The Snoqualmie Haute Route is special because it starts from lowly Snoqualmie Pass but travels across remarkably remote alpine terrain that feels much more like the bigger peaks of the North Cascades. As a "backyard adventure," it is as big as it gets around here. It was named the "Snoqualmie Haute Route" by local guide Martin Volken, who grew up skiing in the Swiss Alps and felt this route had a similar character to the real Haute Route in the real Alps. The route is a long, beautiful ski traverse through big terrain that betrays the nature of lowly Snoqualmie Pass. There are many variations, but the one described here travels between I-90 and US-2, the two main mountain passes near Seattle, covering an incredible amount of terrain. The descents are generally mellow but high-quality.
Begin at Snoqualmie Pass with the typical Commonwealth approach through the Kendall Trees. At the Kendall Katwalk, cross the hopefully dry Katwalk (the PCT was blasted out of a cliff here) and continue to Gravel Lake. Climb to the north and then ski a nice northeast-facing descent down to Edds Lake. Climb to a saddle to the southwest and then traverse to a north-facing chute that starts just west of the summit of Huckleberry Mountain. Ski these gentle, wide features down to flatter terrain.
Began a longer traverse on the north side of Chikamin, generally holding elevation and going up and down as needed. The goal is to reach a 5900' saddle, just west of Lemah Mountain. Ski another gentle north-facing chute down to Iceberg Lake. Began a long climb up to the Chimney Rock / Overcoat Col. From the Overcoat Col, cross the flat section of the Overcoat Glacier (usually no crevasses) and start a beautiful ski down the gentle glacier, enjoying views across the entire Central Cascades. This descent is the highlight of the trip. Do not stray too far right, or you might get cliffed out. Continue the corn harvest all the way down to 4200' in the Middle Fork.
Down in the Middle Fork, skin through beautiful old growth trees and gradually make your way to Williams Lake. Continue up gentle terrain to La Bohn Gap, then up the shoulder of Hinman. From the summit of Hinman, there are multiple options, like exiting out towards Mt. Daniel and getting a snowshoe ride, but we will describe exiting out the East Fork Foss. Ski the gentle slopes of the dying Hinman Glacier down to a flat glacial recession lake. Do a short climb up to Lake Lepul, then find your way down a narrow couloir to Lake Liswoot. Depending on snow coverage, you could follow the outlet of Lake Liswoot down to where you can approximately join the East Fork Foss trail around 3500', but this could be difficult if snow does not cover this section with many cliffs and creek crossings. Alternatively, you can join the trail above Lake Liswoot and follow that down. Once the snow runs out, hike out the long East Fork Foss Trail.
This trip requires a massive car shuttle from Snoqualmie Pass to the East Fork Foss, which is a multiple hour drive between trailheads. However, the approach is easy and painless as long as there is still good snow coverage at 3000'.
The travel on this traverse is generally pretty simple and low angle for such a big traverse. However, it is extremely committing with poor bail options. The Kendall Katwalk crossing can be sketchy earlier in the spring, so it is usually best to wait for it to melt out (late April to May on most years), although it can be crossed at any time of year.
This tour can be done at any time of year due to the low access points. As a spring tour, it is important to do this objective when you still have good snow coverage down to 4000' and sufficient coverage at Snoqualmie Pass to get started. Thus, the window for this traverse might be slightly earlier than other North Cascade traverses. There might be some years when the snowpack is so dismal below 4000' that this is simply not a good objective at any point. A banner year for Snoqualmie Pass means this route will have a long window in the spring.
