"How's it look?" "Umm." "Can we ski it?" "Umm." "What?" "Umm."

The Hummels were looking for a response but I had none to offer. I eventually reeled in my stomach and climbed back to the summit. Troy had already decided to ski the chute further east. Myself, convinced of something, just not sure what. The Hummels were somewhere in the midst.

"Well, can we ski it?" asked Jason.

"Yea?" I replied. The confident question.

I did my best to inspire confidence, not only in the Hummels, but also in myself. It must have been a good show because they agreed to join me without even looking at it. Troy was stubbornly safe, sticking with his decision to ski the chute. We tried using Josh's radios but they didn't seem to work so Troy set out on his own. Out of sight and sound, we agreed to meet at the base.

Josh skied to my previous stance while I set up for a photo of Jason. It wasn't much of a warm up but I suppose it was better than nothing.

The line directly below us had the best runout but it appeared too steep (60+ degrees) and rocky to ski. To our right was a milder slope (50+ degrees) but a fall there would most likely send you over a couple hundred foot cliff. Cliff or no cliff, the 1000-foot slide would most likely kill you. We opted for the milder slope.

I wanted to take photos so Jason agreed to go first. He traversed slowly, not knowing what type of snow to expect. After 30-40ft, it came time for the first and most difficult turn. The photo makes it look easy but I assure you it was anything but. My topo shows an average of 52 degrees for 600 vertical feet. I should have looked at that before I came.

Jason said he would stop in a safe spot but I never expected it to be at his fifth turn on a 50 degree face. Nevertheless, pack off, camera out, my turn. The snow looked decent so I didn't bother questioning Jason or myself. I etched the traverse and made a turn just below his. Snap, crackle, stop. Where did all the snow go? The couple inches of packed powder provided little contact on icy corn. I must have slid a good 10ft before stopping. My third turn matched Jason's fifth and I wondered whether there would be enough snow left for Josh. We warned him about the ice and to use what was left of the powder. He figured that his spanking new Nordicas could handle it but Jason and I took cover just in case.

The traverse beneath the rocks was a solid 50 degrees but compared with the exposure we just put ourselves through, it was a piece of cake. The runout was now clean, although still quite long. Packed powder gave me a decent platform so I took off my pack to shoot photos. Jason traversed in just above me and we waited for Josh. The leftovers must not have been enough because he showed up with a frightened face.

Now came the fun part. A chance to make some turns on a steep slope where we might actually live should we happen to fall. Not that falling had even crossed my mind but you never know.

Jason went first. He pounded a couple hundred feet before traversing beneath the next set of rocks. I went next but stopped short for another photo of Josh.

The Hummels regrouped while I packed my camera once again. My next stop was beneath the cliff that would most likely have killed us had we fallen near the top. There was a nice moat to set my pack on but I started to slip just as I unbuckled. I don't know how but I ended up 10ft down with a worthless stance. I had no energy to step back up so I too the photo from there.

Josh ripped the remaining vertical and coasted to the lip of The Ladle. Jason and I joined him with a bit more control.

We spotted Troy at the base of the next hill where we gathered for a celebration. His ski turned out to be another classic. Not quite as steep but similar vertical, less width and greater depth. I deemed it Leftovers because when the summit face melts out, the chute is often still skiable. Troy might come up with a better name but until then, it's in the fridge.

Now comes the part that I wasn't looking forward to -- the rest of the day. Getting back to camp was one thing, getting back to the car was another and getting back to Bellingham, well, lets take it one step at a time.

Fortunately, we had over 2000 vertical feet of skiing between us and camp. Unfortunately, we would have to gain nearly all of it back. Our first obstacle was the North Ridge of Tieton, which we weren't willing to skirt for fear of getting cut off. Instead, we hiked several hundred feet to a shoulder that we knew we could cross. A couple hundred vertical feet of rock and a couple thousand vertical feet of snow led to the North Fork Tieton. The skiing was quite pleasant although the snow was sticky down low. The Hummels got cut off by a cliff and had to backtrack a good 15 minutes. Troy and I hit it perfect and had to wait/rest the 15 minutes.

The hike back to the saddle sucked. Plain and simple. I led the whole way because Troy and the Hummels were in no hurry. My steps were ankle to knee deep and my progress was difficult to measure. Eventually, the slope eased and we came to the saddle.

Josh tucked the final slope while the rest of us made some conservative turns. We got back to camp around 4pm.

My priority was to pack but Troy and the Hummels insisted that they eat. We split Troy's remaining hotdogs (which I had carried all day) and were on our way by 5pm.

The ski down was enlightening. We learned that hiking a couple hundred feet above Lutz Lake saves a lot of energy on the traverse to Tieton Pass. You don't want to know how many trips it took to figure that out. The rest of the ski was as good as it gets. We took our skis off roughly 2 miles from the trailhead and caught a glimpse of Tieton with our tracks.

Having no tennis shoes made for an easy decision to wear boots. Our progress was slowed by numerous trees that had fallen across the trail. Winter's winds had wreaked havoc. The worst I've seen in years. If nothing else, it made me feel a little better about paying to park.

We reached the trailhead around 7pm. The drive home was bad but it could have been worse. My parents climbed Mount Si that morning and said they counted 500 people on their way down. I'll take the 5 hours of driving.

Anyway, we got what we came for. Perfect weather and no people. Three summits and two first descents. What more could you ask for?

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