

Obstacles encountered:

- Punching through weak snow. The first half mile of this trail is melting quickly. Steep duff and downed trees quickly became more dangerous as snow patches occurred. We'd read a TR where someone fell through the snow and hit their head. We encountered a climber who had fallen and hit their elbow. We took extra care coming down that evening when snow was softer.

- Avy risk in the basin. I noted many avalanches throughout the basin. We avoided the leftmost gully as it was one large wet slide. I traversed lower underneath Vasiliki Ridge to avoid avy debri fields.

- Icy on the glacier. The forecast of mostly sunny was too optimistic and the freezing level was low. What was somewhat malleable around lunchtime was a pain to ski down by the evening.

Photo by Yulia

Thoughts on this part of the Cascades:

I've spent time along the Silver Star Ridge on approaches to Burgundy Col, Big Snaggletooth, and Kangaroo Temple. The terrain here is steep and soft. Duff and old rotting logs disguise bootprints, and GPS tracks help from avoiding cliffouts.

It's super exciting to have the Pass open! Last year I learned that the east side kids use skis and snowmobiles to access Washington Pass in summer, and I'm quite jealous. I feel like this hike would have been rad three weeks beforehand, so keep this in mind as it gets later in the year. 

Here are more photos that may be helpful-

The summit scramble

Traversing under Vasiliki Ridge 

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