Yodelin Ski Tour

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Difficulty: Easy
Length: 3.0 miles / 4.8 km
Duration: Half day

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Overview: The Yodelin backcountry ski tour is located just east of the Stevens Pass ski area on the site of an abandoned smaller ski area that was operating in the 1960’s. You’ll see remnants of the ski runs and some structures along the tour route as you make your way up the ridge to the main descents of this tour. The tour is truly a yo-yo tour – plan on 3-4 trips up and down the slopes to make good use of the terrain that is available. The beauty of this tour is the ease of access and stability of the snow. Route finding is important as if you miss the terrain landmarks, you could run into trouble finding your way back to the parking lot.

Tips: Essential back-country touring gear. Beacons, snow shovel and probe, plus the ten essentials. Best done during the spring when the snow is deep and consolidated. Look for fresh big snow dumps as the avalanche danger of this tour is low so it is ideal when other backcountry areas are off limits. Full HD maps can be found at www.drtelemark.com - see link below.

Points of Interest

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Start of Tour

To begin the tour, start at the Yodelin parking lot on the south side of Stevens Pass Highway about 1.5 miles east of Steven’s Pass summit. Facing up the slope, cross over an open glade on the right side of the slope above the parking lot and find a small trail that leads to a road that switch backs up the slope.

Climbing through the lower Yodelin woods Photo

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First Glade

The road heads eastward along the north slope and to the first open glade at the base of what was the upper runs of the old Yodelin ski area. Traverse eastward again through a strip of dense woods up to the ridge crest and you’ll find more open slope with scattered trees that are re-populating the old runs.

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Top of Main Run

Traverse further eastward again through a strip of dense woods up to the ridge crest and you’ll find more open slope with scattered trees that are re-populating the old runs.

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Tree Skiing Runs

Follow the open ridge line up to the more dense trees where the clear cut of the old area ends. You can ski the more open face or cut into the trees for some tight tree skiing.

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Yo-yo Face

The ridge area is the prime area for yo-yoing the slopes and getting your turns in. The snow can be excellent here in the sparse trees if you hit the conditions right.
There are two parallel runs, the easterly one being much lower angle but with an option for a steeper pitch at the top of the run. Ski the runs always down to the lower flats to get the most out of your climbing.

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Alternate ascent and decent route

An alternate route to climb to the ridge or to ski back is to take the a road cut up from the first open glade south to the ridge summit the see northeast along the ridge to the top of the main run. The descents here are a less open but still excellent skiing in good snow conditions.

When you have skied out the snow, traverse back to the west through the trees and find your uptrack and the road that brings you back to the parking lot. There are other short runs on the western side of the ridge if you have time to fill on your descent.