Delancey Ridge
Mazama,
Washington
Overview
Delancey Ridge provides over 3,000 vertical feet of fall line skiing and is a great objective during the winter months when conditions align. A relatively steep pitch requires stable avalanche conditions and the southern exposure means the snow can crust up from sunny days. Access is very straightforward when highway 20 is plowed to the Silver Star gate; however if highway 20 is only open to the Early Winters gate, it requires sled access. From the Silver Star Gate, cross the Early Winters Creek via the bridge and head north towards Delancey Ridge. Make your way up one of the ribs to reach the ridge, and then ski down one of the gullies.
Directions
Parking
Trip Reports
With a new puppy, family resort skiing and subpar weather, I had only gotten out for one ski tour so far this winter at Mission Ridge, and it was very early season coverage. Based on reports, the terrain off of highway 20 looked to be in much better shape, and I decided to head up north to try my luck. Delancey Ridge has been on my radar for quite some time. While I lived in Seattle, it was always melted out by the time highway 20 opened in the spring, and this was my first time heading up to Silver Star Sno-Park during the heart of the winter. Avalanche conditions looked good, and I was hoping the sun hadn't come out too much the day before to bake the southern facing slopes of Delancey Ridge.
I did puppy duty in the morning, and left my house around 8am, stopping at Methow Cycle along the way to pick up my Sno-Park pass. Highway 20 from just outside Winthrop to Mazama was closed, and the detour added some time to the journey, arriving at Silver Star Sno-Park a little after 10am. This was my first time up here in the winter, and there were quite a number of cars in the parking lot, although most folks seemed to have already headed out as there were only a couple other groups with sleds getting ready to take off.
Just after crossing the bridge over Early Winters Creek, I got on a well worn skin track heading towards Delancey Ridge. Coming out of the woods, I could see a gully above me. I remember thinking it looked a little rocky and might not be skiable, which couldn't have been further from the case as that was the line I ended up skiing and it was well filled in.
I followed the skin track up the rib next to the gully. In the open areas the snow was in good shape and seemed pretty deep, while in the trees it was more of a mixed bag in terms of snow quality. There didn't seem to be much of a crust from the sun, so my hopes were high that I would have some good powder. The skin track was a little steeper than I am used to as there wasn't a lot of room to traverse between the gullies, so I switched on the raisers and was glad to not be breaking trail, as there was a lot of vertical to go up before I reached the ridge.
On the way up, I stopped to snap some photos of the terrain across the valley, as that area looks to be a good option when sun is a concern or when avalanche danger is considerable. I couldn't see Silver Star Mountain, as there was a layer of clouds just above me blanketing the sky.
Around 4,800 feet, I followed the skin track into the cloud layer, and wouldn't emerge until around 5,400 feet. There was a lot of snow at this elevation, and it almost felt like I was back in Snoqualmie Pass, with the limited visibility, big pine trees and lots of snow. The clouds started to dissipate as I climbed up and soon I had blue skies above me with the top of the ridge in sight.
It was now past noon, and I was a little concerned the temperatures might warm up too much and pose some stability problems; as I skinned up, some trees started to unload snow. However, a stiff breeze kicked in, and some scattered clouds started rolling in from the west and temperatures stayed on the cool side. While I still wanted to reach the top quickly, I had to slow myself down, as I was overheating a bit and feeling a little out of breath. I spotted some really nice tracks on the gully to the looker's left and figured that would be a good line to descend.
As I made my way to the ridge, I had to stop to eat some food and catch my breath. I had covered quite a bit of vertical in a relatively short amount of time, given this was my second ski tour of the year and I wasn't in good touring shape yet. During my break, I snapped some picks of Silver Star Mountain rising above the layer of clouds.
Upon reaching the ridge, the skin track headed to the east, the opposite direction of where I planned to ski. It was a bit windblown at the top, so I couldn't tell if the track also went west, and had been filled in with snow. I peaked down the north side, and while I didn't see any tracks going down, I could see skin track on the slopes below heading west. It would have been fun to ski this northern aspect, but I was running out of time, and that would have to wait for another day when I wasn't solo.
I set a skin track west, going just below the ridge as there appeared to be some cornices along the ridge that I wanted to avoid. There was a mixture of conditions, with some aspects having a noticeable crust about 6" below the powder, and other spots being deep powder. I dug a couple of hasty pits along the way and didn't see anything concerning in regards to stability until I was near the gully and was skinning back up to the ridge. The snow looked to be more wind affected, and I started to see some small cracks propagating when breaking trail. I decided to transition to ski mode. There was a crust below the surface where I was, so I traversed over into the gully before descending down.
The ski tracks in the gully had come in above me, they must have skied into the north side and then set that track I saw when I first attained the ridge. There was a slight crust on some aspects, but as I long as I stayed skier's right in the gully, the powder was fantastic. I was using my Dynafit Huascaran skis for the first time in 5 years or so, and it took me a bit to get used to them again. They are a bit on the long side, but very light for such a fat ski, and these were the perfect conditions for them - lots of powder with room to open up and let them ride.
Once adjusted to my skis, and knowing to stick to the skier's right of the gully, I laid in some super fun powder turns. The gully had a good pitch to it, and never constricted, leaving me with one of the better powder runs I have had since moving to the east side of the cascades. Eventually I descended down into the cloud layer, but it wasn't too thick, and skiing was still very enjoyable through it. Eventually I emerged out of the clouds, and had a clear view down the gully and all the way to the Sno-Park.
There were quite a few features to launch off, and the folks before me had certainly taken advantage. I hit a couple, but was a little wary about the coverage and being solo and kept it small. I had to take a couple of quick breaks on the way down to give the legs a rest. I thought with my lift skiing, my legs would have been able to handle it, but that wasn't the case...
The snow was good all the way down, and then it was a quick out back to the car, with a little bit of side stepping involved. I can't believe it has taken me this long to ski Delancey Ridge. Granted, my first year in Manson the road was only open until Early Winters SnoPark for the winter, but the last couple of years I just never made it up here in the heart of the winter. This is definitely a great tour when conditions align, with minimal approach and lots of vertical to ski!
