Ski touring to Sheep Lake Chute

The season earlier I had set eyes on a possible route to gain access to a line I’d been looking at for a while. The plan was to do some ski touring to Sheep Lake Chute and with a little bit of persuading my friend Scott came along to check out the Terrain. At the time I had a hook up with MSR so I was given some snowshoes to try out so this was our method of transportation

Heading Out Via the Crystal Mountain Southback

We took Chair 6 up at Crystal Mountain ski resort than started a the Southback traverse. Passing a rock at a time we made our way towards the Silver Basin soon around below the summit of the Silver King. Once on an area called the Beach it was time for our first descent of the trip.

Heading past the Crystal Mountain Southback towards Crystal Lakes Basin
Heading past the Crystal Mountain Southback towards Crystal Lakes Basin and Mount Rainier National Park

After a few minutes of rest we were dropping into Crystal Lakes Basin and taking turns in the sun softened snow. Riding through the loosely spaced trees we arrived in the basin and put on our snowshoes. The plan was to head south to a low col which would give us access to Shepard’s Peak

Riding out of the ski resort and down into Crystal Lake Basin
Riding out of the ski resort and down into Crystal Lake Basin

Making My Way to Sheep Lake Chute

Once we were up on the col we had a great view of Mount Rainier in the distance. The wind was whipping snow off the upper glaciers and Little Tahoma as I made my way up the ridge. Scott had decided to stay behind and ski the open slopes down to Sheep Lake. I was going to try to find a way to get into the east face of Shepard Peak.

Traversing across the ridge of Sheep Lake Basin with Rainier in the background
Traversing across the ridge of Sheep Lake Basin with Rainier in the background

It was bit bit of a sketchy traverse and I was only able to get halfway up the chute. It was a bad route all together but soon enough I was putting snowboard tracks down.

Snowboarding down the Sheep Lake Chute
Snowboarding down the Sheep Lake Chute

I was surprised to find a little bit of powder as I hit up the sidewalls. The banks of the slope had a north facing aspect and a little bit of wind drift. Being around 10 feet wide it was more than enough space to open up until arriving at the apron below.

Taking a turn on the high back of Sheep Lake Chute
Taking a turn on the high back of Sheep Lake Chute

And then the line opened up in the apron below as I straight lined making sure not to hit avi debris. The snow in the sun had warmed up and quickly I went from powder to slush for the last 300 feet.

Riding down the lower apron of the Sheep Lake Chute
Riding down the lower apron of the Sheep Lake Chute

Making Our Way Back to Crystal Mountain Ski Resort

We both made our way down to Sheep Lake and decided it was a good spot to have lunch. Before long it was time to make our way back to Crystal Mountain. Being on snowshoes we climbed up and over Sourdough Gap then up 3 Way Peak. Finally we were taking our final turns into Silver Basin and down to the ski resort parking lot.

Heading out of Sheep Lake Basin with the Sheep Lake Chute in the background
Heading out of Sheep Lake Basin with the Sheep Lake Chute in the background

While the route I was thinking of was not the right route it was great ski touring to Sheep Lake Chute and learning from this experience as I would come back numerous times in the future and not go this way.

Thank you for reading this trip. If you want to see more ski tours within Crystal Mountain Backcountry check out this link.

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