Trip Report

There were just four people on this trip; however, we had enough fun for about a dozen people! Century Drive had been plowed just a day or two before, so we were able to park at the entrance to the Green Lakes trailhead and ski right from the car. Skiing was pleasant and uneventful into Green Lakes; we camped at the north end of the lake so as to have good access to the Prouty route the next morning. The camp site had everything a good camp site should have - nice views, some protection from the wind, and both morning and evening sun. We dug an elaborate kitchen and cooked dinner, then skied up to the crest of the pass to get a look at the next day’s climbing route before settling down for a sound night of sleep before the climb.

We started before daybreak up the moraine to the base of Prouty Glacier. We roped up and headed up the glacier past some minor seracs and old avalanche debris to the bergschrund. From a distance, it had looked like the ’schrund would be a problem, but Don picked a spot with a solid bridge and a short steep stretch above the bridge that served us well. The route was straightforward with the main obstacle being the wind. Since we were all carrying skis, the wind blew us around like we were carrying sails on our backs. We reached the crater and sought relief from the wind at the inner crater wall. The wind kept our summit time brief. Then came the part we had been waiting for - the descent! We found that conditions were icy at the summit, so three of the four of us chose to carry out skis down the first 800 ft. or so. We then enjoyed linking turns in reasonably soft snow all the way back to Green Lakes. Another pleasant night was spent at camp.

On Monday, we took time to ski north to get a view of Chambers Lakes, then returned to camp, loaded up our packs and skied back to the car. Sharing the good times were Michele McCall, Ken Ball, Don McLaughlin and Susan Sullivan. leader.