Sheep Lake Couloir
Route Details
Area - Crystal Backcountry, WA
Access - Approach begins in-bounds at Crystal, approx. 2 hour drive south from Seattle. From the base of the ski area follow the Quicksilver lift then continue via cat track into Silver Basin (Southback). You will need to have signed a waiver and received a waiver card at Crystal Resort guest services (patrol frequently stops you and asks on your way up). There are two main approaches from here: 1) take the Boundary Basin Gap (between Daves Badass Shoulder and east of Three Way Peak) to Sourdough Gap to Sheep Lake and climb Chinook Peak on the south or 2) Take Three Way Exit Chute to Crystal Lakes to Bowla Bowl and gain Chinook Peak from the west-northwest. See guides section below for more details.
Total Trip Time - 7-8 hours
Total Distance - 8 miles
Main Ski descent - 1100 ft
Elevation Gain/Loss - 5000 ft
Max Slope Angle - 45-50 °
Guides
FATMAP (below)
Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Routes: Washington by Martin Volken
Local Beta - Snorting Elk Cellar is a great spot to wet your whistle and dry your gloves by the wood burning fire. "The Elk" sometimes makes best U.S. Apres lists and they serve a pretty enourmous large nachos among other decent food if you're hungry.
Trip Report 1/14/2024
The Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Routes: Washington guidebook introduces Sheep Lake Couloir by saying it is "one of the finest couloirs in the immediate vicinity of Crystal Mountain." I had been wanting to ski the route ever since reading that sentence. The route has a fairly long approach relative to a lot of other great runs in the Crystal backcountry, and so I hadn’t until now prioritized making the journey out to Sheep Lake.
The previous day had been a little rough with a high temp of 2° f and strong winds. Antoine and I had managed to ski Dog Leg Chute the previous day, but gave up trying to ski much else after just freezing our butts off. While hanging out in The Elk that afternoon we discussed options for the next day, and agreed to wake up early and attempt Sheep Lake Couloir. The biggest question and challenge was avalanche conditions. Antoine was a little less concerned than me, though we discussed and agreed on a route up Three Way Exit Chute and over to Bowla Bowl that we felt gave us plenty of opportunity to check the conditions before committing to Sheep Lake Couloir. This route wouldn't add much distance while being a little more scenic and more of a loop route as opposed to the suggested out and back route found in guidebooks. The downside would be no direct view up the Couloir before dropping in.
We set off from the base of Crystal Ski Resort at 7am with the first signs of alpenglow. Although it was cold, probably single digits, compared to the previous day it felt great with no wind. Skinning up Quicksilver was a lot more enjoyable without the crowds. We listened for explosives, expecting to hear early morning work from Crystal Pro Patrol, but didn’t hear anything during the entire climb into Silver Basin. It seemed patrol had maybe decided to not bother trying to open Southback where they most certainly would have needed to use explosives given wind loading the previous day. We felt more confident that we wouldn’t have to worry about control work as we approached Three Way Exit chute, but it made me question our judgement about heading all the way out to Sheep Lake.
We followed our skin track from the previous day to the bottom of Chicken Head. From the bottom of Chicken Head I broken trail towards the base of Three Way Peak while Antoine called Southwest Airlines to reschedule his Monday morning flight. From the base of Three Way Peak Antoine wanted to take a little lower traversing path to not risk loading the apron, so we descended slightly to the bottom of Three Way Exit Chute. Once within sight of the chute we could see avalanche debris down the entire lookers left side of the chute. We continued up the chute, working our way up avy debris until gaining the ridge. It had taken us almost 2 hours to get to the E1 exit gate at the top of Three Way Exit Chute, but felt great to be finally leaving Silver Basin and entering the Crystal Lakes zone.
From the ridgeline on Three Way we caught our first glimpse of Chinook Peak and Sheep Lake Couloir. The route looked huge, steep, and loaded with snow, and we both became excited about the days possibilities. We quickly transitioned and skied Upper Smoka Bowl towards Crystal Lake. There was a wind-packed trap crust for the first couple hundred feet, making the first few turns of the day a little jarring. Fortunately, the snow softened for the last few turns nearing Crystal Lake and we could enjoy a little powder.
From Crystal Lake we put our skins on and began the trek over to Bowla Bowl. We had skied G-String and a north-facing chute in Bowla Bowl a little less than a year earlier, and were both excited to return to the area. We had to descend a little on skins and navigate a few hundred feet of thick trees before ascending into the bottom of the Bowla Bowl basin area. There was a lot less snow than the last time we had been there. Also, there were no avalanche crowns visible and so we worried that the slope may be unstable but just hadn’t naturally slid yet. It was extremely unlikely anyone had been in the area over the past few days, and so we discussed route options to gain the ridge with minimal risk of causing an avalanche. Antoine decided to take the lead and veer climbers left before making a large traverse back right near the top of the bowl. I followed, maintaining a lot of distance and staying in a safe spot off to the left while Antoine pushed through the riskiest portion. By the time we both gained the ridge we took a sigh of relief to be past one of the cruxes of the day and also glad to finally have the warm sun on our face.
We could now see Rainier and the rest of the Cascades to the south. We put our sunglasses on and began working our way southeast down the ridge towards Chinook Peak. We peered into Packa Bowl along the way, eyeing Packa West Chute which looked quite nice. The snow was soft, deep, and the sun fully out and warming our bodies. About halfway to Chinook Peak from Bowla Bowl we decided to take an early lunch in the sun. We made a bench with our skis and ate sandwiches in the sun, taking in the view. We could see Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount Hood along with the rest of the South Cascades.
We finished our lunch and continued towards Chinook Peak. Below us we could see Deadwood Lake Bowl, full of powder. We gained Chinook Peak from the south where the slope is less steep, but still had to make a few tight kick-turns through trees before finally gaining the summit. The view from the summit was amazing. It was cool seeing the Crystal Lake and Sourdough zones from a vantage point I hadn’t seen before.
Our attention turned to the couloir in front of us. It was steep and appeared wind loaded. There was no sign of any previous slide activity. We discussed options for dropping in to lower the risk. Antoine seemed far more comfortable than I and agreed to drop in first. We discussed him going a little way down and then ducking off to a safe spot to wait for me. He dropped in on skiers left, making small and slow kick-turns to test the slope before having to fully commit at the steepest section. Once he was out of view I waited and heard him yell up that he was fine and for me to come down. I followed his tracks and then soon saw him taking shelter behind a large rock off to the left about a quarter the way down. We met up and discussed how the snow felt better and more stable than we had feared it may be.
I waited next to the large rock until Antoine was down, then dropped in for some of the best steep powder of the season so far. The snow was perfect, and as soon as I exited the Couloir the sun was on my face and it was nothing but soft bluebird powder, a rarity in the Cascades.
We met up and then continued down the fall line to Sheep Lake, skiing side-by-side and enjoying the mellow rolling hill covered in soft sun-soaked powder. Once at Sheep Lake we gazed back up at our tracks, shocked at how good it had been given the wind-packed conditions pretty much everywhere else that day.
We put our skins on and began the return journey. I broke trail towards Sourdough Gap, approaching from climbers right. There was a large avalanche crown on Smoka Shoulder, lookers left of Sourdough Gap. We had survived Sheep Lake Couloir but still had to remain vigilant of the risks in order to end the day on a good note. Even though it was in the low 20’s I had to strip down to my base layer given the afternoon sun bearing down on us.
Once at Sourdough Gap we had to decide whether to continue straight down towards the east side of Dave’s Shoulder/Boundary Gap or instead try to get a few final powder turns in the sun. We opted for powder in the sun and traversed left until we found a nice line through widely spaced trees.
We decided to aim for Boundary Gap, a small gap between Three Way Peak and Dave’s Shoulder. Antoine broke trail and before we knew it we were at the top of Boundary Gap, staring back into Silver Basin. The slope below us was dark, completely in the shadow. We looked around the area below us and realized there were zero tracks other than our uphill tracks from earlier that morning. We had been the only ones in that entire area all day. I was worried the final few turns off the ridge would be rock solid, but found it actually really enjoyable. We made our way back to the top of Quicksilver and laid down some GS turns on the groomer for the final return to the car. It had been an amazing day!